Edna,

The reason Burns didn't publish more in his lifetime would, I imagine, be the cost. While people enjoyed his poems, they didn't buy them. Printing not being cheap, the cost of producing a book was raised by subscription.

From 1787 to his death his energies went into James Johnson's "Scots Musical Museum", where he could get the songs he collected, and those he wrote, published at someone else's expense.

By the way, Burns claims in a letter to George Thomson that he collected "Auld Lang Syne", from "an old man's singing."

Kilmarnock folk club is still going strong in the hands of Maggie Macrae. (She also is a driving force behind Girvan Filk Festival).
Irvine was still on the go a few years ago, but i'm not sure about now.

Sorry about missremembering the name, "Somesymers" must have kicked in, either that or I called you by the wrong name for a couple of years, and you were to polite to corret me. Though that dosn't seem likely.

Glad Boab gave out the second letter of your name as being "a" as that rules out Senga.

Cheers,
John McCreadie