Thread by @TwisterFilm

1./ Here's a way to celebrate New Year and honour the legacy of a Scotsman whose words are resounding across the globe. For many people the words of Auld Lang Syne by Burns are as unclear as they were, hilariously, to Harry and Sally. (at 1.46 in).👇

2./ Harry: "Does that mean we should forgot all acquaintances?" Sally: "Maybe it means we should remember we have forgotten them?" In fact the song implores us to keep old friendships in mind and asks whether old times should be forgotten? How very 2020.👇
scotsman.com/heritage-and-r…

3./ Among the many passionate fans of Robert Burns was Maya Angelou who spoke movingly of how "He was the first white man I read who seemed to understand that a human being was a human being, and we are more alike than unalike.” 👇thetimes.co.uk/article/wigtow…

4./ I met Dr Angelou many years ago when I looked after her during a celebration of the work of James Baldwin in Brixton. When I mentioned I was from Scotland she waxed lyrical about the Bard. She often talked about him.👇theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2…

5./ One of her favourite Burns songs was the enigmatically simple but hugely powerful 'A Slave's Lament'. Here it is performed in a video art installation in the Victoria Gallery in Bath. "It was in sweet Senegal that my foes did me enthral, For the lands of Virginia,-ginia, O."

6./ Now you can help save the place where both Auld Lang Syne and A Slave's Lament were penned, Ellisland Farm in Dumfries and Galloway. Become a member supporter for just £15. Then belt out the words of Auld Lang Syne.

https://twitter.com/Burns_Ellisland/status/1344664562335944706?s=20

7./ When the guns fell silent during the Christmas Truce in WW1 both Germans and Brits sang Auld Lang Syne spontaneously across the trenches. Billions of other people across the world will do the same tonight, singing of remembering. Happy Hogmanay! bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotla…