| Share page | Visit Us On FB |
|
FAMOUS SONGS
from the old fragment which will appear in the ' Museum/ vol. v." Of this " old fragment" I shall have something to say later. But it may be as well to state that it is very evident that there were several verbal versions of this song long known to the peasantry and others of Caledonia stern and wild. It wks decidedly a folk-song, and though it is not easy to conjec-ture when, or how " Auld Lang Syne" arose as a form of speech or song, its introduction into literature is not so problematical. Somewhat more than a century ago—on the 17th Decem-ber, 1788—Mrs.Dunlop,of Dunlop,the daughter of Sir Thomas Wallace of Craigie, and a de-scendant of the heroic race of Elderslie, received from Burns a letter, in which the following passages occurred : " Your meeting, which you so well describe, with your old schoolfellow and friend, was truly interesting. Out upon the ways of the world! they spoil these social off-springs of the heart. Two veterans of the world would have met with little more heart-workings than two old hacks worn out on the road. Apropos, is not the Scot's phrase, 'Auld Lang Syne' exceedingly expressive? There is an old song and tune which has often thrilled through my soul. You know I am an enthusiast on old Scot songs. I shall give you
51 |
||