After various tunes had been set to this text, Gladden insisted on the use of MARYTON. Composed by H. Percy Smith (b. Malta, 1825; d. Bournemouth, Hampshire, England, 1898), the tune was originally published as a setting for John Keble's "Sun of My Soul" in Arthur S. Sullivan's Church Hymns with Tunes (1874).

Henry Percy Smith was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, England, and ordained a priest in the Church of England in 1850. He served five churches, including St. Michael's York Town in Farnborough (1851-1868), Great Barton in Suffolk (1868-¬1882), Christ Church in Cannes, France (1882-1892), and the Cathedral in Gibraltar (1892-1898). MARYTON is his only tune found in contemporary hymnals and is thought to be the only tune he published.

MARYTON is a serviceable but generic nineteenth-century hymn tune; its wide-ranged melody reaches a high point in the middle phrases. Sing the first and final stanzas in unison and the middle stanzas in parts. Because textual and musical phrases are often at odds with each other in this hymn, a competent choir may aid the singing by following the punctuation and not breathing in the middle of textual phrases. Keep the tempo moving!

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook