{"id":9286,"date":"2024-01-25T00:29:40","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T05:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/?p=9286"},"modified":"2024-01-25T00:29:40","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T05:29:40","slug":"old-long-since","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/old-long-since\/","title":{"rendered":"Old Long Since"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We began the month singing “Auld Lang Syne”<\/strong><\/a> as New Year’s Eve welcomed in a new year, and now, close to January’s close, we get to sing it again. It is Burns Night: the night we celebrate the birth of Scottish poet Robert Burns. Rabbie Burns wrote many songs, and there is nothing in particular about “Auld Lang Syne” that makes it a New Year’s song, and yet it has fallen into place there at the start of the year. And as much as we tend to think of the new year as a time to look ahead, January, named for the Roman god Janus, who looks both forward and backward, has long been seen as a time for remembering. This is what Rabbie Burns’ song is all about, for the words auld lang syne<\/em> translate essentially to old long since<\/em>, or old times<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,<\/em>
\nand never brought to mind?<\/em>
\nShould auld acquaintance be forgot,<\/em>
\nand auld lang syne?<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
For auld lang syne, my jo,<\/em>
\nfor auld lang syne,<\/em>
\nwe\u2019ll tak a cup o\u2019 kindness yet,<\/em>
\nfor auld lang syne.<\/em><\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

And there\u2019s a hand, my trusty fiere!<\/em>
\nand gie\u2019s a hand o\u2019 thine!<\/em>
\nAnd we\u2019ll tak a right gude-willy waught,<\/em>
\nfor auld lang syne.<\/em><\/p>\n

And it is right, I think, and it is good, to spend some of our time in this act of remembering: of putting things back together (re-membering: re-connecting<\/em>).\u00a0Especially tonight, when we remember Robert Burns and all those who love him. He was a sentimental poet, Robert Burns, and for those of us who love poetry, or who love Rabbie Burns, or even those of us who love Christmas, for soon the Yuletide greenery and lights must come down as we approach Candlemas Eve and St. Brigid’s Day\u2026 we come to a time in the Wheel of the Year where we might get a bit sentimental ourselves. But\u00a0we need this on occasion: a cup o\u2019 kindness, and the laughter and the tears that come with remembering.<\/p>\n

And so it was the 25th of January in 1759 at Burns Cottage at Alloway in Scotland that Robert Burns was born. He did not live a long life, alas, but in 1801, five years after the poet’s death, the first recorded Burns Night supper was celebrated. It’s been celebrated around the world all these years since: people gathered ’round a table for a meal and for drinks (sometimes many drinks) and for readings and recitations of the Bard of Scotland’s poetry, and yes, to remember. And as each Burns Night supper concludes, with one more toast of whisky, all join hands and sing “Auld Lang Syne.” To be sure, there are worse ways one might spend a cold winter’s night.<\/p>\n

A word to\u00a0the wise: One week from tonight, from Burns Night, it\u00a0will be Candlemas Eve, and if you have been joining us in celebrating a Slow Christmas, Candlemas\u00a0Eve is the night when, traditionally, all vestiges of the Yuletide greenery are to be removed. Candlemas Eve comes at the close of St. Brigid’s Day, and it is Brigid who bridges us from winter toward spring. Plan accordingly!<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

Image: “Robert Burns” by Peter Taylor. Oil on panel, circa 1787, National Galleries Scotland <\/em>[Public domain<\/em>] via Wikimedia Commons.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We began the month singing “Auld Lang Syne” as New Year’s Eve welcomed in a new year, and now, close to January’s close, we get to sing it again. It is Burns Night: the night we celebrate the birth of Scottish poet Robert Burns. Rabbie Burns wrote many songs, and there is nothing in particular […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[44,255],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9286"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9286"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9291,"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9286\/revisions\/9291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}