Auld Lang Syne

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 
And never brought to mind? 
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 
And auld lang syne. 

Chorus: 
For auld lang syne, my jo, 
For auld lang syne, 
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet, 
For auld lang syne, 

And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp! 
And surely I'll be mine! 
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet, 
For auld lang syne. 

Chorus 

We twa hae run about the braes 
And pu'd the gowans fine; 
But we've wander'd mony a weary foot 
Sin auld lang syne. 

Chorus 

We twa hae paidl'd i' the burn, 
Frae mornin' sun till dine; 
But seas between us braid hae roar'd 
Sin auld lang syne. 

Chorus 

And there's a hand, my trusty fiere! 
And gie's a hand o' thine! 
And we'll tak a right guid willy waught, 
For auld lang syne. 

Chorus

 

This nostalgic look back at a long friendship has become synonymous with the end of things - an evening, a life, a year...  Robert Burns collected a version of this song, and reworked it, or added to it. The exact details are unknown, but he championed this and many other - perhaps as many as 600 tunes and songs that he collected, and preserved and re-set. Many of them were submitted to the Scots Musical Museum and six volume publication that spanned from the 1780 in the early 1800s.  Vol. V was published in 1899, a few months after Burns's death, though he had seen and worked on the proofs. The tune is related to another that published 20 years earlier with similar sentiment, but we don't know exactly how Burns came to this tune. It was set like this:

Burns had submitted it to the publisher at least 10 years earlier and it had not made it into the earlier volumes so in the meantime he had sent it to another of his publishers. That volume too was published after his death, but this time the publisher had changed the tune to a dance tune - the one we commonly hear today. Of course Burn's knew nothing of this, and we don't know how he would have felt, but the slower, more reflective (at least to me) first tune seems so well suited to the text!

At any rate, we will learn this older, Vol. V, tune at the Wednesday Dec. 29th Salon, and it is available for purchase at all the usual spots including www.harpstart.com/demand-music.  (If you're coming to the Salon you don't need to purchase - just email me!)

And do tak a cup wi' me - for auld lang syne!

 

 

 

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