David Purdie is a Professor Emeritus and an Hon. Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh. He is the Hon. Curator of the Auld Lang Syne MSS at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, Alloway. Gerard Carruthers holds the Chair of Scottish Literature since 1700, at the University of Glasgow. He is Co-Director of the Centre for Robert Burns Studies, General Editor of the OUP edition of the Works of Robert Burns and Principal Investigator in the AHRC-funded project: 'Editing Robert Burns for the 21st Century.' Kirsteen McCue is Head of Scottish Literature in the School of Critical Studies, Glasgow University, Co-Director of the Centre for Robert Burns Studies and Co-Investigator in the AHRC-funded project: 'Editing Robert Burns for the 21st Century.'