Old Acquaintances and New
No matter where you go in the world, on the stroke of midnight, someone, somewhere will begin a chorus of the now famous Robbie Burns “Auld Lang Syne” (Scots pronunciation: [ˈɔːld lɑŋˈsəin]: note “s” rather than “z”).
It began it’s life as a poem written by Burns in 1788 (with a few of the lyrics taken from a James Watson ballad from 1711 called “Old Long Syne”. The tune is a traditional Scottish folk song, and it quickly gained popularity in the U.K. as a song sung at the end of the year as well as at funerals.
Watson’s original ballard went somthing like this: Should Old Acquaintance be forgot l and never thought upon l The flames of Love extinguished l and fully past and gone l Is thy sweet Heart now grown so cold l that loving Breast of thine l That thou canst never once reflect l on Old long syne. (Chorus) On Old long syne my Jo l in Old long syne l That thou canst never once reflect l on Old long syne.
My Heart is ravisht with delight l when thee I think upon l All Grief and Sorrow takes the flight l and speedily is gone l The bright resemblance of thy Face l so fills this, Heart of mine l That Force nor Fate can me displease l for Old long syne (Chorus)
Since thoughts of thee doth banish grief l when from thee I am gone l will not thy presence yield relief l to this sad Heart of mine l Why doth thy presence me defeat l with excellence divine l Especially when I reflect on Old long syne (Chorus). Several other verses followed.
Burn’s version was set to the tune of a traditional folk song, Roud # 6294. The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of 300,000 references to over 21,600 songs that have been collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It was compiled by Steve Roud, a librarian in the London Borough of Croydon.
Burn’s original words were [sic] The chorus, “Should auld acquaintance be forgot l and never brought to mind l Should auld acquaintance be forgot l and auld lang syne.” For auld lang syne, my jo l for auld lang syne l we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet l for auld lang syne. And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp l and surely I’ll be mine l And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet l for auld lang syne (Chorus)
We twa hae run about the braes l and pu’d the gowans fine l But we’ve wander’d mony a weary foot l sin auld lang syne (Chorus) We twa hae paidl’d i’ the burn l frae morning sun till dine l But seas between us braid hae roar’d l sin auld lang syne (Chorus) And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere l and gie’s a hand o’ thine l And we’ll tak a right gude-willy waught l for auld lang syne (Chorus)
As Britons emigrated to other parts of the globe, the tradition spread, and took hold in the United States as early as 1896. It didn’t become a popular American staple until band leader Guy Lombardo played the tune during his year-end radio broadcast in 1929.
The title of the tune literally translates to “Old Long Since,” though people readily accept “Long Long Ago” or “In Olden Times” as reasonable transpositions. These days they mostly only sing the first verse: “Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind l Should old acquaintance be forgot and days of auld lang syne l For auld lang syne my dear l For auld lang syne l We’ll take a cup of kindness yet l For auld lang syne.”
I’m reminded that acquainting oneself (in the ‘olden’ days) or connecting (in this ‘modern’ era) is about a single abiding fact. People staying in touch with each other. Why does singing ‘Old Lang Syne’ in a room full of strangers instantly give, some, or new best friends a sense of kindredness?
Is it purely a melancholy bore from so much licentious revel? Or is it simply a reminder that fundamentally we humankind were made for relationship. Call it cosmic or not, we are, unmistakably made for and to be in relationship with people, with the world in which we live. It seems to me, to be an inescapable truth.
