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apprentice
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| Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2005 3:34 am
Post subject: auld lane syne |
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What does it mean?
Pawel
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Molly Mockford
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2005 4:16 am
Post subject: Re: auld lane syne |
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At 21:34:48 on Thu, 1 Dec 2005, apprentice <mailpawel@wp.pl> wrote in
<d500b$438f5e6f$d4ba586d$18701@news.chello.pl>:
| Quote: | What does it mean?
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It's Scots (or Lallands) rather than "English English". It should be
"auld lang syne", not "auld lane syne", and it means, literally, "old
long since" or, idiomatically, "a long time ago".
It is regularly mis-pronounced by the English, who seem to think that
"syne" should be pronounced as "zyne". In fact, it's pronounced exactly
the same as "sign". "Auld" is pronounced to rhyme with "bald" and
"lang", as you would probably guess, to rhyme with "sang".
Robert Burns wrote a song called "Auld Lang Syne" (based on an older
Jacobite song) which the Scots sing on various traditional occasions.
During the first verse and chorus, people stand in a circle holding
hands with their neighbours. During the second verse, they cross their
arms so that their right hand holds the left hand of the person on the
left, and vice versa. (Again, I'm afraid the English usually get this
wrong, and start off in the second-verse position.) The change in arm
position is made during the lines:
"And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
And gie's a hand o' thine!"
which means
"And there's a hand, my trusty friend!
And give me a hand of yours!"
--
Molly Mockford
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety - Benjamin Franklin
(My Reply-To address *is* valid, though may not remain so for ever.) |
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Nick Wagg
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| Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2005 5:13 pm
Post subject: Re: auld lane syne |
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"Molly Mockford" <nospamnobody@mollymockford.me.uk> wrote in message
news:AlvIFa5Ch2jDFwtJ@molly.mockford...
| Quote: | At 21:34:48 on Thu, 1 Dec 2005, apprentice <mailpawel@wp.pl> wrote in
During the second verse, they cross their
arms so that their right hand holds the left hand of the person on the
left, and vice versa. (Again, I'm afraid the English usually get this
wrong, and start off in the second-verse position.) The change in arm
position is made during the lines:
"And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
And gie's a hand o' thine!"
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That's probably because most of us Sassenachs didn't even know
of a second verse. Thank you for putting us right.
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Peter Duncanson
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2005 8:17 pm
Post subject: Re: auld lane syne |
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On Thu, 1 Dec 2005 21:16:50 +0000, Molly Mockford
<nospamnobody@mollymockford.me.uk> wrote:
| Quote: |
Robert Burns wrote a song called "Auld Lang Syne" (based on an older
Jacobite song) which the Scots sing on various traditional occasions.
During the first verse and chorus, people stand in a circle holding
hands with their neighbours. During the second verse, they cross their
arms so that their right hand holds the left hand of the person on the
left, and vice versa. (Again, I'm afraid the English usually get this
wrong, and start off in the second-verse position.)
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As for example at the beginning of 2000 in the Millennium Dome in
London. Most people were getting it wrong except the Queen who was
patronisingly shown the "correct" way by Tony Blair.
| Quote: | The change in arm
position is made during the lines:
"And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
And gie's a hand o' thine!"
-- |
Peter Duncanson
UK (posting from u.c.l.e) |
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Molly Mockford
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2005 2:25 am
Post subject: Re: auld lane syne |
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At 21:16:50 on Thu, 1 Dec 2005, Molly Mockford
<nospamnobody@mollymockford.me.uk> wrote in
<AlvIFa5Ch2jDFwtJ@molly.mockford>:
| Quote: | It's Scots (or Lallands)
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Whoops, just noticed embarrassing typo. Of course it's Lallans, not
Lallands!
--
Molly Mockford
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety - Benjamin Franklin
(My Reply-To address *is* valid, though may not remain so for ever.) |
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Paul Burke
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2005 6:16 pm
Post subject: Re: auld lane syne |
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Molly Mockford wrote:
| Quote: |
Of course it's Lallans, not
Lallands!
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Lallands away, my John! |
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