Auld Lang Syne

"Auld Lang Syne" (Scots pronunciation: [ˈɔːl(d) lɑŋ ˈsəi̯n])[a][1] is a Scottish song. In the English-speaking world it is traditionally sung to bid farewell to the old year at the stroke of midnight on Hogmanay/New Year's Eve. It is also often heard at funerals and graduations and as a farewell or ending to other occasions; for instance, many branches of the Scouting movement use it to close jamborees and other functions.[2][3]

The text is a Scots-language poem written by Robert Burns in 1788,[4][5] but based on an older Scottish folk song. In 1799 it was set to a traditional pentatonic tune, which has since become standard. "Auld Lang Syne" is listed as numbers 6294 and 13892 in the Roud Folk Song Index.

Its Scots title may be translated into standard English as "old long since" or, less literally, "long long ago",[6] "days gone by", "times long past" 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.[7]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ Rennie, Susan (ed.). "Lang Syne". Dictionary of the Scots Language. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Honeck was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "The End of The Jamboree". Manchester Guardian. 9 August 1920. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Robert Burns – Auld Lang Syne". BBC. 23 April 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  5. ^ "The History and Words of Auld Lang Syne". Scotland.org. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  6. ^ Burns, Robert (1947) [Transcribed 1788]. Maine, George Frederick (ed.). Songs from Robert Burns 1759–1796 (leather-bound sextodecimo). Collins Greetings Booklets (in English and Scots). Glasgow: Collins Clear-Type Press. pp. 47–48. This book was purchased at Burns Cottage, and was reprinted in 1967, and 1973.
  7. ^ "nls.uk". nls.uk. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.