James Hogg's Songs by the Ettrick Shepherd appeared in 1831 and presented his public with 'a pocket volume' of his best and most popular songs. It contains 113 songs spanning the whole of Hogg's career as shepherd and professional writer, from his 'first' song, 'Donald MacDonald', created around 1803, to songs that had only just appeared in print.

This volume is the first scholarly edition of the collection since its original appearance. It includes an Introduction, giving an account of the importance to Hogg of songs and singing across his creative life and detailed notes to each of the songs Hogg presents. The volume is intended to be used alongside James Hogg's Contributions to Musical Collections and Miscellaneous Songs which contains musical copies of the songs, taken directly from the collections to which Hogg refers in Songs by the Ettrick Shepherd. As such it provides the full textual and musical contexts of these songs as Hogg's public would have known and enjoyed them.