öld langt síðan

For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne.

And surely you'll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I'll be mi',
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne!


This song exists also in Icelandic, thanks to Árni Pálsson, as "Hin gömlu kynni gleymist ei", but I love the Scots lyrics. Why mess with a good thing? And why take a good word like stowp that is even more archaic that the modern Icelandic staup for having retained an ancient pronouncation and turn it into bikar, "chalice"?

But today is not for pedantry. Pass the glasses down the table, the cups and stowp and then if we run out, the chalices too, and let the bottle follow.