Elder Joseph Brackett's "Simple Gifts" is a dance song written in 1848 at the Shaker community in Alfred, Maine. The original words written by Elder Joseph are as follows:
'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.
When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
'Till by turning, turning we come round right.
These details and more fascinating facts on “Simple Gifts” and other Shaker music are available from music scholar Roger Lee Hall at American Music Preservation. You can also listen to a few renditions of the song, hosted by the Running After my Hat blog, here, here, and here.
Attributed to Elder Joseph Brackett of the Alfred Shaker Ministry, June 28, 1848. Manuscript penned by Eldress Mary Hazzard of the New Lebanon Shaker Ministry. Alfred Shaker Museum
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