The poem presents the contributions, in various metres, of a series of Scottish bards to a competition organised by Mary, Queen of Scots on her arrival in Scotland from France in 1561.
In his 'Memoir of the Author's Life', revised in 1832, Hogg maintained that he was encouraged by his friend John Grieve to build on his earlier poetic achievements as he sought to begin a literary career in Edinburgh.
[3] The Queen's Wake: A Legendary Poem, by James Hogg was first published by George Goldie in Edinburgh, and by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown in London on 30 January 1813.
[5] Goldie published a third edition, this time with Henry Colburn in London, on 14 July 1814:[6] for this Hogg made a number of changes, notably providing 'The Witch of Fife' with a happy ending at the suggestion of Walter Scott[7] and modernising the language of 'Kilmeny'.
[8] In 1819 a fifth edition appeared, carefully revised by Hogg from the third, notably expanding the portraits of the eighth, ninth, and eleventh bards, with illustrations aimed at a subscription readership.
Night the First In 'Malcolm of Lorn', the first bard, Rizzio, sings elaborately of a youth who is grief-stricken when his beloved sails for foreign parts with her father and expires just as she returns.
Night the Third In 'Mary Scott', the fourteenth bard, from the Borders, sings of how Lord Pringle of Torwoodlee disguises himself as an abbot to visit his beloved Mary, daughter of his rival Tushilaw.