auld lang syne ... non-plussed or minus-ed?

As the clock strikes 12 in transition from Old/to New Year, peoples all over the world will link arms for the next five minutes, raise their voices and sing/try to sing, sang, sunk Auld Lang Syne. Hey, it's the sporting spirit that counts, non-plus or minus Da Scottish Words. I guess'd Scot because it was one Robert Burns, a Scottish hero, who penned those lyrcis, but it was the tune that connects all the young, old and old-who-try-to-stay-forever-young Homo sapiens around the global village.

It time could be frozen still, mayhasp peAce will envelop this world in the deepest heart of hearts -- and we'll forget George Bush et al and Iraq, Afghanistan etc, Robert Mugabe and Out of Africa, never mind, I even forgot his country if ever there was one. I'd rather have Pak Lah and dear Malaysia because I steal have some mGf here to bring me tehtarik and Flowers and wits-o-gifting chocolates! Mama-mia, Oliver is coming to town, can I join him as Olivia -- or Olivetti also-can -- to demand for more? The 21st century child does not ask, he orders as a matter of human rights!


Just to educate myself, and some Britishers, I "googled"

AULD LANG SYNE — by Robert Burns

Before that, I must provide the RATIONALE.
My esteemed readers better get used to this word, and by now if you have not the faintest idea what it means, it's a shame -- on Me-lah, not Thee!
But t's a potential loss to you because when I throw some ChallengiA, you would be wanna be on the Winner's Rostrum, wont you? -- don't you enjoy the Bagpipes piping up the Victory March? (Confess: Desi doesn't know the tune to the march, to ALS yes, at least I learnt the lyrics by 'ear from Scouting -- or was it Guiding? - days. Mama-mia, I've really lost myself in the FuRong Maze -- if you ask what this is all about, polease visit the secondhand bookstore at Jaya Supermarket, 2nd Floor (I think, the nama is Pay Less...Of course, I get the usual 30%, this is Malaysia, not England, ok!), grab an Agatha Christie's, better steal specifically Ten Little Niggers, renamed TL Indians, now her inheriters are pondering latest nama -- TL Malaysians!
Okay, the mousey-RATionale for straying into ALS 48 hours late. Better late than pining forever.

From the Sunday Mail, page 4, comes this curio:

The song we love to forget

LONDON: We have all sung it, with hearts uplifted and
hands linked, to usher in the New Year.
Or rather we have all mumbled it. For a survey has
revealed that nine in 10 revellers don't know
the words to Auld Lang Syne.
When the clock struck 12 in homes and pubs
across the land, the first line --
Should auld acquaintance be forgot --
might come out right because around one in five
of us can get that far without making a mistake
with Robert Burns'cottish phrases.
But after that, the song which is sung is a
mixture of the right words, mumbles and individuals
making up their own version as they go along.
The survey of 2,000 Britons found that
everyone knows the tune and several of the words
and phrases but putting them together
seems to be a problem.
Eight=eight per cent could not recall
the right words to the whole song.
S'X percent admitted knowing none of the words.-DM

Don't a(r)s(e)k -- tryin' sum Scottish spekk here -- Desi what DM is, his mood this morn is not of New Year's Eve at Cinderalla hour, ok? And that's a rhetorical Q!
And if you have to ask what rhe ....ah, ne'er mind, too taxing, not on my ER,
on Desi who still has to write a script
whose deadline was also December 31, 2005 at midnite.
I wryly wrote back to my Mentor there was a typo in my earlier corres, should raed 20h0hS'X!:) ....... His response betwen :) and :(

Oky, back to googling; in the olde days, JPsc and Desi would have to walk five miles to the Gurney Library or Boys Home to look up the Encyclopaedtrician's reference to see what this Robert was burdnin' about.
The Music in Burns' composition is always played by Bagpipes by Men who attired like women (so cross-dressing is not a recent phenoMENon!)

The Words (Lyrics)
with translation2!


Auld Lang Syne

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o’ lang syne!

Chorus:
For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne!

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pu’d the gowans fine,
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary foot
Sin’ auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl’t in the burn
Frae morning 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’ stoup,
And surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne!
Da Translation!Yeah, to educate Ignoramuses like you (Confess2: Desi too!)

Times Long Gone

Should old acquaintances be forgotten,
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintances be forgotten,
And days of long ago !

Chorus:
For old long ago, my dear
For old long ago,
We will take a cup of kindness yet
For old long ago.

We two have run about the hillsides
And pulled the daisies fine,
But we have wandered many a weary foot
For old long ago.

We two have paddled (waded) in the stream
From noon until dinner time,
But seas between us broad have roared
Since old long ago.

And there is a hand, my trusty friend,
And give us a hand of yours,
And we will take a goodwill draught (of ale)
For old long ago!

And surely you will pay for your pint,
And surely I will pay for mine!
And we will take a cup of kindness yet
For old long ago!


In a note to George Thomson in 1793, Burns describes Auld Lang Syne: “The air is but mediocre; but the song of itself – the 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’s singing – is enough to recommend any air.” Part of the song is older than Burns but Burns did take credit for at least the two verses beginning, “We twa hae ran...” and “We twa had paidl't....”

Since this is a bagpipe-related web-site, the music is written as it would be played on the bagpipe.



The bagpipe has only nine notes (how hard can it be to play?) – Auld Lang Syne actually goes beyond the range of the bagpipe. The phrase ending, F#-F#-E-(A), should be an octave lower - the bagpipe can't play those low F# and E notes, so we substitute with the same notes but an octave higher.


One source lists the above tune as an old strathspey tune, found in Bremner’s Collection (about 1757). The music which Burns composed for this song was rejected by his publisher, and Burns then submitted an existing tune. Burns’ Auld Lang Syne was not published until 1796, after Burns’ death.

The Poet


Rabbie Burns
b. Jan 25, 1759
d. July 21, 1796


Rabbie Burns

Robert Burns, or Rabbie as he was known, was the son of a farmer, born in Alloway, Ayrshire, in the southwest of Scotland on January 25, 1759. He worked at several trades prior to turning to publishing his poetry as a source of income: first as a farmer which damaged his health and then as a flax weaver. He failed at both. He began writing poetry in 1784 and his first collection of poems The Kilmarnock edition (named for the city of publication), was published in 1786. In 1788, he began working as a tax collector while continuing to write poetry; he also collected, revised, and wrote folk songs. He married Jean Armour, the mother of one of his illegitimate children, and eventually died on July 21, 1796, aged 37.

Burns is famous for his poetry and his songs, some of which are: Comin’ Thro the Rye; Sweet Afton; Scots Wha Hae; Green Grow the Rashes; and A Red, Red, Rose. In addition there is The Selkirk Grace – a grace before meals and Address to a Haggis, both of which are used at Burns Suppers – Burns Night celebrations held around the anniversary of his birth in Scottish communities worldwide.

Now come to Teacher and confess:
(1) What percentage of the words you knew before reading my post?

(2) What percentage of the meAning of the words you understood before the Goggled Xplanation?

Just a reminder: Desi has got powerfool S'Xth SE'se!!