Work record

Auld Lang Syne

Robert Burns

1788 (published 1796) · 18th Century · Poetry · English

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Abstract

Written: Sent to James Johnson in 1788; published in The Scots Musical Museum, 1796
Setting: Late eighteenth century, looking back on childhood; Scotland (the braes and burns of the friends' youth)
Author: Robert Burns
Country: Kingdom of Great Britain (Scotland, United Kingdom)
Language: Scots
Genre: Song (Scots lyric)
Form: Five four-line verses with a chorus, in ballad meter
Recommended: Grades 3–12 (Short song; sing it.)

Background. Burns contributed this text to a large printed anthology of national airs edited by James Johnson. He described it as an old song he had recorded from an elderly singer, though modern editors regard most of the verses as his own work.

Content. Two companions meet after many years. The opening rhetorical question about forgetting is answered by a toast. They recall roaming the hillsides gathering daisies and wading in a brook all day, and admit how far and how long they have travelled apart since, with oceans between them. They clasp hands and drink once more to the past they share.

Form. Simple common-measure quatrains and a repeated chorus make it easy to sing in a crowd; the Scots vocabulary is small and concrete.

Themes. The lyric treats remembrance as a duty of affection. Its memories are small and physical, a hillside, a stream, a long morning, and its sorrow is only the distance years and travel put between people. The handshake and shared drink of the final verse renew a bond rather than merely recalling it, which is why the song suits farewells and fresh starts alike.

For students. Suitable even for young grades: learn the full song, define the Scots words, and talk about loyal friendship and the duty of remembering.

Main characters

The singer: A man greeting an old friend
The trusty fere: The friend of his youth

Summary

Auld Lang Syne is the song Burns sent in 1788 to James Johnson for The Scots Musical Museum, a collection of Scottish songs to which he contributed hundreds of texts. He told friends he had taken it down from an old man's singing, and some lines do echo older songs, but the stanzas as we know them are largely his. It was printed in 1796, the year he died, and was later set to the tune now sung around the world. The phrase auld lang syne means old long since, or days long ago. The song opens with two questions: should old acquaintance be forgotten and never brought to mind? The chorus answers by raising a cup of kindness for the sake of old times. The verses that follow are a dialogue of memory between two old friends. They once ran about the hillsides and picked daisies; they paddled in the stream from morning sun till dinner time; but since then they have wandered many a weary foot, and broad seas have roared between them. The last stanza joins hands: here is my hand, my trusty friend, give me a hand of yours, and let us drink a good-will draught for the sake of old times. The song is about friendship surviving time and distance, and it says so without sentimentality, through small physical memories of childhood. It is sung at New Year's Eve, at partings and at reunions in Scotland and far beyond, usually with crossed hands in the last verse. Students should notice that most people sing only the first verse and chorus; the full song gives a fuller picture of two lives that have gone separate ways and come back together, and it rewards being learned whole.

Virtues in this work

Friendship: The song honours lasting friendship that survives time and distance.
Charity: The cup of kindness and the joined hands show goodwill renewed between old friends.

Plot or Argument

Verse 1 and chorus
Should old friends be forgotten? No: we will drink a cup of kindness for old times.
Verse 2
Each friend will pay for his own drink, a cheerful note of equality between them.
Verses 3-4
Memories of running on the hills and paddling in the stream, followed by long separation across seas.
Verse 5
The friends join hands and drink a good-will toast to the past.

Characters

The singer, old friend
One of two friends reunited after long years.
The trusty fere, addressee
The old companion whose hand he takes.

Lessons

Faithful friendship
The song says old friends should not be forgotten. Remembering is an act of loyalty.
- What do the two friends remember?
- Why does the song use childhood memories rather than big events?
- Who is an old friend you should remember?
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Time and distance
Seas have roared between the friends, yet the bond holds.
- What separates them?
- What brings them together again?
- How can friendships last across distance?
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Joining hands
The final verse turns memory into an action: taking hands.
- Why does the song end with a handshake?
- Why do people cross hands when singing it?
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Context

Burns spent much of his later life collecting, repairing and writing Scottish songs for James Johnson's Scots Musical Museum (1787-1803) and George Thomson's Select Scottish Airs. Older songs using the phrase auld lang syne existed, including one by Allan Ramsay.

Composition

Sent to Johnson in 1788 and to Mrs Agnes Dunlop the same year; published in volume 5 of the Museum in 1796, later printed by Thomson to the now-familiar tune.

Reception

It became the traditional song of Hogmanay (Scottish New Year) and spread through the English-speaking world as the song of farewells and new beginnings.

Friendship Memory / Time Childhood Home Exile

Comparisons

A Red, Red Rose
Another Burns song shaped from older material, about love that lasts through time.
John Anderson, My Jo
Another Burns song of lifelong companionship, between husband and wife.

Quotes

Frequently cited

“Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind?”

— Robert Burns, Auld Lang Syne, Verse 1 (Gutenberg #1279: Poems and Songs of Robert Burns (chronological arrangement)).Quote card

Beyond Good and Evil, Part Four, §68
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Frequently cited

“We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet, For auld lang syne.”

— Robert Burns, Auld Lang Syne, Chorus (Gutenberg #1279: Poems and Songs of Robert Burns (chronological arrangement)).Quote card

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Twenty Years After, Chapter XXVIII (The Place Royale)
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The Heroes; or, Greek Fairy Tales for My Children, The Argonauts, Part VI
Medeia appears to make an old ram young in her cauldron and tricks Pelias's daughters; the songs say she restored Jason's father.

“But seas between us braid hae roar’d Sin’ auld lang syne.”

— Robert Burns, Auld Lang Syne, Verse 4 (Gutenberg #1279: Poems and Songs of Robert Burns (chronological arrangement)).Quote card

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Henry V, Act I, Scene I
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For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

The two questions in the first verse and the chorus's answer.
Concrete childhood memories: braes, gowans, burn.
The seas between the friends.
The handshake in the last verse.

Key terms and names

Auld lang syne: Scots for old long since: times long past.
Gowans: Scots for daisies, picked by the friends as children.
Burn: Scots for a small stream or brook.
Fere: Scots for a companion or comrade.

Seminar Questions

Comprehension What question begins the song?
Comprehension What did the friends do as children?
Interpretation Why does the song mention seas roaring between them?
Interpretation What does the cup of kindness stand for?
Interpretation Why is the song sung at the turning of the year?
Big Question Why does it matter to remember old friends?

Faith Connections

Proverbs 27:10 (Scripture)
Do not forsake your own friend or your father's friend: Scripture also honours old friendship.
Proverbs 18:24 (Scripture)
There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother; the song celebrates such loyalty.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Old friends should not be forgotten; the friends shared childhood and then long separation; so they renew their friendship with a toast and a handshake.

Rhetorical device: refrain. The phrase for auld lang syne closes every verse and the chorus, tying each memory to the theme of old times.

Debate: Resolved: that old friendships deserve more care than new ones.

Memory Work

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind?
Verse 1. The opening lines are sung worldwide each New Year.

We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet, For auld lang syne.
Chorus. The chorus is easy to memorise and sums up the song.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Show how the song uses small memories to say something large about friendship.

Comparison with John Anderson, My Jo: Compare the friendship of the two old companions with the marriage in John Anderson, My Jo.

Creative Prompts

Classroom
Learn and sing all five verses, then translate each verse into plain modern English.
Poetry
Write a verse about a childhood memory you share with a friend, ending with the line For auld lang syne.
Essay
Why has this song become the song of New Year's Eve around the world?