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FAMOUS SONGS
orders in 1779, an<^ w a s appointed to the living of Wrington, in Somersetshire, where he resided as Rector for fifty years. The words of the song were sent him by Lady Anne through the Honourable Mrs. Byron when he was living at Richmond, and presumably whilst he was yet in the army. He was an excellent musician and a skilful player on the violin. When at Wrington, Hannah More, who lived in the village, was on the closest terms of intimacy with the Leeves. It was not until the year 1812 that he made known to the public the fact that he was the composer of the popular air. He communicated the information in a letter to his very dear friend Thomas Hammersley, which is now in the possession of one of his granddaughters. I append a copy.
" My dear Sir, Anxious as you have ever been for the rule of right, as well as for the fair fame of your friends, you have more than once solicited that I would publicly claim an offspring which for more than forty years has been of uncertain origin. Nothing could have induced me to undertake this at my period of life, but t h e offer of your kind testimony to the genuine-ness of this, my early production, which an acquaintance with it in manuscript, long before it surreptitiously found its way to the public eye,
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