The Scottish Students' Song Book Committee was set up in December 1889 with the aim of producing a collection of songs for use by students. The lack of such a collection had long been felt in Scotland. In the mid-1880s a committee had been set up in St. Andrews to collect and publish the songs popular among the students there. This had met with difficulties however, and instead it was agreed to abandon the scheme and to prepare an Inter-University Song Book under the auspices of the then four Scottish Students' Representative Councils. With the less than enthusiastic support of the four SSRCs, the Scottish Students' Song Book Committee set about its task under the editorial convenership of Dr. Millar Patrick. The Scottish Students' Song Book went on sale in March 1891 and was an immediate success, selling out in three weeks. Later editions appeared in 1892 and 1897. The great success of the book made it necessary to form a limited company in 1891 - the Scottish Students' Song Book Committee Ltd. - which had throughout the 20th century produced several editions of the Song Book and its companion The British Students' Song Book (1912). Since 1891, some 400,000 copies had been sold.