Auld Lang Syne

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Thank you, Robbie Burns, Scotland’s national poet, for recording the lyrics of Auld Lang Syne. Translated as “for the sake of old times,” it's "one of Scotland's gifts to the world, recalling the love and kindness of days gone by, but in the communion of taking our neighbours' hands, it also gives us a sense of belonging and fellowship to take into the future.” (1) This ballad is a reminder to remember friends from the past, recounting the good times shared together.

Written in 1788, this song has been popularized in modern times in movies and shows, and it is now a permanent fixture of New Year’s celebrations worldwide. As the clock strikes midnight in your respective time zone this coming week, here’s a “translation” of the lyrics, which often seem to trip up those of us across the pond. Happy 2015!

Auld Lang Syne

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
And surely you’ll buy your pint cup
and surely I’ll buy mine!
And we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine [dinner time];
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand my trusty friend!
And give us a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

..........

Sources: Mostly plagiarized from this, this, and this. Also, more info on Burns.

Christmases Past: Trees and Traditions

That first Christmas tree that you get as a newlywed couple, grand or not so grand, is a memory that probably stays with all of us. Looking back on almost 80 Christmases, memories of their first trees, both when they were children and when they had their own children, are some of the Christmas memories that have really stuck with Ralph and Ella. 

Ralph related:

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When the twins were born...on December 10, [1953], and with Christmas coming on the 25th, we had only 15 days. With the surprise of the twins, there was a of activity going on! I don't remember a lot of gift giving or things like that. We were kind of wrapped up with two children. I remember we did get a tree….We had a very small apartment. I think we paid 50 cents for one of the last trees before they threw them all away. (“I think it was a little one that was sat on something, because we didn’t have room,” Ella chimed in.) But we did want to have the Christmas spirit, so bought this tree for 50 cents. We put some decorations on it. I think we made some from colored paper, chains or something like that. I don't remember a lot of family coming over. We stayed pretty much at home by ourselves.

I guess it was the next year...and we wondered how we'd put the Christmas tree up and not have the babies tear it down, playing with it. So we put it inside their playpen! On a suitcase or something so it was set up a little bit. So we had a tree with lights, and they would look at it….

With our  family, we always, of course, had a Christmas tree….We would have everyone get around the tree after breakfast, and open the gifts. Sometimes we had some toys open they could play with, and we had the wrapped gifts. It was a lot of fun, and a lot of good memories about it.

For Ella, Christmases as a young girl in Scotland weren’t accompanied by all of the tinsel and lights that many of us associate with the holiday. Afterall, this was wartime.

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We didn't have any Christmas trees. Only the rich people had Christmas trees. No decorations or anything like that. I remember my grandma [Charlesina] had some paper decorations that she'd string from the ceiling. It was very sparse. We didn't have decorations outside - the city wasn't decorated. But this was wartime when I was growing up. War broke out in 1939 when I was 5. We just didn't have much at Christmas time.

The thing I do remember, when I was in grade school, they always had us go one day, with our Sunday clothes on, on a walk from school to a Presbyterian church that was not too far away, for a Christmas service. Because I was a good reader, I was chosen one time to give the scripture reading from the pulpit. That was the highlight of my life that year!

So that was it. Our Christmases were very sparse. Nothing like in America, like when we came over here and all of the things that they do here. But it could be different there now, ya know; I grew up during wartime when things weren't available, and it was just a different life.

Ralph remembers the first Christmas tree his family had as a boy. After his parents (Jaunita Inglish and John Virgil Mitchell) separated when he was about 2 years old, he and his mother and brother Johnnie moved to Mesa to his grandmother’s house (Bertha Clarice Copeland) for a year or so.

I remember the excitement my mother had when we moved into a little rental unit away from my grandmother. My mother wanted to be independent, so we moved into a little rental unit,  probably a block or so away from Grandma's. We had our first Christmas tree there that year. My mother,  and my brother Johnnie, and I….It was a pretty meager little Christmas. We just had a small tree, and it was just the three of us.

In August of 1941, his mom married Lester Johnson, when Ralph was 7 years old. Often at Christmas, the gifts that they'd get were things that they needed anyway: pajamas, underwear, a bicycle tire. There was some singing and ceremoniously opening Christmas presents. Lester even dressed up as Santa a few times to pass out the gifts!

With their own children, Ralph remembers:

I remember this about your Grandma Ella: She would always make a lot of good decorations, things around the tree, making things nice for the kids. I remember one year a wooden train track for BM, and she was up late at night, laying it out, fixing it up.

Another fun memory is when they lived in Long Beach, California, they made a tradition to drive to Watsonville to cut down their own tree. They did this for two or three years. One year they borrowed a motor home from a friend, took the kids and a friend each (except SM, who was very young.) "The motor home was pretty full! We cut a tree, tied it on top, and brought it home."

Now, when did Grandpa get those fantastic Christmas socks??? The red, green, and white striped ones, knee high?

Your mom and BM got those for me, in San Jose, in 1963. They're a few years old now! I still have them. Grandma has darned them and fixed them, patched them. Then your mom has knitted another pair for me. So I wear the old pair a little bit, and the new pair a little bit. I always wear them on Christmas morning. I could even wear them to Church today, Honey! It was either in '63 or '64.When you wear them just once a year, they last a long time!...That's part of a family tradition, to wear those Christmas socks every year.

