Being of Scottish descent, I suppose it's fitting that I really like 'Auld Lang Syne.' But one thing that's bothered me is that we rarely hear all the lyrics. Here they are:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days of auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For days of auld lang syne.

We twa hae run aboot the braes
And pou'd the gowans fine.
But we've wandered mony a weary fit,
Sin' days of auld lang syne.

An' we twa hae paidl'd in the burn,
From morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roared
Sin' auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet
Sin' auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint-stoup,
And surely I'll be mine
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne

And here's a hand my trusty fere,
And giés a hand of thine,
We'll tak'a richt gude willie waught,
For auld lang syne

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

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And for those of you for whom the lyrics are completely confusing, here's a glossary:

Glossary
aboot...........................about
braes...........................hillsides
braid...........................broad
burn............................stream
fit.............................foot
fere............................friend
gie’s...........................give me
gowans..........................red berries
gude............................good
hae (hay)......................have
mony (moany)....................many
paidl’d.........................paddled
pint-stoup......................tankard
pou’d...........................pulled
sin’............................since
gude willie-waught..............good will/draft of ale
pint-stoup......................pine flagon of ale
****************************

And a version in modern English:

The Days of Yore
Should we forget our former friends
By whom we set great store?
Should we forget the friends we’ve met
And the brave days of yore?

The days of yore. My dear
The days of yore,
We’ll tilt the jug and drain the mug
to the brave days of yore.

I fancy you could sink a pint
And I’ll take rather more
And we’ll both get tight with all our might
For the brave days of yore.

We two have wandered on the hills
And daisies pulled galore
But we’ve tired our feet on many a street
Since the brave days of yore.

We two have paddled in the brook
From noon to half-past four
But seas have lain betwixt us twain
Since the brave days of yore.

So let us grasp each other’s hand
And, as I said before
Our hearts we’ll cheer with honest beer
For the brave days of yore.

Glossary and English version found here (with a couple found here)

So now that you know the words, and what they mean, click here and sing along (by the way, if you like Celtic music, this version of the song came from this CD - it's really good, so pick up a copy for yourself).



Happy New Year!