I recently wrote a short piece about my Grandmother’s picture (see sandradolby.com My Grandma’s Picture). At the end of that account, I mentioned her little tradition of singing the hymn “As pants the hart” as I dusted.  I’d like to say a little more about that song and about her choosing to sing it. The lyrics of the hymn are an adaptation of Psalm 42 which begins “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.”

The hart (deer or stag) that “pants” for cooling streams is being chased by hunters and longs for escape and a way to cool down. My grandmother knew the meaning of the words and of course the biblical context, but she chose to create an amusing pun, casting the word “pants” as a noun, in this case underpants.  American word usage usually means trousers when we say “pants,” but the British usually mean underpants when they say “pants.” I’m not sure why my grandmother (not British) made the connection with underwear upon hearing the word “pants.” In any case, I’ve always found the little pun a very endearing memory. 

I wrote out the opening tune as I remember her singing it.  It is a little different than the melody I found in various hymnbooks. But it is close—probably my faulty memory.  The tune is listed as a Scottish melody called Martyrdom in most hymnbooks.  The version above from the 1989 United Methodist Hymnal was arranged in four parts by Kenneth G. Finlay in 1882. I was excited to find that Handel had also composed an anthem with that title, but his version is a much more complex piece of music. I’ll attach some links that are relevant. The last is a bagpiper playing the tune most often associated with the hymn.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_Pants_the_Hart_(Handel)

http://folio.furman.edu/projects/anthems/pdf/As_Pants_the_Hart.pdf

https://adventisthymns.com/lyrics/113-as-pants-the-hart

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=471894110048464