William Topaz McGonagall
1825 - 1902
William McGonagall was a Scottish poet and public performer. He gained notoriety as an exceptionally poor poet who exhibited no recognition of or concern for his peers' opinions of his work. McGonagall wrote about 200 poems, including "The Tay Bridge Disaster" and "The Famous Tay Whale", which are widely regarded as some of the worst in English literature. Groups throughout Scotland engaged him to give recitations from his work, and contemporary descriptions of these performances indicate that many listeners appreciated McGonagall's apparent skill as a comic music hall character. Collections of his verse remain popular, with several volumes available today.Poems
- A New Year's Resolution to Leave Dundee
- An All-Night Sea Fight
- Beautiful Balmoral
- The Wreck of the 'Thomas Dryden' in Pentland Firth
- An Address to the New Tay Bridge
- Robert Burns
- An Address to Shakespeare
- The City of Perth
- The Loss of the 'Victoria'
- An Ode to the Queen on Her Jubilee Year
- The Bonnie Lass o' Dundee
- A Humble Heroine