These are the noble hero's lot,

Obtain'd in glorious wars;

Welcome, my Varo, to my breast,

Thy arms about me twine,

And make me once again as blest

As I was lang syne.

The remaining four stanzas are worse. Burns may have had further hints to work on which are now lost; but the best, part of the song, stanzas three and four, are certainly his, and it is unlikely that he inherited more than some form of the first verse and the chorus.

AULD LANG SYNE

Should auld acquaintance be forgot old

And never brought to min'? mind