The Parting Glass
The Parting Glass - in German about "Das Glas zum Abschied" - is a traditional song from Scotland , which is often sung at the end of a meeting. Up until Robert Burns ' " Auld Lang Syne " it was the most popular Scottish farewell song.
In Saxony and various other countries in continental Europe , the guest who had said goodbye and already mounted his horse, was given a parting glass , a "stirrup cup" or a "coup de l'étrier" so that he could strengthen himself for the journey home.
text
The first known, printed version was a so-called broadside ballad from the 1770s - a song text that was printed on a single page of cheap paper. The first mention in a book was in Scots Songs . The lyrics are undoubtedly older than 1770, as they were recorded in the Skene Manuscript , a collection of various Scottish folk songs, between the years 1615 and 1635. However, the first stanza goes back even further: it appeared in a suicide note from one of the perpetrators who murdered Sir Michael Carmichael , a guardian of the Scottish Marches , in 1600 .
The lyrics vary depending on the source. Verses are added, left out, or sung in a different order.
| verse | English | German |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Of all the money that e'er I had
I spent it in good company And all the harm I've ever done Alas it was to none but me And all I've done for want of wit To mem'ry now I can't recall So fill to me the parting glass Good night and joy be to you all |
All the money I've ever had
I spent in good company And all the damage that I ever did yes, I did that to myself And everything I did out of ignorance I don't like to remember that right now This is how I fill my farewell glass Good night and joy to you all |
| 2 | So fill to me the parting glass
And drink a health whate'er infestation, And gently rise and softly call Good night and joy be to you all |
This is how I fill my farewell glass
And drink to your health no matter what happens to you And gently lifts [the glass] and softly calls: Good night and joy to you all |
| 3 | Of all the comrades that e'er I had
They're sorry for my going away And all the sweethearts that e'er I had They'd wish me one more day to stay |
All the comrades I've ever had
they regret my departure And all of my sweethearts that I've ever had they wished I stayed another day |
| 4th | But since it fell unto my lot
That I should rise and you should not I gently rise and softly call Good night and joy be to you all |
But since fate fell to me
That I get up and you don't I rise gently and softly call: Good night and joy to you all |
| 5 | A man may drink and not be drunk
A man may fight and not be slain A man may court a pretty girl And perhaps be welcomed back again But since it has so ought to be By a time to rise and a time to fall Come fill to me the parting glass Good night and joy be with you all Good night and joy be with you all |
A man likes to drink and not be drunk
A man may fight and not be slain A man likes to court a pretty girl And may be welcomed again But because it has to be There's a time to rise and a time to fall So come and fill my farewell glass Good night and joy to you all Good night and joy to you all |
Individual evidence
- ^ Levett Hanson: "Le coup de l'étrier". In: Miscellaneous compositions in verse / illustrated by occasional prefatory introductions, and copious explanatory notes. 1811, accessed January 26, 2020 .