William Topaz McGonagall (March 1825 – 29 September 1902) was a Scottish

Scottish people

The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...

 weaver

Weaving

Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...

, doggerel

Doggerel

Doggerel is a derogatory term for verse considered of little literary value. The word probably derived from dog, suggesting either ugliness, puppyish clumsiness, or unpalatability in the 1630s.-Variants:...

 poet and actor. He won notoriety as an extremely bad poet who exhibited no recognition of or concern for his peers' opinions of his work.

He wrote some 200 poems, including the infamous "Tay Bridge Disaster

The Tay Bridge Disaster

The Tay Bridge Disaster is a poem written in 1880 by the Scottish poet William McGonagall, who has been widely acclaimed as the worst poet in British history...

", which are widely regarded as some of the worst in British history. Groups throughout Scotland engaged him to make recitation

Poetry reading

A poetry reading is a performance of poetry, normally given on a small stage in a café or bookstore, although poetry readings given by notable poets frequently are booked into larger venues to accommodate crowds...

s from his works; contemporary descriptions of these performances indicate that many of these listeners were appreciating McGonagall's skill as a comic music hall

Music hall

Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...

 character, and as such his readings may be considered a form of performance art

Performance art

In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...

. Collections of his verse continue in popularity, with several volumes available today.

McGonagall has been acclaimed as the worst poet in British history. The chief criticisms of his poetry are that he is deaf to poetic metaphor

Metaphor

A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...

 and unable to scan

Scansion

Scansion is the act of determining and graphically representing the metrical character of a line of verse.-Overview:Systems of scansion, and the assumptions that underlie them, are so numerous and contradictory that it is often difficult to tell whether differences in scansion indicate opposed...

 correctly. In the hands of lesser artists, this might generate merely dull, uninspiring verse. McGonagall's fame stems from the humorous effects these shortcomings generate. The inappropriate rhythms, weak vocabulary, and ill-advised imagery combine to make his work amongst the most spontaneously amusing comic poetry in the English language. His is a long tradition of verses written and published about great events and tragedies, and widely circulated among the local population as handbills. In an age before radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

 and television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

, their voice was one way of communicating important news to an avid public.

Life and poetry

Although both born and dying in Greyfriars Parish, Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

 he is almost solely linked to Dundee

Dundee

Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...

. He was born to Irish parents in Edinburgh.

Later McGonagall moved north, and was apprenticed as a handloom

Loom

A loom is a device used to weave cloth. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads...

 weaver

Weaving

Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...

 in Dundee, following in his Father's footsteps. In 1846, he married Jean King and together, they raised five sons and two daughters. Despite the industrial revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

 slowly making weavers obsolete, McGonagall appeared to prosper as there was still need for skilled workers to perform tasks of great complexity.

Though he was yet to show an ambition for poetry, he did show a keenness for acting although the theatre where he performed, Mr Giles' Theatre, would let him perform the title role in Macbeth

Macbeth

The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...

only if he paid for the privilege in advance. Their caution proved ill-founded, as the theatre was filled with friends and fellow workers, anxious to see what they correctly predicted to be an amusing disaster. Although the play should have ended with Macbeth's death at the hands of Macduff

Macduff (thane)

Macduff, the Thane of Fife, is a character in William Shakespeare's Macbeth . Macduff plays a pivotal role in the play: he suspects Macbeth of regicide and eventually kills Macbeth in the final act...

, McGonagall believed that the actor playing Macduff was trying to upstage him, and so refused to die.

By the 1870s, McGonagall and his family were struggling. Weaving work was becoming more difficult to find and his oldest daughter, Margaret, brought shame on the family by giving birth to an illegitimate son Then an event occurred that changed his life. As he was to write:
McGonagall claims to have been suddenly inspired to become a poet one day when he "seemed to feel a strange kind of feeling stealing over [him], and remained so for about five minutes. A flame, as Lord Byron said, seemed to kindle up [his] entire frame, along with a strong desire to write poetry." He wrote his first poem "An Address to the Rev. George Gilfillan

George Gilfillan

George Gilfillan was a Scottish author and poet. He was one of the spasmodic poets, and an editor and commentator of earlier British poetry. He was born at Comrie, Perthshire, where his father, the Rev. Samuel Gilfillan, the author of some theological works, was for many years minister of a...

