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•'' AULD LANG SYNE,"—ITS ORIGIN, POETRY, and MUSIC. by JAMES DICK, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE

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•'' AULD LANG SYNE, " AULD LANG SYNE " : ITS ORIGIN, POETRY, AND MUSIC. 379 IV. •'' AULD LANG SYNE,"—ITS ORIGIN, POETRY, AND MUSIC. By JAMES DICK, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE. COMMUNICATE ALEXY B D . WOOD INGLIS, F.S.A. SCOT. E EARLTH Y POEMS. thay muco sa t to o " t ht Aul Perhapno ds i Lan t i s g Syne th e s "i best know mosd nan t widely diffused e civilisesonth n gi d worlde Th . use of the sacred song " Old Hundred" is limited by differences of e Nationa th sectd tha f an o ,t l Anthem savd e Queen"th Go e s i " confined to subjects of the British Empire. But sectarianism and nationalit parochiae yar comparison i l wide th eno t domai f humanitno y embrace "y d b Aul d Lang brethreSyne.r Ou " evern ni y quartee th f o r earth kno t i wbette ro ourselves d tha e I hav w nd ean ;hear a d mixed company of Scots, English, Germans, Italians, and French Swiss sing the chorus in an upland hotel in Switzerland. The poetry and the music of the song as now known, have been developed from poetry and music which existed previously. In both its parts, it is an example of e evolutioth t shouli f f art I o nthoughe b d. t that this view deprives Robert Burns of the merit of originality, then so far as Shakspeare has plagiarised " Eome Julietand o Italia" old fro mnan taleHandeand , l has cribbed the " Hailstone " chorus from Carissimi's " Jonah," Burns is e samth e n t i pedantrlistBu . f thi o ye brushe b s y sorma dt aside. What all the three named artists touched they embellished,—they found dry bones and breathed into them life. It is the purpose of this paper to trace the development of the poetry and music of a world-wide song, the representative of a form of literature which has always existed, and which has stirred human emotion in every age, in spite of contempt continually poure. it n do The earliest germ of the song " Auld Lang Syne " is found in an anonymous poem of the 15th century, which George Bannatyne inserted 156n i 8 intwell-knows hi o n manuscrip f Scottiso t e hth poetryn i w ,no Advocates' poeLibrarye titlth e mf eTh o ". Aul d kindnes Foryett,s "i 380 . PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 9, 1892. in modern Scottish " [Should] auld acquaintance [be] forgot,"—the e subsequenfirsth l t al lin f eo t e subjectpoemth n o s . Thi poemd ol s , beginning " Thi fenyeit sbo warll tal fais di r eigh"n i t stanza f eighso t lines s cataloguei , f " o n pagMemorial o d9 5 e f Georgo s e Bannatyne. Edinburgh, 1829," and is written on folio 805 of the manuscript. It is n straitenei e soliloqu th e on f do y circumstances, whose conditios i n much aggravate y reflectionb de ingratitudth n o s f thoso o e wh e professed themselves friends in his former prosperous days. The verses of this unknown writer have considerable merit, and Lord Hailes inserted the m"n i Ancient Scottish Poems. Edinburgh, 1770. fifte hTh stanz" a may be quoted as a specimen of the poetry of the latter part of the 15th n exampla centure e beginnins th th a e 16thf r th o d o ey an f ,o g masculin eScotd strengtol e s th languag f ho e :— hale " m sThe d witywa h hud hattd ean , Quhyle I wes riche and had anewch, About me i'riendis anew I gatt, Kycht blythli tbae m y n lewceo h: thew yno t ma t Bo kwondii r tewch, And latti stane sm d befoi yette th r : Thairfoir this warl vers di y frewch, And auld kynclnes is quyt foryett." The second song on the subject known to exist, is printed in Watson's collectio Scottisf no h poems publishe 1711dn i , entitled "Old Longsyne." It consists of twelve stanzas of eight lines, and is written throughout in English, with the exception of the term " Syne " which occurs in every stanza e authot e knownpoe Th th no s bee .t ms i ha r nbu , ascribeo t d r EoberSi t Aytoun courtiea , well-knowd ran n poetfolloweo wh , d James e Sixtth subsequentlEnglando o ht wh d an , y became private secretaro yt e Queenth . Internal evidence, however authore th s againss i ,a , m hi t for he did not live in rebellious times, as referred to in one