Rabbie Burns had lived and died long before rugby was invented, so we can only guess what Ayrshire's most famous son would have thought about the game.

Yet, as someone who celebrated such old-fashioned notions as camaraderie, work ethic and, ahem, enjoying a dram or two with his peers, Burns would surely have appreciated the manner in which his fellow Ayrshiremen have begun to dominate Scottish club rugby.

Consider the evidence. On Saturday, Ayr added the Scottish Cup to the RBS Premiership and West Regional Cup with a last-gasp victory over Melrose, while Troon-based Marr rounded off a magnificent, undefeated season by getting the better of Livingston in the final of the Shield at Murrayfield. Both organisations, and Carrick, have carried off the SRU's prestigious club of the month prize at various stages of the campaign, yet it isn't merely their senior teams, who have hoovered up prizes.

Instead, as Ayr's coach, Kenny Murray, pointed out: "It clearly helps when there is success at the top level, but our firsts have won the double, our seconds have done well in recent times, and our under-15s, under-16s and under-18s are all in the finals of Glasgow age-group cups, so this isn't simply about one or two groups of players.

"That is why the area is buzzing and certainly, here at Millbrae, it is down to adopting a 'whole club' approach, where everybody mucks in with everybody else and there are no superstars. The players and I usually get the glory, and all the media coverage, but we should be singing the praises of [president] Billy McHarg, who has done an incredible amount behind the scenes to build partnerships with schools, with local authorities and help us find new sponsors at a difficult time. None of it would be possible without volunteers offering their services and committee men and women spending hours on ways of maintaining and enhancing the club's reputation, and our thoughts have already started to turn to 2013/14.

"We will be back in the British & Irish Cup next year, and that has proved incredibly popular with our supporters, so the next step will be to strengthen the squad and do our best to claim more wins in that tournament. We have a pretty young side, so we are not expecting many of them to fall over the edge [into retirement] quickly."

Glen Tippett, the former Ayr stalwart who is now the SRU's regional manager for Glasgow South, has been as impressed as anyone by the sustained excellence of Ayr and Marr, but believes that there is still plenty more to come from the region. "It has been a success story, but I think this is only the beginning. There are six schools of rugby and seven development officers doing their best to promote the game in Ayrshire and we are seeing the results," said Tippett, who pointed out that Marr College's under-18s were contesting the Schools Plate final against Galashiels Academy last night."

Murray recognises that he might have to weave his oratory to persuade everybody to remain at Ayr, especially the raft of Glasgow Hawks personnel who joined the club last summer after the Anniesland side were relegated from the Premiership. Yet, given his track record – the club had never won anything of national significance until his arrival – Murray is justified in arguing this is no time for the Ayr men to abort their flight.

"Hawks might try to get their guys back but we have looked after them well here. We have the incentive of [playing in] the B&I Cup and there is a genuine sense of excitement around the place," said Murray. "Some might imagine we have won everything this year, but we only reached the semi-finals of the Melrose Sevens . . . "

Ayrshire breeds tough characters and nobody will stem their march without knowing they have been in a serious scrap.