To ask you all to remember something if you are singing Old Lang Syne on Hogmanay?

[Salmotrutta]

It's Syne.

NOT Zyne.

Thank you.

Perhaps MadeOfStarDust could do with a "right guid willie waught"...

Salmotrutta So long as it's Tequila not Whisky

(I resisted putting in the e... I really did!)

Maybe instead of crossing your arms at the last verse people could start waughting their guid-willie. Not sure what the Queen would think about it though.

Cos it says to cross your arms at the last verse. It's like getting the Hokey Cokey wrong

Oh dear. I thought the only line I knew was "for the sake of old Lang zyne". Turns out I've been confidently belting it out wrongly for years!

I have a special table cloth ready. Seriously.

A special table cloth?

Should I have one too?

It may be possible to waught your guid-Willie whilst holding hands of course but this would be a lot more difficult and could lead to spillages which is why the special table cloth is needed no doubt.

Yes, Salmo. You should fucking worried.

But if you sing it correctly it removes an opportunity for my bil to be offended and he'd much rather have an opportunity to bang on about English cultural imperialism than hear it being pronounced correctly.

I've no idea what a gude willie waught is although the rest of it is clear enough.

Oh yes the crossing your arms thing,as in so many things the Queen got it right and Blair didn't.

Odd fact, in case anyone is interested: in Japan, the music of Auld Lang Syne has been turned into , which is basically used as chucking-out-music in bars/restaurants/shops - it has lots of lyrics about parting etc.

Some Japanese friends were very surprised at a new year's eve party of mine in Tokyo when all the foreigners started singing Auld Lang Syne at midnight - they thought it meant we wanted them to leave...

Sorry was reading it backwards.
Never heard of 31/12 being anything other than Hogmanay.

It gets used at the closing dance at Scottish weddings too.

I digress but the only time I exhibit any Scottishness is at Scottish weddings. I love the fact that no matter what school in Scotland you went to the steps of at least 6 country dances will have been drummed into you. The looks of fear on the faces of non Scots when confronted by an eightsome reel or a Strip the Willow are always amusing.

If you read it backwards, does Alex Salmond appear in your willie waught?

'Auld Year's Night' it is then, sounds far more romantic than NYE. Will partake in one or two 'guid willie waughts' too.

When you say/sing it, it's sort of irrelevant whether you say it with an 's' or a 'z' because you can't differentiate between the two sounds, (when you say it in the context of the whole sentence.)

It only really matters when you write it, and the same can be said of 'old' and 'auld' as you spectacularly demonstrated, Salmotrutta

MrsBee I've heard Hogmanay and New Year's E'en , never heard of Auld Year's Night. (Which should be "nicht" if it's "auld")

I'm Scottish, I sing it & don't care about the proper words or pronunciation.

And since it is sung at the end of the night, the fact we're upright & can manage to coordinate singing with hand holding.... is an accomplishment in itself

And it's not new year's day... it's ne'erday

My [English] DH laughs at me every year during the Last Night of the Proms when I rage about the singing of "the sake of" and the hand crossing at the start. I may be only 1/4 Scottish, but I know how it's done properly!

If you read it backwards, does Alex Salmond appear in your willie waught?

Either his big bawface or the devils - they are interchangeable

We say auld years nicht/night where I'm from on the borders. My wedding closing dance was run rig's version of Loch Lomond!