The traditional English harvest festival that the Pilgrims brought with them was likely that known as "Harvest Home." This festival is said to have been held from ancient times on the last day of harvest, usually in late September, and was observed by singing, shouting, decorating the village with boughs and other customs of pagan origin.

Over the years after the Pilgrims' feast, the more secular harvest festival was combined with a religious day of thanksgiving. In 1777 the Continental Congress proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day, but the tradition was not widely upheld until 1863 when President Lincoln declared a national Thanksgiving Day to be held annually on the last Thursday of November.

One of our enduringly popular hymns sung at Thanksgiving time, "Come Ye Thankful People," was written by an English clergyman, Henry Alford, about 1844. The first verse refers to the English harvest festival mentioned above, in the line 'Raise the song of Harvest-home.' The author entreats us in this verse to recognize that God has created us and has provided what we need. He invites us to come to the house of God and sing songs of gratitude for the harvest. It is significant to note that songs can be sung silently in the heart and mind, as well as vocally. None are excluded. In the Bible, the term "Temple" in Psalms refers to 'thy house.' The author's meaning in the line "Come to God's own temple" is apparently intended to refer to a sacred place of worship where God's spirit could be present, as represented in the photo above.

In the second verse the author uses the concept of 'harvest' metaphorically to refer to people and their behavior and relationship with God. Much of the text appears to be based on the parable of the wheat and tares found in Matthew 13, and also the Bible verse, Mark 4:28, which speaks of "the blade, then the ear…" The author's mention of wheat and tares connects with joy and sorrow, and the plea that we are found to be wholesome grain, as it refers to the conclusion of the parable where the wheat is gathered into the Lord's barn but the tares are bundled and burned.

The hymn text is believed to have first appeared in the author's 1844 collection "Psalms and Hymns," published at London, England. The heading designation "After Harvest" was apparently the season of the year at which the hymn is intended to be used. The publication included four verses.

The hymn tune in 4/4 time almost exclusively associated with "Come, Ye Thankful People" is known as ST. GEORGE'S WINDSOR and is said to have been composed for a different hymn with which it was first published in 1858. A few years later it appeared with our hymn in W.H. Monk's collection "Hymns Ancient and Modern" published for the Church of England in 1861. The tune is believed to have been named for the Chapel in Windsor, England where the composer served as organist. (See image below of this original publication.)

"For the Lord our God shall come,

And shall take His harvest home;

From His field shall in that day

All offences purge away;

Give His angels charge at last

In the fire the tares to cast;

But the fruitful ears to store

In His garner evermore.

Even so, Lord, quickly come,

Bring Thy final Harvest-home!

Gather Thou Thy people in,

Free from sorrow, free from sin;

There for ever purified In Thy garner to abide:

Come with all Thine angels, come,

Raise the glorious Harvest-home!"

As explained in Matthew 13, the fruitful ears to be gathered before the winter storms, or the end of the world, and stored in the Lord's heavenly garner (granary or grain bin) are the righteous people of His kingdom.

Although the author of the hymn text was a clergyman of the Church of England, the symbolism of his text may have an additional layer of meaning to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). The LDS doctrine of family history research and vicarious baptismal and saving ordinances for deceased ancestors performed in dedicated Temples illuminates another type of harvest of souls taking place in the Lord's kingdom.

Inward songs of rejoicing are regularly raised in Temples around the world, over family names found and connections established as people come to His House to perform the ordinances.

The first two verses of "Come, Ye Thankful People" were included in the 1948 edition of "Hymns, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (LDS Hymnal). The same key was used as in the 1861 version. The hymn continued in the current 1985 edition with a slightly lower key and minor changes to music notation and text punctuation.

A classic hymn with much symbolism, "Come, Ye Thankful People" has given succeeding generations an expression of gratitude and praise.

Henry Alford was born to the Rev. Henry Alford and his wife in October of 1810 at London, England. His father was an Anglican clergyman, as had been four generations before him.

The younger Henry apparently lost his mother at an early age, as it is recorded that he was raised by his widowed father who was curate at Steeple Ashton in Wiltshire. The boy was said to have been a precocious child and by the age of ten knew Latin well enough to write several odes.

At the age of seventeen he entered Cambridge University, Trinity College. He graduated with honors in 1832. He began his career as an Anglican clergyman the next year, ordained to the curacy of Ampton at the age of 23. He maintained his ties to Trinity College and was made Fellow in 1834.

Succeeding church appointments took Henry to the vicarage of Wymeswold in Leicestershire, to the Quebec Chapel, London in 1853 and four years later to Canterbury in Kent where he was made Dean of Canterbury Cathedral. He would remain there the remainder of his life.

In the midst of his church work, Henry married, and while little is said of his family, he became known as a scholar, preacher, writer, poet and artist. The collection of hymns in which "Come, Ye Thankful People" appeared is believed to have been his fifth book of poetical and hymnological works. He would publish many other works in various types of literature, including his well known edition of the New Testament in Greek, which took twenty years in research and writing.

Of the many hymns written by Henry Alford, "Come, Ye Thankful People" is one of the few known today. He concluded his remarkable life at Canterbury in January of 1871, at the age of 61 and his remains lie in the St. Martin churchyard. He was survived by his wife, Fanny, who published his history two years later.