Poet. She was recognized as a 19th century Scottish poet, whose poems posthumously became the lyrics for the hymn "The Ninety and Nine" and the Easter hymn, "Beneath the Cross of Jesus." Born Elizabeth Cecilia Douglas Clephane, the third daughter of a Scottish sheriff, she had a vivid imagination as a child and wrote stories. She gained no monetary endowment for her writings. Described as a frail lady, she gave much to the poor and sick to the point that she often suffered. She wrote eight poems that were published posthumously, yet her second one "The Ninety and Nine," has become her most famous. The poem was inspired after the 1851 death of her oldest brother George or the "Lost Sheep", which was the original title of her poem. Leaving his family in Scotland, her brother had emigrated to Canada, facing a trouble-filled life. Her poem about the Biblical parable of one lost sheep, "The Ninety and Nine," was set to music, and the five-stanza hymn was sung as a spirit-filled solo by Ira D. Sankey during one of evangelist D. L. Moody 's sermons in Edinburgh in the mid-1870s. Many have made a pilgrimage of sorts to her brother's grave in respect of this hymn. Her poem "Beneath the Cross" was written in 1868 and published posthumously in 1872. Most of her poems were published in the magazine "The Children's Hour" or the 1876 collection, "Family Treasury." Her other published poems were "Dim Eyes Forever Closed," "Who Climbeth Up to High," "In His Summer Garden," "From My Dwelling Midst the Dead," "The Day is Drawing Nearly Done," and "Life Light Waneth to the End." As a maiden at age 39, she is buried with her parents and later a brass plaque in Clephane's honor was erected in the Melrose Abbey.
Poet. She was recognized as a 19th century Scottish poet, whose poems posthumously became the lyrics for the hymn "The Ninety and Nine" and the Easter hymn, "Beneath the Cross of Jesus." Born Elizabeth Cecilia Douglas Clephane, the third daughter of a Scottish sheriff, she had a vivid imagination as a child and wrote stories. She gained no monetary endowment for her writings. Described as a frail lady, she gave much to the poor and sick to the point that she often suffered. She wrote eight poems that were published posthumously, yet her second one "The Ninety and Nine," has become her most famous. The poem was inspired after the 1851 death of her oldest brother George or the "Lost Sheep", which was the original title of her poem. Leaving his family in Scotland, her brother had emigrated to Canada, facing a trouble-filled life. Her poem about the Biblical parable of one lost sheep, "The Ninety and Nine," was set to music, and the five-stanza hymn was sung as a spirit-filled solo by Ira D. Sankey during one of evangelist D. L. Moody 's sermons in Edinburgh in the mid-1870s. Many have made a pilgrimage of sorts to her brother's grave in respect of this hymn. Her poem "Beneath the Cross" was written in 1868 and published posthumously in 1872. Most of her poems were published in the magazine "The Children's Hour" or the 1876 collection, "Family Treasury." Her other published poems were "Dim Eyes Forever Closed," "Who Climbeth Up to High," "In His Summer Garden," "From My Dwelling Midst the Dead," "The Day is Drawing Nearly Done," and "Life Light Waneth to the End." As a maiden at age 39, she is buried with her parents and later a brass plaque in Clephane's honor was erected in the Melrose Abbey.
Bio by: Linda Davis
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