", which showed the hallmarks that would characterise his later work. Gilfillan commented, "Shakespeare never wrote anything like this."

McGonagall soon realised that if he were to prosper as a poet, he would require a patron

Patrón

Patrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...

. Ambitiously, he wrote to Queen Victoria herself. Unsurprisingly, he received a letter of rejection, written by a royal functionary and thanking him for his interest. Rather than being disappointed, McGonagall took this as great praise of his work - during a trip to Dunfermline

Dunfermline

Dunfermline is a town and former Royal Burgh in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. According to a 2008 estimate, Dunfermline has a population of 46,430, making it the second-biggest settlement in Fife. Part of the town's name comes from the Gaelic word...

 in 1879, he was mocked by the Chief Templar, who told him that his poetry was very bad. McGonagall told the man that "it was so very bad that Her Majesty had thanked [McGonagall] for what [the Chief Templar] had condemned."

The letter gave McGonagall further confidence in his "poetic abilities", and he felt his reputation with the Queen could be enhanced further if he were to give her a live performance of his work. So in July 1878, he walked from Dundee to Balmoral

Balmoral Castle

Balmoral Castle is a large estate house in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is located near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and east of Braemar. Balmoral has been one of the residences of the British Royal Family since 1852, when it was purchased by Queen Victoria and her...

, a distance of about 60 miles (96.6 km) over mountainous terrain and through a violent thunderstorm, "wet to the skin", to perform for Queen Victoria. When he arrived, he announced himself as "The Queen's Poet". The guards curtly informed him "You're not the Queen's poet! Tennyson is the Queen's poet!" (Alfred Lord Tennyson was, at the time, poet laureate

Poet Laureate

A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...

). McGonagall presented the letter but was refused entry and had to return home. Undeterred, his poetry writing continued, and he reported events to the newspapers, earning himself some minor recognition.

Throughout his life McGonagall campaigned vigorously against excessive drinking, appearing in pubs and bars to give edifying poems and speeches. These were very popular, the people of Dundee possibly recognising that McGonagall was "so giftedly bad he backed unwittingly into genius" He often met with the ire of the publicans, on one occasion being pelted with peas for reciting a poem about the evils of "strong drink".

McGonagall constantly struggled with money and earned his money by selling his poems in the streets, or by reciting them in halls, theatres and public houses. When he was in periods of financial insecurity, his friends would support him with donations. In 1880 he sailed to London to seek his fortune, and in 1887 to New York. In both instances, he returned unsuccessful.

He soon found lucrative work performing his poetry at a local circus. He would read his poems while the crowd was permitted to pelt him with eggs, flour, herrings, potatoes and stale bread. For this, he received fifteen shillings a night. McGonagall seemed happy with this arrangement, but the events would become so raucous
that the city magistrates were forced to put a ban on them. McGonagall was outraged and wrote a poem in response entitled Lines in Protest to the Dundee Magistrates:
Throughout his life McGonagall seemed oblivious to the general opinion of his poems, even when his audience were pelting him with eggs and vegetables. It is possible he was shrewder than he is given credit for, and was playing along to his audience's perception of him, in effect making his recitals an early form of performance art.

In 1890 McGonagall was again in dire straits financially. To help him, his friends funded the publication of a collection of his works, Poetic Gems. The proceeds provided McGonagall with enough money to live on for a time. By 1893 he was becoming annoyed by his mistreatment in the streets and wrote an angry poem threatening to leave Dundee. One newspaper quipped that he'd probably stay for another year once he realised "that Dundee rhymes with 1893". Though trying his hand at writing prose and endorsements for local businesses for a short time, in 1894 he and his wife were forced to move to Perth.

