E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Lang Syne (Scotch, long since).
In the olden time, in days gone by.
1
“There was muckle fighting about the place lang-syne.”—Scott: Guy Mannering, chap. xl.
The song called Auld Lang Syne, usually attributed to Robert Burns, was not composed by him, for he says expressly in a letter to Thomson, “It is the old song of the olden times, which has never been in print… . I took it down from an old man’s singing.” In another letter he says, “Light be the turf on the heaven-inspired poet who composed this glorious fragment.” Nothing whatever is known of the author of the words; the composer is wholly unknown.
