In 1818, Cameron "learnt his trade as a ‘speech-caller’ from Jamie ‘Blue’ McIndoe, another well-known street wit. The two were friends and partners for some time, before becoming rivals" throughout the 1820s (ODNB). For years, McIndoe claimed Cameron had "stolen his rightful position as Glasgow's unofficial head speech crier" (Terry).
Cunningham and Hogg were friends, and Hogg's ‘Sixteenth Bard’ in his portmanteau poem The Queen’s Wake (1812) is said to be based on Cunningham.
"Through William Laidlaw [Hogg] was also helping to provide assistance in collecting traditional ballads for the third volume of Walter Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (1803), and in 1802 Laidlaw was instrumental in setting up a meeting in Ettrick between Hogg and Scott. A friendship developed that was to last until Scott's death in 1832" (ODNB). Scott encouraged Hogg to publish The Mountain Bard and The Shepherd's Guide in 1807.