Soon after, he received a letter purporting to be from representatives of King Thibaw Min

Thibaw Min

Thibaw Min was the last king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma . His reign ended when Burma was defeated by the forces of the British Empire in the Third Anglo-Burmese War, on 29 November 1885, prior to its official annexation on 1 January 1886....

 of Burma. In it, he was informed that the King had knighted him as Sir Topaz, Knight of the White Elephant of Burmah. Despite the fact that this was a fairly transparent hoax, McGonagall would refer to himself as "Sir William Topaz McGonagall, Knight of the White Elephant, Burmah" in his advertising for the rest of his life.

In 1895 McGonagall and his wife moved again, this time to Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

. Here, McGonagall actually met with some success, becoming a "cult figure" and was in great demand. This did not last very long and by 1900 he was once again destitute as well as being old and sickly. Though he was now too frail to walk the streets selling his poems, donations from friends, as ever, kept him afloat.

He died penniless in 1902 and was buried in an unmarked grave in Greyfriars Kirkyard

Greyfriars Kirkyard

Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a number of notable Edinburgh residents are interred at...

 in Edinburgh. A grave-slab installed to his memory in 1999 is inscribed:

William McGonagall

Poet and Tragedian

"I am your gracious Majesty

ever faithful to Thee,

William McGonagall, the Poor Poet,

That lives in Dundee."

Additionally, a plaque above 5 South College Street in Edinburgh shows an image of McGonagall, and bears the inscription:

William McGonagall

Poet and Tragedian

Died Here

29th September 1902

Possible Asperger's

Author Norman Watson speculates in his biography of McGonagall that the poetaster may have been on the "autism

Autism

Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...

-Asperger's spectrum". Christopher Hart

Christopher Hart (novelist)

Christopher Hart is an English novelist and journalist. He writes for The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Literary Review, and The Bookseller, and is literary editor of the Erotic Review...

, writing in the Sunday Times, says that this seems "likely".

Tay Bridge Disaster

Of the 200 or so poems that he wrote, the most famous is probably "The Tay Bridge Disaster", which recounts the events of the evening of 28 December 1879, when, during a severe gale

Gale

A gale is a very strong wind. There are conflicting definitions of how strong a wind must be to be considered a gale. The U.S. government's National Weather Service defines a gale as 34–47 knots of sustained surface winds. Forecasters typically issue gale warnings when winds of this strength are...

, the Tay Rail Bridge

Tay Rail Bridge

The Tay Bridge is a railway bridge approximately two and a quarter miles long that spans the Firth of Tay in Scotland, between the city of Dundee and the suburb of Wormit in Fife ....

 near Dundee collapsed as a train was passing over it.

Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay!

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.

(Modern sources give the death toll as 75.)

Few could disagree with McGonagall's closing judgement: 'I must now conclude my lay/By telling the world fearlessly without the least dismay/That your central girders would not have given way,/At least many sensible men do say,/Had they been supported on each side with buttresses,/At least many sensible men confesses,/For the stronger we our houses do build,/The less chance we have of being killed'.

McGonagall had previously written a poem in praise of the Tay Bridge: "The Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay" "With your numerous arches and pillars in so grand array". Once the new replacement bridge had been built, without the least feeling of irony, he proceeded to compose an ode to the new construction: "An Address to the New Tay Bridge" "Strong enough all windy storms to defy".

In popular culture

• The memory of McGonagall was resurrected by comedian Spike Milligan
  Spike Milligan
  Terence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...
  
  . A character called McGoonagall frequently appears in The Goon Show
  The Goon Show
  The Goon Show was a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme...
  
