The Songs
The song lyrics were derived from the letters. The title song "I Promise To Write You A Letter" took phrases from a number of different letters, but all with the theme of loving and longing. Below is an example of the process. Almost all the letters were written by men, but the song is now gender-neutral so that both men and women can sing it.
I Promise To Write You A Letter
Extracts from various letters from various authors
… I promise to write you long letter but the time for …. Me very close, as usual can hardly write you these. Letter …send me again as quick as you can and let me know all the news you can
….Time I discover is rolling away and barely twelve months is past since we bid farewell to our native land and the friends that we loved.
…it is not likely I shall ever see you again in this world…. I am within my thoughts by day and my dreams by night since fortune have been so cruel to rob me my greatest earthly comfort
…. a lost man in the world I enjoy …
….my thoughts have been led back those blissful hours of bygone days when we enjoyed each others company in kindness and harmony….
....I have pictured ourselves in the fields in the orchards in the groves in the house and in the chapple …
…but I am nothing so stout as I was, I fret very much although I know I must yield to the designs ….
I promise to write you a letter
As usual can hardly write this,
Please send me again as quick as you can
And let me know all that I’ve missed.
Send again all your stories,
Let me know all the news you can,
For I am out here quite lonely,
And I’m doing the best that I can.
Time I discover is rolling away And barely twelve months is passed
Since we bid farewell to our native land And the friends that we loved and held fast.
Within my own thoughts in the heat of the day I dream of you all in the night
It’s likely as not I won’t see you again, But I think of you all with delight.
I'm a lost soul in world I enjoy, I’m nothing as brave as I was,
Those blissful long hours of bygone days, And I fret very much in my loss.
Picture myself in the meadows back home, The orchards, the groves, on the farm,
I wouldn’t advise anyone to come here, But to keep a young family from harm.
The Pathless Deep
From a letter written in Plymouth before departure:
“May God guide and direct our path while in the pathless sea.”
The piece is set as a male voice trio, in the Sankey Chapel style. Attached below is a pdf of the score.
Ballarat
Ballarat was a prosperous new town where the young men of the family moved when they had tired of working for their mean father and drunken uncle. They landed on their feet - "We've got a good situation!" The words are almost directly from the letters, with a few liberties for rhyming and scansion. In the audio play the original words are overlayed with the song.
1 Ballarat’s large and looking alive
As big as Penzance in the homeland,
We go to work seven, knock off one forty five
And no more digging or farmhand.
Chorus
We got a good situation,
And times are looking quite bright.
We got a proper location
And better days are in sight!
2 Butter have sold at five shilling a pound
And eggs two and ten for a dozen.
I do like it much better than work underground,
Belong working a horse for my cousin.
3 Thomas have sold his old farm on again
And with it he doubled his money;
And if he got married he wouldn’t complain,
His life would be all milk and honey.
Carry My Love
This song was written for another project but is appropriate for the sense of separation - Cornwall to South Australia. The singer is a world apart from loved ones, but connected by wind and ocean and the birds that fly between.
I Promise To Write You A Letter
Extracts from various letters from various authors
… I promise to write you long letter but the time for …. Me very close, as usual can hardly write you these. Letter …send me again as quick as you can and let me know all the news you can
….Time I discover is rolling away and barely twelve months is past since we bid farewell to our native land and the friends that we loved.
…it is not likely I shall ever see you again in this world…. I am within my thoughts by day and my dreams by night since fortune have been so cruel to rob me my greatest earthly comfort
…. a lost man in the world I enjoy …
….my thoughts have been led back those blissful hours of bygone days when we enjoyed each others company in kindness and harmony….
....I have pictured ourselves in the fields in the orchards in the groves in the house and in the chapple …
…but I am nothing so stout as I was, I fret very much although I know I must yield to the designs ….
I promise to write you a letter
As usual can hardly write this,
Please send me again as quick as you can
And let me know all that I’ve missed.
Send again all your stories,
Let me know all the news you can,
For I am out here quite lonely,
And I’m doing the best that I can.
Time I discover is rolling away And barely twelve months is passed
Since we bid farewell to our native land And the friends that we loved and held fast.
Within my own thoughts in the heat of the day I dream of you all in the night
It’s likely as not I won’t see you again, But I think of you all with delight.
I'm a lost soul in world I enjoy, I’m nothing as brave as I was,
Those blissful long hours of bygone days, And I fret very much in my loss.
Picture myself in the meadows back home, The orchards, the groves, on the farm,
I wouldn’t advise anyone to come here, But to keep a young family from harm.
The Pathless Deep
From a letter written in Plymouth before departure:
“May God guide and direct our path while in the pathless sea.”
The piece is set as a male voice trio, in the Sankey Chapel style. Attached below is a pdf of the score.
Ballarat
Ballarat was a prosperous new town where the young men of the family moved when they had tired of working for their mean father and drunken uncle. They landed on their feet - "We've got a good situation!" The words are almost directly from the letters, with a few liberties for rhyming and scansion. In the audio play the original words are overlayed with the song.
1 Ballarat’s large and looking alive
As big as Penzance in the homeland,
We go to work seven, knock off one forty five
And no more digging or farmhand.
Chorus
We got a good situation,
And times are looking quite bright.
We got a proper location
And better days are in sight!
2 Butter have sold at five shilling a pound
And eggs two and ten for a dozen.
I do like it much better than work underground,
Belong working a horse for my cousin.
3 Thomas have sold his old farm on again
And with it he doubled his money;
And if he got married he wouldn’t complain,
His life would be all milk and honey.
Carry My Love
This song was written for another project but is appropriate for the sense of separation - Cornwall to South Australia. The singer is a world apart from loved ones, but connected by wind and ocean and the birds that fly between.
| pathless_deep_trio_-_full_score.pdf |
I Promise To Write - clip
Carry My Love - clip