Brooks expanded a song to four voices with accompaniment, most probably for use at the Bath Philharmonic Society. The provision of the accompaniment is atypical: Bath seems generally to have adhered to the purist practice of unaccompanied glee singing. In performance, the accompaniment, with its short "symphonies", may be abandoned.

The song had particular resonance in Bath, being taken from Sheridan's pastiche opera "The Duenna", which hinted at the family life of his in-laws. The tune, selected by Thomas Linley (or his son, Thomas the younger) as a vehicle for the words is the then popular "Gramachree Molly", an Irish (or possibly Scottish) air. Johann Christian Fischer's set of variations on the air is also available as a notAmos edition.

Lyrics: Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Had I a heart for falsehood framed
I ne'er could injure you;
For, though your tongue no promise claimed,
Your charms would make me true.
To you no soul shall bear deceit,
No stranger offer wrong,
But friends in all the aged you'll meet,
And lovers in the young.

But when they learn that you have blest
Another with your heart,
They'll bid aspiring passions rest
And act a brother's part;
Then, Lady, dread not their deceit,
Nor fear to suffer wrong,
For friends in all the aged you'll meet,
And lovers in the young.