I note from Google books that there is an edition of the Secret Songs of Silence in prep (2010 from U.Press of Mississippi according to Google): The High-Kilted Muse: Peter Buchan and His Secret Songs of Silence by Murray Shoolbraid.

An old newsletter from U.Aberdeen Elphinstone Inst, Autumn 2005 had this to say about it:

The second critical edition of ballads and songs, The High-Kilted Muse: Peter Buchan and his 'Secret Songs of Silence', edited by Murray Shoolbraid, is also one that has never previously been published, although its whereabouts at the Houghton Library, Harvard University, has not been a secret. Peter Buchan of Peterhead (1790-1854), with the help of his collector, Jamie Rankin, assembled the collection of risqué songs to rival Burns's Merry Muses of Caledonia. It is a rich source of material, demonstrating how significant bawdy songs have been in shaping North-East tradition. Many scholars, including the late Hamish Henderson, have proclaimed the merits of the collection as a major source of oral tradition, worthy of scholarly attention.


Mick