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Frank C. Stanley's 1910 performance of Auld Lang Syne. Contains the first and last verse.
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"Auld Lang Syne" (Scots pronunciation: [???l(d) l???s?in]: note "s" rather than "z")[1] is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1788[2][3] and set to the tune of a traditional folk song (Roud # 6294). It is well known in many countries, especially in the English-speaking world; its traditional use being to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight. By extension, it is also sung at funerals, graduations and as a farewell or ending to other occasions. The international Boy Scout youth movement, in many countries, uses it as a close to jamborees and other functions.
The song's Scots title may be translated into English literally as "old long since", or more idiomatically, "long long ago",[4] "days gone by" or "old times". Consequently "For auld lang syne", as it appears in the first line of the chorus, might be loosely translated as "for (the sake of) old times".
The phrase "Auld Lang Syne" is also used in similar poems by Robert Ayton (1570?1638), Allan Ramsay (1686?1757), and James Watson (1711) as well as older folk songs predating Burns.[5] Matthew Fitt uses the phrase "In the days of auld lang syne" as the equivalent of "Once upon a time..." in his retelling of fairy tales in the Scots language.
Robert Burns sent a copy of the original song to the Scots Musical Museum with the remark, "The following song, an old song, of the olden times, and which has never been in print, nor even in manuscript until I took it down from an old man."[6] Some of the lyrics were indeed "collected" rather than composed by the poet; the ballad "Old Long Syne" printed in 1711 by James Watson shows considerable similarity in the first verse and the chorus to Burns' later poem,[5] and is almost certainly derived from the same "old song". It is a fair supposition to attribute the rest of the poem to Burns himself.[6]
There is some doubt as to whether the melody used today is the same one Burns originally intended, but it is widely used in Scotland and in the rest of the world.[3][7]
Singing the song on Hogmanay or New Year's Eve very quickly became a Scots custom that soon spread to other parts of the British Isles. As Scots (not to mention English, Welsh and Irish people) emigrated around the world, they took the song with them.
Canadian band leader Guy Lombardo is often credited with popularising the use of the song at New Year?s celebrations in America, through his annual broadcasts on radio and television, beginning in 1929. The song became his trademark. In addition to his live broadcasts, Lombardo recorded the song more than once. His first recording was in 1939. A later recording on 29 September 1947 was issued as a single by Decca Records as catalogue #24260.[8]
Earlier newspaper articles describe revellers on both sides of the Atlantic singing the song to usher in the New Year:
A manuscript of "Auld Lang Syne" is held in the permanent collection of The Lilly Library at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.[11]
The song begins by posing a rhetorical question as to whether it is right that old times be forgotten, and is generally interpreted as a call to remember long-standing friendships.[12] Thomson?s Select Songs of Scotland was published in 1799 in which the second verse about greeting and toasting was moved to its present position at the end.[12]
Most common use of the song involves only the first verse and the chorus. The last lines of both of these are often sung with the extra words "For the sake of" or "And days of", rather than Burns' simpler lines. This allows one note for each word, rather than the slight melisma required to fit Burns' original words to the melody.
The following table of lyrics includes the first few stanzas of the James Watson poem, probably derived from the same folk song that Burns used as the basis for his poem.
Complete lyrics | |||||
Old Long Syne, by James Watson (1711) | Burns? original Scots verse[4] | English translation (minimalist) |
Scots pronunciation guide (as Scots speakers would sound) |
IPA pronunciation guide[13] | Scottish Gaelic lyrics |
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Should Old Acquaintance be forgot,
My Heart is ravisht with delight,
Since thoughts of thee doth banish grief,
(several further stanzas) |
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And surely ye?ll be your pint-stowp !
We twa hae run about the braes,
We twa hae paidl?d i' the burn,
And there?s a hand, my trusty fiere !
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Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And surely you?ll buy your pint cup !
We two have run about the slopes,
We two have paddled in the stream,
And there?s a hand my trusty friend !
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Shid ald akwentans bee firgot,
An sheerly yil bee yur pynt-staup!
We twa hay rin aboot the braes,
We twa hay pedilt in the burn,
An thers a han, my trustee feer!
