With it being New Years Day, lots of folks today are playing Auld Lang Syne, easily Scotland's most recognizable folk tune. Few know that Burns is said to have transcribed our modern version from a Romanichal gentleman he heard singing it likely down near Hawick on the Scottish borders!
I want to specifically highlight and uplift the Scottish Romani, as this is the group I have blood in common with, though discrimination is widespread across Europe and the Americas, which is a shame considering the Scottish Romanichal contributions to the country's history, culture, music, and their unique connection to the land. Despite this, their unique localized dialect, Scottish Cant, only has approximately 500 speakers left, and they often find themselves at the end of particularly cruel and unusual discrimination, including the Scottish equivalent of CPS having regularly taken Romanichal and Traveller children from their families for decades without legal grounds, purely on the basis of ethnic background, up until shockingly recent.
Many in the UK especially find themselves unable to avoid being recognized as Roma, leading them to be refused from public spaces and restaurants, with others who are more white-passing being afraid to be open about their cultural heritage. Nowadays they regularly find themselves placed on the outskirts of society in poor housing conditions. Prejudice against the Romani is amongst the single most-normalized forms of racism in Europe, but especially in the wider UK as their numbers dwindle to nearly nothing.
To help financially and build awareness, I definitely recommend checking out The Traveller Movement travellermovement.org.uk and worldwide at www.voiceofroma.com. I'll post better links as I find them.
I was never a huge fan of singing Aud Lang Sayne on New Year's Eve, not that we did it as a matter of course as a kid. I never understand the damn lyrics, but that fact never stopped me from liking other songs like the theme in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It isn't exactly a catchy tune either. But what put the nail in the coffin for me was watching the Poseidon Adventure. Now whenever I hear it that scene from the movie is what comes to mind. #NewYearsEve#AuldLangSyne The Poseidon Adventure (1972) Auld Lang Syne