Pgs. 70-71 in Anti-Slavery Melodies
Words by William Lloyd Garrison
Tune: “Old Lang Syne”

William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879) was a leading abolitionist and editor of The Liberator.  For further, see Henry Mayer, All on Fire: William Lloyd Garrison and the Abolition of Slavery (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998).  In addition to his many prose works, Garrison wrote a small body of antislavery poetry.  The original holograph of this song is available via the Library of Congress online at http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/images/absong.jpg

It became a standard ‘movement’ anthem, sung at many antislavery meetings.  The antislavery speaking agent John Jacobs (1815-1875) records having children open a meeting in rural Pennsylvania by singing this song, to great effect (“Communications.  An Anti-Slavery Tour,” The North Star, April 20, 1849). 

“Auld Lang Syne” is a traditional Scottish tune.  The version by Robert Burns (1759-1796), which appeared in the influential Scots Musical Museum (1787-1803), combined texts from several Scots ballads with two verses of Burns's own. Several images from historic sheet music versions may be viewed in “Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets,” American Memory Project, Library of Congress (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amsshtml/)  Perhaps because of its familiarity, “Auld Lang Syne” was one of the more popular tunes for antislavery songs.

The player will show in this paragraph