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The lyrics of this song are adapted from a poem called Homeward by Cicely Fox Smith (1882-1954). She was born in Cheshire, lived briefly in Canada, before returning to the United Kingdom shortly before the outbreak of World War I. She settled in Hampshire and began writing poetry, often with a nautical theme. Smith wrote over 600 poems in her life.

Sarah Morgan (1948-2013) set the poem to music in 1989. Sarah was a co-founder of Winchester Community Choir. She published the song (melody only) in the Songbook titled Put the Stars to Flight.

Roger Watson has set the song for choir. He says, 'My four-part arrangement is not SATB, but Tenor, Counter, Air, Bass. I intend both men and women to sing Tenor, Counter and Air. If you don’t have the resources, at least try to do this for the Air (the melody). Men will sing

Tenor, Counter and Air an octave lower than written.’