Farmer Dan (Barry Doyle): Back Home To County Down

It's a long and winding road
Taking me back home
Back to my family and friends
But i can't forget
The day i went away
And left my parents all alone
My sweetheart's warm embrace,
My father's tremblin' hug,
And my mother's prayers to guide me back home
Soon my sweetheart i will marry
O'er the threshold i will carry her,
We'll start a family of our own
I'm going home to County Down,
Thank God i'm homeward bound
Take me back to where i long to be,
To that friendly little county, nestled in the moors
County Down, i'm coming home, to the place where i was born
Now i'll walk your silent valleys through the mountains of Mourne
Where the river Bann journeys to the sea,
Till my darling's love will greet me,
My father's hug will meet me,
My mother's prayers will bring me
Back home to County Down.
Well, the road rose up to meet me,
My parents didn't greet me,
My sweetheart has a family of her own,
She said i broke my parents' hearts
That day i did depart
Now they are laying in the churchyard all alone,
I found no warm embrace, no father's tremblin' hug
Mama's prayers lay in that cold and lonely grave,
O' how i regret that day, but now i'm home to stay,
O' Ireland, i never more will roam.
Now i'm home in County Down,
Thank God i'm home again
Now i'm back to where i longed to be,
In that friendly little county, nestled in the moors,
County Down, i'm back home, in the place where i was born,
Now i'll walk your silent valleys through the mountains of Mourne
Where the river Bann journeys to the sea,
No, my darling's love won't greet me,
And my father's hug won't meet me
But my mother's prayers have brought me
Back home to County Down.
From the album "John Deere Letter"