  , alternately played by Milligan and Peter Sellers
  Peter Sellers
  Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
  
  . Milligan also occasionally gave readings of McGonagall's verse.
• McGonagall's poem The Famous Tay Whale
  The Famous Tay Whale
  "The Famous Tay Whale" is a poem by William Topaz McGonagall about a humpback whale hunted and killed in 1883 in the Firth of Tay near Dundee, Scotland, then the UK's main whaling port. The Tay whale came to public prominence when it was subject to a public dissection by Sir John Struthers and...
  
  was set to music by Matyas Seiber
  Mátyás Seiber
  Mátyás György Seiber was a Hungarian-born composer who lived and worked in England from 1935 onward.-Career:Seiber was born in Budapest, and studied there with Zoltán Kodály, with whom he toured Hungary collecting folk songs. In 1928, he became director of the jazz department at the Hoch...
  
   for the second Hoffnung
  Gerard Hoffnung
  Gerard Hoffnung was an artist and musician, best known for his humorous works.- Early years :Born in Berlin, and named Gerhard, he was the only child of a well-to-do Jewish couple, Hildegard and Ludwig Hoffnung...
  
   Music Festival in 1958. The arrangement calls for a narrator (at the premiere the narrator was Edith Evans
  Edith Evans
  Dame Edith Mary Evans, DBE was a British actress. She was known for her work on the British stage. She also appeared in a number of films, for which she received three Academy Award nominations, plus a BAFTA and a Golden Globe award.Evans was particularly effective at portraying haughty...
  
  ), full orchestra, a fog horn, and an espresso machine.
• A 1974 movie called The Great McGonagall starred Milligan as a fictionalized William McGonagall. Peter Sellers played Queen Victoria. Milligan further recounted McGonagall's life story in the pastiche novel William McGonagall - the Truth at Last, co-written with Jack Hobbs.
• A Muppet
  The Muppets
  The Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson starting in 1954–55. Although the term is often used to refer to any puppet that resembles the distinctive style of The Muppet Show, the term is both an informal name and legal trademark owned by the Walt Disney Company in reference...
  
   character named "Angus McGonagle, the Argyle Gargoyle" appeared on one episode of The Muppet Show
  The Muppet Show
  The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
  
  . As his stage act he "gargled Gershwin
  George Gershwin
  George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
  
  ".
• In The Wee Free Men
  The Wee Free Men
  The Wee Free Men, first published in 2003, is the second Story of The Discworld book for younger readers. A sequel, A Hat Full of Sky, appeared in 2004 , a third book, Wintersmith appeared in 2006, and the fourth, I Shall Wear Midnight, was released in September...
  
  by Terry Pratchett
  Terry Pratchett
  Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
  
  , the Nac Mac Feegle
  Nac Mac Feegle
  The Nac Mac Feegle are a type of fairy folk appearing in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels Carpe Jugulum, The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith and I Shall Wear...
  
   have a battle poet, or Gonnagle, who repels the enemy through the awfulness of his poetry. Training up a successor, 'the old bard congratulates the young one: "That, lad," he said proudly, "was some of the worst poetry I have heard for a long time. It was offensive to the ear and a torrrture to the soul...a verrry commendable effort! We'll make a gonnagle out o' ye yet!"...a touching tribute to the memory of William McGonagall...famously excruciating Scottish poet'.
• An episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus
  Monty Python's Flying Circus
  Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
  
   featured a McGonagall-esque poet called Ewan McTeagle, whose poems were actually prose
  Prose
  Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...
  
   requests for money.
• In the Harry Potter books, author J.K. Rowling chose the surname of the Professor of Transfiguration, Minerva McGonagall, because she had heard of McGonagall and loved the surname.
• The January 9, 2007 episode of the show with zefrank
  The show with zefrank
  the show with zefrank was a web video show by Ze Frank produced each weekday from March 17, 2006 until March 17, 2007. The format of the program combined commentary on media and current events with viewer contributions and activities...
  
