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Best Laid Plans

From Chrysti M. Smith | Part of the Chrysti the Wordsmith series | 00:02:02
Producers: Chrysti M. Smith

A discussion of the origin of the expression "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry."

In this "Chrysti the Wordsmith": we outline the history of the
expression "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry" (from a
poem by Robert Burns).

"Chrysti the Wordsmith" two-minute modules are produced at KGLT Montana
State University- Bozeman, and broadcast in Montana and Wyoming on
Yellowstone Public Radio and Montana Public Radio, and internationally
on the Armed Forces Radio and TV Network.

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2005-04-07-bestlaidplans.mp2

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Broadcast History

"Chrysti the Wordsmith," a two-minute module on the origins and histories of words and phrases, was initiated in 1989 at KGLT-FM, Bozeman, MT by host Chrysti M. Smith and engineer Barrett Golding in. It's currently carried on the producer station as well as Yellowstone Public Radio, Billings MT; Montana Public Radio in Missoula; and Armed Forces Radio and TV Network.

Transcript

The Best Laid Plans

When our most carefully fashioned strategies are ruined by unforeseen events, a familiar response is to repeat the philosphical cliché “well, the best laid plans of mice and men…”
This expression of resignation is another common saying extracted from the canon of English poetry. The Scots bard Robert Burns penned the verses that inspired this phrase in the late 1700s.
Robert Burns, sometimes called the “Ploughman Poet,” was born to a farm family in 1759. With an early talent for writing, Burns began composing verses celebrating Scottish country life and romance while he was still a teen-ager. One windy autumn day, while Burns and his brother were plowing a piece of land, Robert spied a field mouse scurrying from a freshly turned furrow.
The small incident inspired him to compose To A Mouse, On Turning Up Her Nest with the Plough, November, 1785. In th...
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