By Warren Shiver

One of the finest of harvest hymns is that written by Henry “Dean” Alford, “Come Ye Thankful People Come”. Henry Alford was born in London, England on Oct. 7,1810. His father was a clergyman of the Church of England and Henry’s desire was to follow in his father’s footsteps.
When he was sixteen years old, he felt a deep presence of God and wrote upon the fly leaf of his Bible these words, “I do this day in the presence of God and my own soul, renew my covenant with God, and solemnly determine, henceforth, to become his and to do His work as far as in me lies”.

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He attended school like all other boys his age, but he had only one dream and that was to be a minister. He attended Trinity College and Cambridge University. He became a very popular preacher. In 1857 he was promoted to the position of “Dean of Canterbury”, and held this important post until his death fourteen years later on Jan. 12, 1871. He was sixty-one years old at the time of his death.
One of “Dean” Alford’s greatest works was a magnificent edition of the Greek Testament. It took him twenty years to write this Testament and it was admired by all the scholars of his day. He was a great Biblical scholar.
He also wrote many hymns and even published a hymnbook that had no less than fifty-five of his hymns in it. Not many of his hymns have come into common use but there are some in hymnals today. “Ten Times Ten Thousand” is one of the popular ones, and “Forward Be Our Watchword” is another, but none is as popular as “Come Ye Thankful People Come”. This harvest hymn first appeared in 1844 when Dean Alford was only 34 years old. It was first titled “After Harvest”. It was originally accompanied by a scripture from Psalm 126:6 “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”
This hymn originally had seven verses, but our modern Hymn books print only four. The most popular is the first verse that we have sung at Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember.
The music for this hymn was written by Sir George Job Elvey. He was born in Canterbury, England on March 27,1816. He sang as a chorister at the Canterbury Cathedral and studied at the Royal Academy of Music. From 1835 until 1882 Elvey served as organist and choir master of the boys at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. He earned from Oxford University his Bachelor Degree in Music in 1838 and a Doctorate Degree in Music in 1840. In 1871, he was knighted when he was fifty-five years of age.


Come ye Thankful People Come

Verse 1
Come ye thankful people come, Raise the song of harvest home;
All is safely gathered in, Ere the winter storms begin,
God our maker doth provide, For our wants to be supplied,
Come to God’s own temple come, Raise the song of harvest home.

Verse 2
We ourselves are God’s own field, Fruit unto His praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown Unto joy or sorrow grown;
First the blade and then the ear, Then the full corn shall appear;
Lord of harvest! Grant that we wholesome grain and pure may be.

Verse 3
For the Lord our God shall come, And take His harvest home;
From His field shall purge away All that doth offend that day;
Give His angels charge at last In the fire the tares to cast;
But the fruitful ears to store In His garner evermore.



Stories Behind The Hymns is written by Warren Shiver of Biscoe, NC. Shiver has been fascinated with the true stories behind the hymns since he was a 12-year old attending East Gaffney Baptist Church in Gaffney, S.C. He began studying the stories behind the hymns in 1957. Warren has wrote two books, the first is a 300-page soft back, 104 Of My Favorite Hymn Stories Vol. 1 costs $14.95, the second book, 340-page soft back, 104 Of My Favorite Hymn Stories Vol. 2 costs $16.95. You may buy both books for $25.00. Warren may be reached by email at wshiver99@embarqmail.com, or by mail at PO Box 775, Biscoe, NC.27209, you may also purchase the books on his website www.myfavoritehymnstories.com. Shipping for both books is $4.00, for one book $3.00. If you would like for Warren to come speak at your church, Sunday school class or any meeting you may contract him at 910-428-9911 or 910-428-4078.