Happy 2011! Hoping all had a fantastic New Year’s and that any hastily, or thoughtfully, made resolutions haven’t quite been abandoned just yet….
I had, what I assume is, a very common New Year’s Eve experience. Gathered with friends, champagne, watched the ball drop, and muddled through the ol’ ditty “Auld Lang Syne”. Twas a giant, enthusiastic, tipsy group sing that came out a little like this:
“May old acquaintance be forgot.
And (mumbling) mmm –mm something something mind/find/hind/shined/twined (????)
May – (less sure mumbling) hmmm uh – quantinance all for not
And Old Lane Sign.
(now, with conviction)
Oh Old Lane Sign, my dear.
Or Old Lane Sign.
For something, something – oh my dear
And Old Lane Sign”
And repeat ad nauseum.
I’m sure you get the picture and have even experienced this. Everyone sort of tries random guessed-at words in the actual English section and then gets all loud, rousing, festive for “Auld Lang Syne” (as if to say Horray! We KNOW this part!) It’s like a rendition of happy birthday at a large corporate office when you get to “Happy Birthday, dear ???? ” that “????” is always fraught with disaster but the final “Happy Birthday to you” seems, more or less, to bring a mild sense of redemption.
Got me thinking. Auld Lang Syne is so ubiquitous this time of year. Everyone knows it (er, well, part of it). But no one REALLY knows it. I mean, what does it mean? Where’d it come from? Why is it so synonymous with New Year’s?
And, as I’ve been meaning to start up a blog, and am constantly saying “sure, but why?” to everything, like a precocious and oh so utterly irritating child – I decided that it was time to investigate. So upon consultation with the oracle, the most infallible of sources, the Internet, here’s what I found …
Auld Lang Syne actually comes from a poem taken down in the late 18th Century by Scottish poet Robert Burns (you may remember his poem A Red Red Rose from studying examples of simile in high school English class) – Burns transcribed this song, an old song of old times which had never been in print, from an elderly man and sent a copy to the Scots Musical Museum. It was in print in songbooks in the mid 19th Century, became a custom in Scotland, spread over to the British Isles and eventually spread to the rest of the world. Beyond that, who knows where it originally came from, but Auld Lang Syne roughly translates to “in days gone by” or “long, long ago” – a touching, contemplative sentiment for any new beginning. Things must be inevitably be lost as time marches forward, but thanks to Burns and others Auld Lang Syne doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.
Burns’ original poem is below. Granted – I must admit with some of those lyrics, especially as you approach the end, what can you do but murmur and mumble and hope for the best …
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to min’?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o’lang syne?
We twa hae run about the braes,
And pu'd the gowans fine;
But we've wander’d monie a weary fit
Sin' auld lang syne.
We twa hae paidled i' the burn,
Frae mornin’ sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin' auld lang syne.
And there's a hand, my trusty fiere,
And gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak a right guid-willie waught
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.
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
While the song has yet to be lost to posterity, I think the phrase “guid-willie waught” is definitely on its way out. But who knows, maybe we can bring it back. Next time you’re out with friends throw it out there “Hey bro, wanna grab a guid-willie waught. My bar finder app says there’s a spot with $2 P.B.R.s and free WiFi next door”. Oh yes, how it mellifluously rolls off the tongue, I can already feel it starting to regain its rightful place in the vernacular.
Happy 2011 everyone!
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