Author of “…Ninety & Nine” – died

ON THIS DATE 

Elizabeth Cecelia Douglas Clephane died, 2/19/1869, near Melrose, Scotland, the 3^rd daughter of Andrew Clephane, Sheriff of Fife & Kinross. She lived most of life at her birth site 30 miles southeast of Edinburgh. Wrote “Beneath the Cross of Jesus” & “There Were Ninety & Nine.” Clephane was born 6/18/1830.

Sankey spotted “…Ninety & Nine” in a Brit newspaper while with Moody in Scotland, tore out the poem, put it in his pocket & forgot it.  That same day as Moody closed a service (Edinburgh) he asked Sankey to sing. Ira was caught by surprise but the Holy Ghost reminded him of what was in his pocket.  He brought it out & with a prayer, proceeded to composed a tune AS he sang – his first attempt at writing hymn tunes.

“There were ninety and nine that safely lay In the shelter of the fold. But one was out on the hills away,

Far off from the gates of gold. Away on the mountains wild and bare.

Away from the tender Shepherd’s care. Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.”

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Elizabeth Cecelia Douglas Clephane – death, Feb. 19, 1869

There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold.
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold.
Away on the mountains wild and bare.
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.

“Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;
Are they not enough for Thee?”
But the Shepherd made answer: “This of Mine
Has wandered away from Me;
And although the road be rough and steep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep.”

But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed;
Nor how dark was the night the Lord passed through
Ere He found His sheep that was lost.
Out in the desert He heard its cry,
Sick and helpless and ready to die;
Sick and helpless and ready to die.

“Lord, whence are those blood drops all the way
That mark out the mountain’s track?”
“They were shed for one who had gone astray
Ere the Shepherd could bring him back.”
“Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?”
“They are pierced tonight by many a thorn;
They are pierced tonight by many a thorn.”

And all through the mountains, thunder riven
And up from the rocky steep,
There arose a glad cry to the gate of Heaven,
“Rejoice! I have found My sheep!”
And the angels echoed around the throne,
“Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!
Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!”

Elizabeth Cecelia Douglas Clephane died this date, 2/19/1869, near Melrose – about 30 miles southeast of Edinburgh, Scotland.  (She was born 6/18/1830 at Edinburgh, Scotland.)  This lady, reported to have been called “The Sunbeam,” gave the world “There Were Ninety and Nine” and “Beneath the Cross of Jesus” (both published posthumously).

Ira D. Sankey is reported to have “written” the music for this poem (from a Brit newspaper) as he was playing it to a Scottish audience after D. L. Moody preached.  What genius?  Maybe, and what power of inspiration by the Holy Spirit.  This is said to be Sankey’s first try at writing a hymn/Gospel song tune.

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