Joseph Corfe (arr.)
(1740 - 1820)

One day I heard Mary say
(S.A.T.B. + reduction)
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Corfe, organist of Salisbury Cathedral, 1792 - 1804, issued two sets of "Twelve glees.... composed from ancient Scotch melodies" in the early 1790s, to satisfy two contemporary enthusiasms: that for mixed sex social music, and that for all things North-British. The current arrangement comes from the second set.

These glees were selected from a repertoire of well-known Scottish songs that had been anthologised in the previous seventy years. Corfe appears to have been particularly indebted for source material to James Johnson's "Scots Musical Museum", Edinburgh 1787, which included texts edited and improved by Robert Burns. Verses that are not underlaid were not included by Corfe, and have been imported from external sources (most especially the aforementioned "Scots Musical Museum").
Lyrics: Robert Crawford

One day I heard Mary say,
How can I leave thee!
Stay, dearest Adonis, stay;
Why wilt thou grieve me?
Alas, my fond heart will break
If thou should'st leave me;
I'll live and die for thy sake,
Yet never leave thee.

Say, lovely Adonis, say
Has Mary deceived thee?
Did e'er her young heart betray
New love to grieve thee?
My constant mind ne'er shall stray,
Thou may believe me:
I'll love thee lad, night and day,
And never leave thee.

Adonis, my charming youth,
What can relieve thee?
Can Mary thy anguish soothe:
This breast shall receive thee.
My passion can ne'er decay,
Ne'er deceive thee:
Delight shall drive pain away,
Pleasure revive thee.

But leave thee, leave thee, lad,
How shall I leave thee!
O, that thought makes me sad;
I'll never leave thee.
Where would my Adonis fly,
Why does he grieve me?
Alas, my poor heart will die,
If I should leave thee.