   claimed to have been hosted from the home of McGonagall.
• Billy Connolly
  Billy Connolly
  William "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
  
   visited Dundee and the Tay Bridge
  Tay Rail Bridge
  The Tay Bridge is a railway bridge approximately two and a quarter miles long that spans the Firth of Tay in Scotland, between the city of Dundee and the suburb of Wormit in Fife ....
  
   during his 1994 World Tour of Scotland, where he talked about McGonagall and recited a passage from his book Scottish Gems: "I don't like publicans. The first man to throw a plate of peas at me was a publican," speculating on how popular throwing plates of peas at him must have become after this. Connolly also read The Tay Bridge Disaster in the middle of a blizzard.
• Satirical magazine Private Eye has printed a number of McGonagallesque poems concerning great events of the day, usually under the byline William Rees-McGonagall, a portmanteau of McGonagall's name and that of William Rees-Mogg
  William Rees-Mogg
  William Rees-Mogg, Baron Rees-Mogg is an English journalist and life peer.-Education:Rees-Mogg was educated at Clifton College Preparatory School in Bristol and Charterhouse School in Godalming, followed by Balliol College, Oxford...
  
  . For example, in 2007, they covered the success of the Scottish National Party
  Scottish National Party
  The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
  
   and its success in the Scottish Parliament election
  Scottish Parliament election, 2007
  The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999...
  
  .
• McGonagall was the subject of the newspaper column Ripley's Believe It or Not!
  Ripley's Believe It or Not!
  Ripley's Believe It or Not! is a franchise, founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims...
  
   on October 11, 2007, saying he "was often considered the world's worst poet, even by his own publisher, yet his writings are still in print a century after his death!"
• In episode 13 of season 2 of Canadian TV series Murdoch Mysteries
  Murdoch Mysteries
  Murdoch Mysteries is a Canadian drama television series that airs on Citytv, featuring Yannick Bisson as William Murdoch, a police detective working in Toronto, Ontario in the 1890s. The television series is based on the Detective Murdoch series of novels by Maureen Jennings. The fifth season was...
  
  , one of the murder victims is holding a copy of a book entitled "The Collected Works of William Topaz McGonagall". The character of Murdoch says: "It seems our Mr. Vanderlay had terrible taste in poetry". The book, it appears, was placed in his hand to make it seem he had died crushed by a falling bookcase while trying to retrieve it.
• A collection of 35 broadsheet poems of McGonagall, the majority signed by him, was bought for £6,600 (including commission) from Lyon & Turnbull, Edinburgh auctionneers, on 16 May 2008.
• Dundonian actor Brian Cox compared the comic creation Bob Servant
  Bob Servant
  Neil Forsyth is a Scottish journalist, writer and author best known for creating the character of Bob Servant.- Early life :...
  
   to McGonagall while playing Servant in a radio
  Radio
  Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
  
   adaptation
  Adaptation
  An adaptation in biology is a trait with a current functional role in the life history of an organism that is maintained and evolved by means of natural selection. An adaptation refers to both the current state of being adapted and to the dynamic evolutionary process that leads to the adaptation....
  
  . Servant is the creation of Dundonian author Neil Forsyth who has acknowledged McGonagall as an influence in the Bob Servant character.

Honours and memorials

McGonagall's home city of Dundee maintains several reminders of his life:

• The William Topaz McGonagall Appreciation Society held a McGonagall Supper on board the frigate Unicorn
  HMS Unicorn (1824)
  HMS Unicorn and her near-sister ship, HMS Trincomalee, are surviving sailing frigates of the successful Leda class, although the original design had been modified by the time that the Unicorn was built, to incorporate a circular stern and "small-timber" system of construction...
  
   on 12 June 1997, during which the courses were allegedly served in reverse order, starting with the coffee and ending with the starters. A short play was performed by local actors.
• Beginning in 2004, the Dundee Science Centre Education Outreach has hosted an annual Charity McGonagall Gala Dinner, in which guests eat their meal backwards from dessert to starter and hear the welcome address as they depart, "combining traditional and unconventional entertainment, with four-course dinner, complimentary wine and whisky".
• There is a McGonagall Square in the West End of Dundee.
• A number of inscriptions of his poetry have been made, most notably along the side of the River Tay on the pavement of Riverside Drive in Dundee. This monument contains a deliberate spelling mistake.
• Dundee Central Library maintains a William McGonagall Collection of his works.

