William McGonagall
Great Scottish Poet?
Scotland has produced many writers of great prose and poetry. William McGonagall was not one of them. He's often described as being the worst poet ever which is probably a little unfair. However there's no doubt that he was one of the worst published poets in the English language. Despite this I have to confess to a strange admiration for the man.
Biography
McGonagall was born in Edinburgh in 1830. His family moved from Edinburgh to Glasgow and from there to Dundee where McGonagall made his home. He initially worked as hand-loom weaver by day whilst reading Shakespeare in the evenings. At one point he actually played Macbeth on stage and reportedly received raptuous applause. Giving McGonagall's later lack of self-awareness regarding his poetry it's possible that the audience were applauding his performance for the wrong reasons.McGonagall found his muse and became a poet in 1877. His first poem was an address to the Reverend George Gilfillan, one verse of which reads:
My blessing on his noble form,When this was printed in in the local newspaper the Weekly News, McGonagall believed he had found his true calling. He set out on a career as a professional poet and continued writing dreaful poetry until his death in 1902. So confident was he of his own abilities that at one point he walked 60 miles through the rain to ask Queen Victoria if he could become poet laureate - only discover that the Queen was not at home, at which point he had to walk back again.
And on his lofty head,
May all good angels guard him while living,
And hereafter when he's dead.
McGonagall's most (in)famous poem is probably The Tay Bridge Disaster, written in his self-proclaimed role of "tragedian". The poem was inspired by the disaster of 1879 when the Tay Bridge near Dundee collapsed in a gale. A train was passing over the bridge at the time and many people lost their lives. McGonagalls poetic rendering of the events begins:
Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay!William McGonagall is buried in Edinburgh's Greyfriars Kirkyard. Although he was a lousy poet I maintain he was a great man. He had a vision of what he wanted to do and to be and he followed that vision whatever other people thought of him. He may be remembered as a joke but at least he's remembered and - for whatever reason - people still buy and read his work today.
Alas! I am very sorry to say
That ninety lives have been taken away
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.
