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CHAPTER III
" AULD LANG SYNE" " AULD LANG SYNE," though it owes its birth
to Scotchmen and to Scotland, has been so pop-ular for quite a hundred years with English-speaking people all the world over, that it may fairly rank as a lyric of universal sentiment and universal nationality. But contrary to the general belief, which, it must be acknowledged, editors of Burns's works have done their best to foster, " Auld Lang Syne" was not written by the author of "Tarn O'Shanter." And, as a matter of histoiy, Burns never once claimed the song as his, only his misguided and over-anxious friends and worshippers have done this, and consequently much confusion has arisen over the subject. It so happens that, like many another ballad that lives in the hearts of the people, this essentially human song was written by a writer unknown, who may perhaps have never written anything else worth remembering. In Scotland, as in Ireland, and to a lesser extent in England and Wales, many of the humbler
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