3-052-815 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

In Sight of Home: Christmas Morning - drawn by A. Emslie, 1880. 'The mistletoe hangs near the sea-kissed sails, and the waves as they follow us, fleck'd with foam, Are bearing a vessel from sea to shore, and a dozen brave hearts to their Christmas home. Storms and sorrows are left behind with the roar and rock of the endless tide, That speeds the son to his mother's arms, and the sailor's heart to his destin'd bride...Give it her, boys! for the wind is true! clear the deck and get ready the rope!... Do you see that speck of an island there, the old white cliffs, and the flag that's free, Fluttered and fretted by favouring breeze that signals home to the ships at sea? Fortune and fate, we have followed them both in the hammock below, and before the mast But it's over now, the journey's done, and the weary mariner's home at last!...But cheer, my lads, as we shorten sail; put the little one quick in my arms to take A mistletoe kiss from the lips of land, and give us some luck for the sailor's sake. The dripping garments of sailors saved were the votive gifts in the days of Rome; Let ours be hope, and a sailor's prayer, when Christmas comes with a sight of Home!'. Clement Scott. From "Illustrated London News" Christmas number, 1880.