Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne: A Song History

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Emily Elizabeth Steele Elliott (1836–1897) wrote “Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne” in 1864 for St. Mark’s Church, Brighton, and that year it was printed privately for use by the church’s choir and schools.[1] She was the daughter of the Rev. Edward B. Elliott, and St. Mark’s was her father’s parish.[2][3][4] According to Discipleship Ministries, the hymn was meant to help children understand Advent and the Nativity, and it draws on Luke 2:7, setting the glory Christ gave up beside his humble birth before its refrain answers the full inn with a request for room in the singer’s own heart.[4]

Engraving of the Nativity, with Mary, Joseph and shepherds around the infant beneath a ruined arched building.

Nicoletto da Modena, The Nativity and Adoration of the Shepherds, engraving, early 16th century. Shown for its subject; it has no connection to the hymn.

Elliott was a niece of Charlotte Elliott, the writer of “Just As I Am.”[2][4] She edited the Church Missionary Juvenile Instructor for several years (six, according to Discipleship Ministries), and in 1870 she published the hymn in its pages.[1][2][4] She later revised the text for her collection Chimes for Daily Service (1880).[1][3]

Its usual tune, MARGARET, was composed and named for these words by Timothy R. Matthews, and the two were published together in Children’s Hymns and Tunes in 1876.[3] Matthews was an English clergyman who wrote more than a hundred hymn tunes.[4] The tune is sometimes called ELLIOTT, and Hymnary.org regards it as the only one still sung with the text, though some books have used others, such as VENI and ROOM FOR THEE.[1][3] Larry Conger arranged it for Hymns For Chromatic Mountain Dulcimer, a Fingers Of Steel book of sixteen gospel hymns in DAD tuning, written out in standard notation and tablature.[5]

Our book that contains the song "Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne"

Sources

  1. Hymnary.org: "Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne".
  2. Christian Classics Ethereal Library: "Hymn Writers of the Church: Emily Elizabeth Steele Elliott".
  3. Hymnary.org: "Featured Hymn: Though Didst Leave Thy Throne and Thy King".
  4. Discipleship Ministries: "History of Hymns: 'Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne'".
  5. Fingers Of Steel: "Larry Conger, Hymns For Chromatic Mountain Dulcimer".
  6. Image: Nicoletto da Modena, The Nativity and Adoration of the Shepherds, engraving, early 16th century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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