The New Year, It Hath Entered In....

You know what I really wanted to post for this day?  A video of Billy Boyd singing "Auld Lang Syne".  I thought I should be able to find one without too much bother. After all, the man sings, quite sweetly.  He's Scottish, and that is a Scottish song, and New Year's Day is a big deal in Scotland..... Well, let me tell you something. It is not easy to find. Quite the contrary. Indeed, if a recording of the wee man singing that particular song exists at all, it has somehow managed to avoid making an appearance on ze internetz - and in this day and age, no less. Apparently, miracles do still occur. 

So, since I canna welcome in the New Year with whimsy, I shall welcome it with an old  Welsh New Year's Carol called Levy-Dew. Benjamin Britten put it to music, so it was rather a challenge to find a cover of it that was not beautifully sung in four parts by classically trained voices. You are getting this version partly because it was one of the few non-choir versions I came across, and partly because I was quietly amused by the intro:

But I also wanted something a trifle more robust.  I had clearly in mind the sort of tune I wanted, but one of the discouraging things about being me is that there is a gulf between the sort of thing I like to listen to - ancient tunes with lots of history, sung by people with satisfying voices, enjoying themselves hugely - and what people actually sing - notably, songs for a swingin' New Year.  I don't swing, and a mere rotation of the Earth around the Sun is not enough to prompt me to change my ways now.  I found this, and while it is not an old tune, it has rather satisfying harmonies to it, and sings of bonfires with an enthusiasm that makes me want one myself - and not just because it is currently -2 degrees outside:

Please do not ask me why one video is so much smaller than the other. I used the same method for embedding them both, and got different results. I should be able to figure it out, as I am taking a coding class, but it is 9 am on New Year's Morning, and I don't feel like it. So there.

Wait... that preview is terrible. Oh, all right. Let me go have a gander at that html.... oh look.... the top one shows a width of 516 and the bottom one a mere 420.... let me just change that....  and hit preview again.... CACKLE!....     Behold, vids of the same size, for a balanced look. Might as well start the New Year off right, eh?

And on that note, I go to brew some cappuccino for the breaking of my fast. Happy New Year!