LAYS OF NEW ENGLAND
as sung by the
 AUTHOR
With great applause at his Entertainments
in New York and other citires of
THE UNION.
Music Composed by
I[saac]. B[aker]. WOODBURY[, 1819-1858]

No. 1 [of 6]
"I Long for New England" (1849)
Song
25 cents nett.

Published by
W[illia]m. HALL & SON, 230 Broadway (opposite the Park.)
Piano Forte & Music Store.
Plate Number 310
[Source: 1849-452150@LoC]

There are but few lands that the Sons of New-England have not
traversed.  Inured to hardship, they laugh at the toil that
intimidates most men, and the hope of returning to their Father
Land
                      "Where virtue blooms with fostered hope,
                       In Cottage home, or village church     ”
buoys them up to the end.  They glory in the name “Yankee” and
speak with manly pride of the time when Liberty was first
cradled in Faneuil Hall, and crowned on the heights of Bunker
hill, in the first pitch battle of the Revolution —

1. Oh give me back my native hills!
The bright NewEngland shore;
A longing wish my bosom fills
To breathe their air once more.
I feel as feels the prison bird
Far from its own sweet land,
[REFRAIN]
While pouring forth its mournful notes
Upon a foreign land.

2. Oh give me back my native hills,
For I am wrung with care—
I fain would meet warm hearts again,
Of loved ones dwelling there.
Sure friendly smiles have greeted me—
That threw a radiance o’er
[REFRAIN]
Life’s sad’ning scenes; but not like those
Which I have met of yore.

3. Oh give me back my own green hills!
My heart is like the flower,
That rudely touched by cruel hands
Droops for its own sweet bower.
Among the cheerful throng I move
Sad, cheerless and alone;
[REFRAIN]
I long to meet with kinddred souls
That answer to my own.

4. O give me back my own green hills!
The wildbird’s joyous tone,
The bright blue sky, and happy smiles,
That o’er my childhood shone.
For I would wish when life shall cease,
With all its joys and ills,
[REFRAIN]
That I might breathe my latest sigh,
upon New England’s hills.