Short answers, pulled from the story.
Maggie is found guilty of theft and sentenced to transportation to Botany Bay after robbing a sailor of his money and clothes. The story concludes with her arrest following the sailor's report to the police when he cannot find his belongings in Kelly's locker pawn shop.
BBC Radio banned the Vipers Skiffle Group version upon its release in 1957 because of the sexual content of the lyrics. This recording became the best-known version at the time despite the broadcast restriction.
Composer and lyricist Lionel Bart used the song and its backstory as the basis for a musical set around the Liverpool Docks in 1964. Kenneth Haigh performed the role of Maggie in the original cast recording of the show that ran for two years in London.
The Beatles version called Maggie Mae runs 39 seconds long and appears as the last track on the first side of the 1970 album Let It Be. It stands as the second-shortest song released on an official Beatles album behind Her Majesty which runs 23 seconds.
Rod Stewart's 1971 hit single reached number one status in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. This massive commercial success brought the traditional Liverpool ballad to a global audience for the first time.