History[edit] 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. Should Old Acquaintance be forgot, and never thought upon; The flames of Love extinguished, and fully past and gone: Is thy sweet Heart now grown so cold, that loving Breast of thine; That thou canst never once reflect On Old long syne. CHORUS: On Old long syne my Jo, On Old long syne, That thou canst never once reflect, On Old long syne. 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 Years 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. A manuscript of Auld Lang Syne is held in the permanent collection of The Lilly Library at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.[8]
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 20:57:01 +0000