The Waverley Gazette

Auld Lang Syne - why a song matters so much, and Robert Burns

Happy New Year!

We are big fans of tomorrow. And today. We celebrate the power of now. Such as it is. As a concept. And the day!

So - happy new year! Happy New Year!

We are fans of Robert Burns, as you know, and prepared a blog post about the traditional Scots song people sing on Hogmanay, ‘Auld Lang Syne’. ‘Auld Lang Syne’ is attributed to Robert Burns, who collected traditional folk songs and re-wrote the lyrics.

There are many versions of ‘Auld Lang Syne’.

One, in the archive, was written for The Masonic Lodge Burns belonged to. Another is the adaptation Burns wrote.

We noticed, on the morning of New Year’s Eve, that Dr. M. J. Grant of Edinburgh University had revealed her research on why she thinks we link arms when we sing ‘Auld Lang Syne.’ (The roots are masonic - her view is that the tradition in Masonic associations, linking arms to sing was the form)

Dr Grant’s book is available and published by OpenBook Publishers and is available to read free online.

Meanwhile, Ron Grosset, publisher of Waverley Books, gathered for us a variety of Robert Burns’ related files in the course of our work. One of which is the ‘Masonic Odes and Poems’ by Rob Morris LLD, 1864. As well as a ‘Tribute to Robert Burns’, and ‘Burns’ Farewell’, the Morris publication includes a ‘Masonic Auld-Lang-Syne’ which we thought we would share.