He is buried in an unmarked grave in Greyfriars Kirkyard

Greyfriars Kirkyard

Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, and a number of notable Edinburgh residents are interred at...

, Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

. From c.1950 to 1995 a memorial bench stood on the path immediately to the north side of the church commemorating McGonagall and bearing the typically McGonagall-esque inscription "Feeling tired and need a seat? Sit down here, and rest your feet". Unfortunately the bench fell into disrepair and was not replaced. It is not known what became of its small plaque.

List of poems

McGonagall's poems were published by his friends, in a series of books bearing variations on the title Poetic Gems. In the modern era, the entire series is reprinted in a single collection called The Complete McGonagall. Note that although the Poetic Gems books are listed in chronological order, the time at which the poem was published often has no bearing on when it was written; the "Address to the Rev. George Gilfillan" and "Requisition to the Queen" were amongst McGonagall's earliest written poems, yet they appear in More Poetic Gems and Last Poetic Gems respectively.

Poetic Gems

• Ode to the Queen on her Jubilee Year; a celebration of Queen Victoria's jubilee.
• Death of Lord and Lady Dalhousie: refers to the death of James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie
  James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie
  James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie KT, PC was a Scottish statesman, and a colonial administrator in British India....
  
   and his wife.

Alas! Lord and Lady Dalhousie are dead, and buried at last,

Which causes many people to feel a little downcast.

• Death of Prince Leopold: refers to the death of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany
  Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany
  The Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany was the eighth child and fourth son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Leopold was later created Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence, and Baron Arklow...
  
  .
• Funeral of the German Emperor: refers to the death of William I, German Emperor
  William I, German Emperor
  William I, also known as Wilhelm I , of the House of Hohenzollern was the King of Prussia and the first German Emperor .Under the leadership of William and his Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Prussia achieved the unification of Germany and the...
  
  .
• The Famous Tay Whale
  The Famous Tay Whale
  "The Famous Tay Whale" is a poem by William Topaz McGonagall about a humpback whale hunted and killed in 1883 in the Firth of Tay near Dundee, Scotland, then the UK's main whaling port. The Tay whale came to public prominence when it was subject to a public dissection by Sir John Struthers and...
  
  .
• The Battle Of Tel-El-Kebir: a celebration of the British victory over the Egyptian army in the Battle of Tel el-Kebir.
• The Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay: a description of the older Tay Bridge.
• The Newport Railway: a description of the railway running across the Tay Bridge.
• Address to the New Tay Bridge: a description of the rebuilt Tay Bridge, after the Tay Bridge Disaster.

Beautiful new railway bridge of the Silvery Tay,

With thy beautiful side-screens along your railway.

• The Tay Bridge Disaster: see above.
• The Late Sir John Ogilvy: in praise of Sir John Ogilvy, 9th Baronet
  Sir John Ogilvy, 9th Baronet
  Sir John Ogilvy, 9th Baronet , was a Scottish Liberal Party politician. He was MP for Dundee from 1857 to 1874....
  
  , MP for Dundee.

He was a public benefactor in many ways,

Especially in erecting an asylum for imbecile children to spend their days.

• The Rattling Boy from Dublin: a song in verse/chorus form.
• Burial of the Rev. George Gilfillan
  George Gilfillan
  George Gilfillan was a Scottish author and poet. He was one of the spasmodic poets, and an editor and commentator of earlier British poetry. He was born at Comrie, Perthshire, where his father, the Rev. Samuel Gilfillan, the author of some theological works, was for many years minister of a...
  
