Tim's Tales: When Granny Liz met the Queen

Its international fame is probably related to the singing of it at Hogmanay and New Year celebrations all over the world.

It’s been translated into many different languages and I remember having a discussion with a Chinese friend many years ago who was convinced it was a Chinese song.

Perhaps we were both right. The song was originally collected by Robert Burns, who heard an “old man”, singing the song.

Then Burns used his creative magic to give it the lyrical form in Scots we know today. The popular melody we associate with the song is likely not the original intended, but when I play that tune to an audience who are not sure if they know the song, I usually get an instant recognition.

That’s what happened when my Chinese friend heard me playing the tune at the end of a storytelling session. I’m not a musician, but there are some tunes I like to play on the penny whistle during a storytelling session. Auld Lang Syne is one of them, which I often play at the end.

The pillar where Tim's mum met the Queen

Immediately my Chinese friend burst into song, singing the Chinese lyrics to the same tune. It was a wonderful moment, and symbolic too, for this was the beginning of our friendship.

Auld Lang Syne translates into English as Old Long Since, while in Chinese the title of the song is You Yi Di Jiu Tian Chang, which translates as Friendship Forever as the Earth and Sky.

The Chinese version has different lyrics to the Scots original but follows the same theme and sentiment, the importance of friendship and old acquaintances, and raising a cup in their celebration.

In Scotland, I’d say the song isn’t just associated with Hogmanay but with celebrating old times, memories and shared moments.

That’s a sentiment which has been forefront in my mind this past week, as many people have come together to share their feelings and memories of Queen Elizabeth II.

I’m not a royalist but you don’t have to be to feel a personal connection at this time.

On Sunday, we went to pay our respects as the Queen made her final journey down the Royal Mile. We stood in the Canongate and I climbed up onto the railings of the school I attended in the late 1960s.

It’s now called Royal Mile Primary, but then it was Milton House Primary. My early school years were spent there before moving to East Lothian.

I peered down into the playground and memories looked back at me. I saw myself losing a tooth as I bit into an apple, I saw the steps which helped me to avoid a bully, and the wall where we would kick a ball in various games.

The Queen's coffin making its journey along the Royal Mile

But then I peered down at the street, where my own children stood where I used to stand, usually in the rain, waiting to wave to the Queen. There were various royal occasions we did this, and it was a welcome break from the classroom routine.

I attended the school despite living further away in Pilton because my mother worked in the nursery at Milton House. She was a smoker in those days, as many people were, and once, when she was standing with her class waiting for the Queen to arrive, she hid behind a pillar to have a sly cigarette. She was puffing away when suddenly the Queen appeared in front of her, mid puff.

I was told the story many years later, as my mum, also called Elizabeth and an ardent admirer of the Queen, had been horrified at meeting her with a fag in her mouth. An understanding and amused smile by the Queen, as she chatted through the vanishing cloud of smoke, quickly disarmed any sense of awkwardness. Afterwards my mother saw the funny side and enjoyed telling the story.

The moments after this encounter were caught on camera. The cigarette remains hidden in the picture, but I think the expressions on the faces of both Elizabeths tell the story.

The pillar still stands and was opposite where we stood on Sunday. As the Queen’s coffin passed by I took a photo, with the pillar in the background. It was my personal connection, my own moment of Auld Lang Syne, with an Elizabeth unknown to the crowds but known to her youngest grandchildren in stories, such as when their Granny Liz met the Queen by the pillar.

I think that is the main significance of this week: not the pomp and ceremony, or the privilege or fame, but the personal Auld Lang Syne so many people feel.