Auld Lang Syne, O My Luve’S Like a Red, Red Rose, Ye Banks and Braes, and Scots Wha Hae

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Auld Lang Syne, O My Luve’S Like a Red, Red Rose, Ye Banks and Braes, and Scots Wha Hae

A guid New Year tae yin an aw ROBERT BURNS (1759-1796) The most famous and best-loved Scottish poet was asked in 1786 if he would help to collect old Scottish songs for The Scots Musical Museum. He responded with an energy and enthusiasm that were to last until his death. He collected, amended and wrote some 200 songs, which include many of his best lyrics, such as Auld Lang Syne, O My Luve’s Like a Red, Red Rose, Ye Banks and Braes, and Scots Wha Hae. Burns said that he collected Auld Lang Syne “from an old man’s singing”, but most people think the words were mainly by Burns himself, although a quite similar chorus had long been in print. Auld Lang Syne is traditionally sung at the chiming of New Year around the world, and has been translated into many languages. At Hogmanay in Scotland it is common practice that everyone joins hands with the person next to them to form a great circle on the dance floor. At the beginning of the last verse (And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere! / And gies a hand o’ thine !) everyone crosses their arms across their breast, so that the right hand reaches out to the neighbour on the left and vice versa. When the tune ends, everyone rushes to the middle, while still holding hands. When the circle is re-established, everyone turns under the arms to end up facing outwards with hands still joined. But not this year, we trust. On 29 January 2020 Auld Lang Syne was sung by the members of the European Parliament when the Brexit withdrawal agreement was passed. .

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ROBERT BURNS and PASTORAL This Page Intentionally Left Blank Robert Burns and Pastoral
ROBERT BURNS AND PASTORAL This page intentionally left blank Robert Burns and Pastoral Poetry and Improvement in Late Eighteenth-Century Scotland NIGEL LEASK 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX26DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With ofﬁces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York # Nigel Leask 2010 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2010 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available Typeset by SPI Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by MPG Books Group, Bodmin and King’s Lynn ISBN 978–0–19–957261–8 13579108642 In Memory of Joseph Macleod (1903–84), poet and broadcaster This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgements This book has been of long gestation.
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