  .
• The Battle of El-Teb: a narrative of the second of the Battles of El Teb
  Battles of El Teb
  The Battles of El Teb took place during the British Sudan Campaign where a force of Sudanese under Osman Digna won a victory over an 3500 strong Egyptian force under the command of General Valentine Baker which was marching to relieve Tokar on the 4th...
  
  , in which George Graham defeated the Egyptian Army.

Ye sons of Great Britain, I think no shame

To write in praise of brave General Graham!

Whose name will be handed down to posterity without any stigma,

Because, at the battle of El-Teb, he defeated Osman Digna.

• The Battle of Abu Klea
  Battle of Abu Klea
  The Battle of Abu Klea took place between the dates of 16 and 18 January 1885, at Abu Klea, Sudan, between the British Desert Column and Mahdist forces encamped near Abu Klea...
  
  : a narrative of the British victory over the Sudanese.
• A Christmas Carol: also in verse/chorus form.
• The Christmas Goose: a satirical poem about a rich gentleman reclaiming a stolen goose from a poor boy.

No matter how the poor are clothed,

Or if they starve at home,

We'll drink our wine, and eat our goose,

Aye, and pick it to the bone.

• An Autumn Reverie: a description of autumn, with further references to the plight of the poor.
• Wreck of the Steamer London while on her way to Australia: narrative of the sinking of SS London (1864)
  SS London (1864)
  The SS London was a British steamship which sank in the Bay of Biscay on 11 January 1866. The ship was travelling from Gravesend in England to Melbourne, Australia when she began taking in water on 10 January...
  
   in the Bay of Biscay.
• Wreck of the Thomas Dryden in Pentland Firth: a narrative of the wreckage of the Thomas Dryden.
• Attempted Assassination of the Queen: a poem in thanks for the failure of Roderick McLean's attempt to assassinate Queen Victoria.
• Saving a Train: a narrative of Carl Springel's self-sacrificing effort to halt a train before it reached a broken bridge.
• The Moon.
• The Beautiful Sun.
• Grace Darling, or the Wreck of the Forfarshire: a narrative of the wreckage of the SS Forfarshire (ship)
  Forfarshire (ship)
  The Forfarshire was a paddlesteamer with brigantine rigging, built in Dundee in 1834, and which struck and later foundered on one of the Farne Islands on the 7 September 1838, giving rise to the rescue for which Grace Darling is famed....
  
   and of Grace Darling
  Grace Darling
  Grace Horsley Darling was an English Victorian heroine who in 1838, along with her father, saved 13 people from the wreck of the SS Forfarshire.-Biography:...
  
  's rescue of several survivors from the wreck.

More Poetic Gems

• The Destroying Angel, Or The Poet's Dream: a fictional narrative in which an angel burns down all of the public houses in Dundee, thereby bringing temperance.
• Lines in defence of the stage: McGonagall's defense of the theatre against clerical objections.
• Calamity in London: Family of Ten burned to death: a narrative of a fire in Dixie Street, Bethnal Green, London.
• The Black Watch Memorial: in praise of a memorial to the Black Watch
  Black Watch
  The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The unit's traditional colours were retired in 2011 in a ceremony led by Queen Elizabeth II....
  