Ralph and Ella with great grandkids GF and NM - December 2010.
Ralph is sporting his legendary socks!

A Christmas tradition I remember with Ralph and Ella is of making hard candy together, licorice flavored. We had to carefully stir the candy concoction, then pour it out on newspaper that lined the kitchen table, that was covered in powdered sugar. We’d have several of us working together, each with a pair of scissors to quickly cut the candy into small pieces before it cooled too much. Although we did this when I was in high school in the mid 1990’s, Ralph and Ella actually started doing this with their kids decades earlier: "HG really liked doing that. We did that in Broken Arrow [Oklahoma] with her friend Amy." One time, when the work was done, HG and her friend got in a powdered sugar fight! The sugar was all over the kitchen, in their hair, on their faces. They obviously had a great time!

Merry Christmas!!!

Source: From a phone call recorded on 22 December 2013 with Ralph and Ella.

Places of Significance: Aberdeen

“It’s a beautiful city, because of the granite...when the sun comes out after it rains and shines on the mica in the granite. That’s how it got its name, ‘The Silver City by the Sea.’” And indeed, Ella’s hometown is beautiful, just as she describes.

Photo by KF - Sept 2006

Photo by KF - Sept 2006

Such stately buildings line the streets, creating an air of dignity and decorum. Much of the older/central part of the city was constructed from locally quarried granite in the 1700s and 1800s. And that stateliness is evident whether admiring the grand buildings on Union Street (such as the Central Library, St. Mark’s church, and His Majesty’s Theatre - referred to as “Education, Salvation and Damnation” by the locals) or the more humble tenement buildings.

The Central Library, St. Mark's Church, and His Majesty's Theatre (Photo Source) 

It’s so fun to visit Aberdeen with Ella, or to even have her describe it, as she remembers much of the city still. She can navigate through the streets in her mind, describing how one road turns to another, veers to the side, passes this or that landmark, until you get to your destination. It’s etched into her memory, obviously from walking and biking its streets so much as a youth. 

And what’s additionally so neat is that the the city's buildings are not that different today compared to the early 1900s, and perhaps even the mid to late 1800s, thanks to the durability of the granite. It was during those time periods that there was a surge in construction of buildings and public parks, thanks in part to technological advancements in granite working. (Source)

What this means is that the same buildings that were built a century or more ago are still standing, the exteriors virtually unchanged. It gives you a sense of history, a place in time. We can walk through the city and feel a connection to the past. After all, Aberdeen is not just Ella’s hometown, but the ancestral roots are deep there: at least 4 generations back on her mother’s side, and at least 3 generations back on her father’s. Our ancestors walked down those same streets and admired those same buildings and bridges and parks.

When Ella returns to Aberdeen, one thing that strikes her as a big difference between now and when she was young is the traffic. As a girl, her impression was that the only people who had cars were lawyers and doctors (who made house calls). Most Aberdonians took public transportation (buses or trams - many of the tram tracks have since been removed). Ella’s father would ride his bike to his job at the shipyards, and they also all did a lot of walking. “It was just fun to walk together.” Ella said, describing how she and her friends liked to walk home from school together, weather and time permitting.

What were favorite places to frequent or places of significance for Ella and her family? Here's a handful:

• 40 Merkland Road East - Where her paternal grandparents, George and Charlesina lived at one time, and where her father, George, was born.
• 26 ½ Bank St - Where her maternal grandparents, John McDonald Beattie and Ursilla Katharine Bruce lived; where her parents, George and Ursula ("Kate"), were married; and where her sister Ina was born.
• 10A Prospect Terrace - Where Ella was born. They lived here until Ella was about 5 years old.
• 311 Holburn Street - Where Ella’s family lived until they emigrated in 1949.
• Duthie Park - A beautiful public park where they would go to walk, enjoy outdoor concerts and picnics.
• The River Dee - Where her family was baptized.
• 4 Ferrier Crescent - The street that her paternal grandparents, George and Charlesina, lived on for many years in their later lives. This is the home where Ella and her family would visit them, especially for family dinners on Saturday nights.
• Ferryhill Library - Ella loved to read!
• The building downtown where the small branch of the church met. On George Street (now a pedestrian street), just off of Union Street in central Aberdeen. At the time of our visit, their rented space was above a Gap clothing store.
• The Aberdeen Harbour - Where Ella’s father worked as a shipwright.
• Allenvale Cemetery by the River Dee - Burial place of Ella's maternal grandparents, John McDonald Beattie and Ursilla Katharine Bruce Beattie.
• The Regent Cinema movie theater, on Justice Mill Lane, near Holburn Street- Where she would watch the Mickey Mouse Club on Saturday mornings. Later renamed to Odeon; currently it's a fitness center.

The Regent Cinema
Ella would watch the Mickey Mouse Club here on Saturday mornings. 
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Something Ella often says is that she’s grateful she was a little older (aged 15) when her family emigrated, rather than several years earlier, before WWII, like they had originally hoped. As a result, she’s able to remember and appreciate so many details of her homeland and hometown. We’re all grateful for that too!

Sources: 

• From a phone conversation with Ella on 8 Dec 2014. Unfortunately, the recording froze and was not captured (Argh!), though notes were taken.
• See also: A Brief History of Aberdeen, Scotland