of the' verses. It is more generally believed to be the work of Francis Sen: pill of Beltrees, who lived in the middle of the seventeenth century, one of a family which produced poet r foufo s r successive generationse Th . earliest account of this distinguished family is of ." Johne the Danser," whom Knox describes wit s wifhhi e " Mary Levingston surnamie th t " AULD LANG SYNE ORIGINS IT ": , POETEY MUSICD 1 38 AN , . Lusty," who danced to so much purpose that Queen Mary bestowed land e Regen himn sTh o . t Morton subsequently attempte disposseso dt s him, on the ground that Crown lands could not be alienated, but was unsuccessful. Francis Sempill was the most interesting of his tribe, e authorshi th d assigne m ha r hi bes s f threou o o pha t d t f o e h d an humorou bridal,e th s o a s t songs'in, u e ros"la e d t m "t" ean le Sh , y "F and " Maggy Lauder," all of which were turned into Anglo-Scottish by the Durfey school of rhymers with most indifferent success. e styl th f Francio ee n poemi Th l s al . d Longsyne "t a Ol t no s i " manuscripa n i Sempills i t i t t boobu , k containin s poem s hi gsaidi t i s, and he has the best claim to be considered the author. It is inserted l professedlal n i y good collection f Scottisso h songs beginsd an , — " Shoul acquaintancd dol forgote eb , And never thought upon ?" accounn a e riva r th f lFo o tclaimant s Aytou Sempilld nan respece se , - tively "The Poemr EoberSi f so t Aytoun Charley b , s Eogers. London, privately printed, 1871, "Thd "an e Poeme Sempillth f o s f Beltreeso s , by James Paterson. Edinburgh, 1849." The third song is that of Allan Eamsay, entitled " Auld Lang Syne," beginning-— " Should anld acquaintance be forgot, Tho' they return with scars ?" —which he printed in the first volume of his " Tea Table Miscellany," publishe s n ii 1724di n t fivI .e stanza f eigho s t e samlinesth f eo , measure as the previous song, and is written in English, with the exception of one or two words. It is so well known and has been so often printed, that therneeo n s dei t lengthhera t refeo i et o t .r E MODERTH N SONG. firsThe t recorpresenthe dof t well-known sonRoberin gis t Burns' s frien letteDunlops hi o Mr dt r , dated December 17, 1788, whereie h n enclose versese copa th r f yo dhe , saying , son d tund "ol Ther gan en a s ei . PROCEEDING2 38 E SOCIETYTH 9 Y ,F O 1892SMA , . which lias often thrilled throug apostrophisee soul,y h hm d "an thesn i t di e words heaven-inspirebrease ,e "th th tur e f Lightn o tth o f e li d poeo wh t composed this glorious fragment! " Five years afterwards—letter, Sep- tember, 1793—he sent a copy of the song to George Thomson,, who then projectins wa e issucollectioa gth f eo Scottisf no h songs, with music, with a note that the air was mediocre, but that the song he sent was a song of the olden time, which never was in print, nor even in manviscript, until he took it down from an old man singing,— adding that the poetry was enough to recommend any air. About the same time he sent another copy to James Johnson for the now celebrated Standard Collection of Scottish Songs "e Scot,th s Musical Museumprintes publishewa d t i dan d ; "an d for the first time in December 1796, in the fifth volume of that work, about five months after Burns died. A verbatim copy of the verses wil givee close b l th f thi t eo na s paper. Burns became first acquainted with Johnson in Edinburgh at one of the meetings of the Crochallan Fencibles' Club in 1788. A very large number of Burns' songs were first printe Johnson'dn i s Collection, man whicf yo h were inserted anonymously by the directions of Burns himself. Subsequently he informed Johnson that the songs so marked he had given to the world as old verses, but tha facn i t t little more tha e choruth n f theo s ancients mwa , though there was no reason to tell everybody this piece of intelligence. It is now known for certain that he was the author of " Up in the morning early," owem "I' r youn marro gt y yet," "Strathallan's lament, lovel"e "Th y lass of Inverness, highlands,heart'e "y "th M n i s " " M'Pherson's farewell," " My bonie Mary," and a number of others, although all these were published anonymously in the Museum.
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