Robert Burns is credited with the best-known 1796 version of “Auld Lang Syne.”
Burns, Scotland’s national poet, sent a version of the song to the Scots Musical Museum in 1796. His text drew on older Scots lines and traditional material rather than creating every element from nothing. The song’s familiar melody was later attached through musical arrangements and popular performance.
The title means “old long since,” an expression about remembered times and enduring friendship. That theme made the song suitable for farewells, reunions, and New Year celebrations. Its association with midnight grew especially strong through public performances and radio broadcasts.
Burns’s authorship is sometimes simplified into the claim that he wrote the entire song alone. Historical evidence shows that older versions existed, while Burns preserved, revised, and expanded material into the form that became internationally famous. Burns Night, held on 25 January, celebrates Burns separately from New Year’s Eve.