Sit down by the side of your mother, my boy,
You have only a moment, I know;
If you wait til I give you my parting advice,
It is all I have to bestow.
Hold fast to the right, hold fast to the right,
Wheresoever your footsteps may roam;
Don't forsake not the way of salvation, my boy,
You have learned from your mother at home.
I gave you to God in your cradle, my boy,
I have taught you the best that I knew
And as long as His mercy permits me to live,
I shall never cease praying for you.
Hold fast to the right, hold fast to the right,
Wheresoever your footsteps may roam;
Don't forsake not the way of salvation, my boy,
You have learned from your mother at home.
You will find in this bundle a Bible, my boy,
It's a book of all others best.
It will teach you to live and prepare you to die
And will lead to the gates of the blessed.
Hold fast to the right, hold fast to the right,
Wheresoever your footsteps may roam;
Don't forsake not the way of salvation, my boy,
You have learned from your mother at home.
You leave us to seek for employment, my boy,
You have yet of the world to be tried.
But in all of the struggles and temptations you meet,
May you and your Saviour confide.
Hold fast to the right, hold fast to the right,
Wheresoever your footsteps may roam;
Don't forsake not the way of salvation, my boy,
You have learned from your mother at home.
