SIMPLE GIFTS

Alfred Shaker Village

Alfred Maine

1915 Postcard

A favorite hymn among Quakers is a Shaker hymn written in 1848. The writer and composer is said to be Elder Joseph Brackett of the Alfred Village in Maine.

'Tis the Gift to be Simple

Original Shaker Hymn
1
Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
REFRAIN
When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we will not be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right

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Additional verses in Worship in Song - A Friends Hymnal
2 -
'Tis the gift to be gentle,'tis the gift to be fair,
'Tis the gift to wake and breathe the morning air.
To walk every day in the path we choose.
'Tis the gift we pray we will never, never lose.
REFRAIN
3
Tis the gift to be knowing, 'tis the gift to be kind,
'Tis the gift to wait to hear another's mind,
That when we speak our feelings we might come out true,
'Tis the gift for me and the gift for you.
REFRAIN
4
'Tis the gift to be loving, 'tis the best gift of all,
Like the warm spring rain bringing beauty when it falls,
And as we use this gift we might come to believe,
'Tis better to give than it is to receive.
REFRAIN

'Tis the Gift to be Simple was not well know outside of Shaker circles until in 1944 the tune was incorporated by Arron Copland in the ballet score he wrote for Martha Graham. Since Shakers used dance in their worship, it was apropos that the Shaker hymn be performed as ballet in Appalachian Spring. In 1963 Sydney Carter adapted the tune for Lord of the Dance which was prominent in the dance musical Lord of the Dance first performed in 1996.

Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration as president included a quartet Air and Simple Gifts composed by John Williams and based on the Shaker hymn. The moving performance by Anthony McGill (clarinet), Itzhak Perlman (violin), Yo-Yo Ma (cello) and Gabriela Montero (piano) made that inauguration the only one that sticks in my memory. (I do also remember Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn getting out of their limousine and walking along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House.) 

Although the Shaker faith developed out of Quakerism it deviated from Quaker practice in many ways. Shakers practiced a communal lifestyle, they were organized under a hierarchical system, they practiced celibacy and they followed a strict set of rules. Although there were once nineteen Shaker communities scattered among at least six states with as many as 500 members each, they gradually had to close their communities for lack of membership. 

The memory of the Shaker experiment in radical Christianity is kept alive by their music, their furniture and the remnants of their communities left behind.

More music:
The songs and dances included are: The Humble Heart; Simple Gifts; Love, Love, Love; Father James' Song; Come Dance and Sing; Now My Dear Companions; A People Called Christians; I Am a Brave Soldier; Step Tune; A Cup of Rejoicing; Lay me Low; My Carnal Life I will Lay Down; Dismission of the Devil; Primitive Dance Tune; An Indian Song; When Cheer Fills the Hearts; Shuffling Song; Shepherdess Song.

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National Parks Service

History of the Shakers