"AULD LANG SYNE."
TO THS EDITOR* OF THE PRESS.
Sir, —In the book which I have of "Scottish Songs," by John McKay, the line referred to in your Topic reads: "And we'll tak' a right quid willie-waught." There is a footnote to the song as follows:—This world-renowned song ia always included among the soags of Robert Burns. He did not himself claim the authorship of it. In a letter to Thomson, he says: ""One song, more, and I have done. 'Auld Laug Syne.'—Tie air is but mediocre, but the following song, the old song of the olden time, and which has never been in print, nor even in manuscript, until I took it down from an old man singing, is enough to recommend any air." *. . . It
is curious to reflect that the most popular song ever written in these islands, tlhat of "Auld Lang Syne," ia ananymous, and that we know no more of the author of the music than we do of the author of the words. It is equally curious to reflect that so much of Burns's great fame rests upon this song, in which his share amounts only to a few emendations— Yours, etc., GEO. G ; STEAD.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19030114.2.61
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Press, Volume LX, Issue 11481, 14 January 1903, Page 8
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200"AULD LANG SYNE." Press, Volume LX, Issue 11481, 14 January 1903, Page 8
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