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??d o??ld ?.kw?n.t?ns bi f??.?ot,
?n ?e?r.li ji?l bi ju?? p?in.st?up!
wi two??? he? r?n ?.but ?? bre?z,
wi two??? he? pe.dlt ?n ?? b??n,
?n ?e?rz ? ho??n, m? tr?s.t? fi??!
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An c?ir seann luchd-e?lais dhol ? beachd,? Air sg?th an t?m a bh' ann a r?in, Bha sinne c?mhla feadh nam bruach Bu tr?th is anmoch sinn san allt? Mo charaid earbsach gabh mo l?mh, Gu cinnteach 's leat do bharail fh?in, |
? dine = "dinner time"
? ch = soft sound, at the back of the mouth like [k] but with the mouth partly open like /f/. Similar to "Bach" in German
* syne = "since" or "then" - pronounced "sign" rather than "zine".
The tune to which "Auld Lang Syne" is now commonly sung is a pentatonic Scots folk melody, probably originally a sprightly dance in a much quicker tempo.[12]
English composer William Shield seems to quote the "Auld Lang Syne" melody briefly at the end of the overture to his opera Rosina, which may be its first recorded use. The contention that Burns borrowed the melody from Shield is for various reasons highly unlikely, although they may very well both have taken it from a common source, possibly a strathspey called The Miller's Wedding or The Miller's Daughter. The problem is that tunes based on the same set of dance steps necessarily have a similar rhythm, and even a superficial resemblance in melodic shape may cause a very strong apparent similarity in the tune as a whole. For instance, Burns' poem Coming Through the Rye is sung to a tune that might also be based on the Miller's Wedding. The origin of the tune of God Save the Queen presents a very similar problem and for just the same reason, as it is also based on a dance measure.[14] (See the note in the William Shield article on this subject.)
In 1855, different words were written for the Auld Lang Syne tune by Albert Laighton and titled, "Song of the Old Folks." This song was included in the tunebook, Father Kemp's Old Folks Concert Tunes published in Boston, Massachusetts in 1860.[15]
Songwriter George M. Cohan quotes the first line of the "Auld Lang Syne" melody in the second to last line of the chorus of You're a Grand Old Flag. It is plain from the lyrics that this is deliberate.
John Philip Sousa quotes the melody in the Trio section of his 1924 march "Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company"
In the Sacred Harp choral tradition, an arrangement of it exists under the name "Plenary". The lyrics are a memento mori and begin with the words "Hark! from the tomb a doleful sound". Another Christian arrangement, once popular in India, is "Hail! Sweetest, Dearest Tie That Binds" by Amos Sutton.[16]
The University of Virginia's alma mater ("The Good Old Song") is also sung to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne".
"Auld Lang Syne" is traditionally sung at the conclusion of New Year gatherings in Scotland and around the world, especially in English-speaking countries.
It is common practice that everyone joins hands with the person next to them to form a great circle around the dance floor. At the beginning of the last verse, everyone crosses their arms across their breast, so that the right hand reaches out to the neighbour on the left and vice versa. When the tune ends, everyone rushes to the middle, while still holding hands. When the circle is re-established, everyone turns under the arms to end up facing outwards with hands still joined.
In countries other than Scotland the hands are often crossed from the beginning of the song at variance with Scottish custom. The Scottish practice was demonstrated by the Queen at the Millennium Dome celebrations for the year 2000. The English press berated her for not "properly" crossing her arms, unaware that she was correctly following the Scottish tradition.[17][18]
As well as celebrating the New Year, Auld Lang Syne is very widely used to symbolise other "endings/new beginnings" ? including farewells, funerals (and other memorials of the dead), graduations, the end of a (non-New Year) party or a Boy Scout gathering, the election of a new government, the last lowering of the Union Jack as a British Colony achieves independence and even the closing of a retail store. The melody is also widely used for other words, especially the songs of sporting and other clubs, and even national anthems. In Scotland and other parts of Britain, in particular, it is associated with celebrations and memorials of Robert Burns. The following list of specific uses is far from comprehensive.
Auld Lang Syne has been translated into many languages, and the song is widely sung in many parts of the world. The following particular examples mostly detail things that are special or unusual about the use of the song in a particular country.
The strong and obvious associations of the song and its melody have made it a common staple for film soundtracks from the very early days of "talking" pictures to the present - hundreds of films and television series' episodes have used it for background, generally but by no means exclusively to evoke the New Year.
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