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When did Robert Burns first write down “Auld Lang Syne”?
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Robert Burns
Robert Burns, engraving from A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen, 1870.
Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland, first wrote down the lyrics to "Auld Lang Syne" in 1788.12
Although Burns is credited with the song, he noted that he had taken the words from an old man's singing, and similar themes had appeared in earlier works by other poets. The poem did not appear in print until 1796, shortly after Burns's death, when it was published in the fifth volume of James Johnson’s Scots Musical Museum. The lyrics were not paired with the melody now commonly associated with the song until 1799, when they appeared in a compilation published by George Thomson.21