The song is one of my own favourites; the words aren't bad, and the tune is a rousing one. It is usually sung at the stroke of midnight on Hogmanay (31 Dec.) as a welcome to the New Year (in Scotland at least, and by exiles too)--though the revels might well end with "Auld Lang Syne", of course.

Words are by P. Livingstone, music by Alexander Hume. The latter (Edinburgh, 1811-Glasgow, 1859) wrote quite a few songs, but this is practically the only one now sung (the other is his setting of Burns's "Afton Water"(in solfa: s,.d/m :-.r:d :d :-.t,:l,/ s,:-.l,:s,f,/ f,:m, etc.).

1.
A guid new year to ane an' a',
An' mony may ye see,
An' during a' the years to come,
O happy may ye be.
An' may ye ne'er hae cause to mourn,
To sigh or shed a tear,
To ane an' a', baith great an' sma',
A hearty guid new year. [Chorus: = first 4 lines above].

2.
O time flies fast, he winna wait,
My friend, for you or me,
He works his wonders day by day,
And onward still doth flee.
O wha can tell when ilka ane
I see sae happy here,
Will meet again, and merry be,
Anither guid new year.

3.
We twa ha'e baith been happy lang,
We ran about the braes;
In yon wee cot beneath the tree
We spent our early days.
We ran about the burnie's side,
The spot will aye be dear;
An' those that used to meet us there
We'll think on mony a year.

4.
Now let us hope our years may be
As guid as they ha'e been;
And trust we ne'er again may see
The sorrows we ha'e seen.
And let us wish that ane an' a',
Our friends baith far an' near,
May aye enjoy in times to come
A hearty guid new year.

My mother was told by *her* mother [italics?] (circa 1910) that this should be sung at Hogmanay and at *no other time*; to do so was unlucky, tempting fortune or so I suppose.
Anyway--there it is. Enjoy!
Murray

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 31-May-02.