  , the 3rd Highland Regiment.
• Lost on the Prairie: a story of a party of workmen becoming lost in the snow in the American prairie and being rescued by a horse named Old Jack.
• The Irish Convict's Return: a poem written in the first-person from the view of an Irish convict returning to Ireland after having been transported to Australasia. No name is given.
• Little Jamie: a poem in traditional scots describing a young boy named Jamie.
• Address to the Rev. George Gilfillan: see above.
• Address to Shakespeare.
• The Fair Maid of Perth's House: a description of the Maid of Perth's House, in Curfew Row, Perth, Scotland.
• The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations: a description of the celebration of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.
• Ode to the Queen.
• Death of the Queen: on the death of Queen Victoria.
• A Humble Heroine: a narrative of the action of Agnes Harkness, the "Heroine of Matagorda", who brought desperately needed water to soldiers at the siege. The poem refers to her as "Mrs Reston" after her soldier husband, James Reston.
• Nora, the Maid of Killarney: a narrative song. Notable as one of three poems for which the original broadside publication is held in the National Museum of Scotland. The original authorship gives the author as "A new song by Sir William Topaz McGonagall, Knight of the White Elephant, Burma".
• The Bonnie Lass O'Dundee.
• The Little Match Girl.
• A Tale of Elsinore.
• The Bonnie Sidlaw Hills: one of a long series of poems in praise of various places in Scotland, almost all either addressed to "lovers of the picturesque" or to unknown women; in this case, "Bonnie Clara".
• Bonnie Callander
  Callander
  Callander is a burgh in the region of Stirling, Scotland, situated on the River Teith. The town is located in the former county of Perthshire and is a popular tourist stop to and from the Highlands....
  
  : addressed to "Bonnie Helen".
• Bonnie Kilmany
  Kilmany
  Kilmany is a village in Fife in Scotland.It is notable for being the birthplace of Jim Clark, former world champion Formula One racing-car driver. There is a statue of Clark in the village, unveiled in 1997 by Sir Jackie Stewart....
  
  : addressed to "Bonnie Annie".
• Bonnie Montrose
  Montrose, Angus
  Montrose is a coastal resort town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. It is situated 38 miles north of Dundee between the mouths of the North and South Esk rivers...
  
  .
• Beautiful Comrie
  Comrie
  Comrie is an affluent village and parish in the southern highlands of Scotland, towards the western end of the Strathearn district of Perth and Kinross, seven miles west of Crieff. The village has won the Royal Horticultural Society "Large Village Britain in Bloom Winner" in 2007 and 2010...
  
  : addressed to "lovers of the picturesque".
• Beautiful North Berwick
  North Berwick
  The Royal Burgh of North Berwick is a seaside town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately 25 miles east of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable holiday resort in the 19th century because of its two sandy bays, the East Bay and the...
  
  .
• Beautiful Crieff
  Crieff
  Crieff is a market town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies on the A85 road between Perth and Crianlarich and also lies on the A822 between Greenloaning and Aberfeldy. The A822 joins onto the A823 which leads to Dunfermline....
  
  : "Lovers of the picturesque".
• Beautiful Balmoral
  Balmoral Castle
  Balmoral Castle is a large estate house in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is located near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and east of Braemar. Balmoral has been one of the residences of the British Royal Family since 1852, when it was purchased by Queen Victoria and her...
  
  : "Lovers of the picturesque".
• The Beautiful Village of Penicuik
  Penicuik
  Penicuik is a burgh and civil parish in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the west bank of the River North Esk. The town was developed as a planned village in 1770 by Sir James Clerk of Penicuik. It became a burgh in 1867. The town was well known for its paper mills, the last of which closed in 2005....
  
  .
• Beautiful Nairn
  Nairn
  Nairn is a town and former burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness...
  
  .

All ye tourists who wish to be away

From the crowded city for a brief holiday;

The town of Nairn is worth a visit, I do confess,

And its only about fifteen miles from Inverness.

• Beautiful Torquay
  Torquay
  Torquay is a town in the unitary authority area of Torbay and ceremonial county of Devon, England. It lies south of Exeter along the A380 on the north of Torbay, north-east of Plymouth and adjoins the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay. Torquay’s population of 63,998 during the...
  
  . "Lovers of the picturesque".
• The Ancient town of Leith
  Leith
  -South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
  
  .
• The City of Perth
  Perth, Scotland
  Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
  
  .
• Bonnie Dundee
  Dundee
  Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
  
   in 1878.
• Loch Ness
  Loch Ness
  Loch Ness is a large, deep, freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately southwest of Inverness. Its surface is above sea level. Loch Ness is best known for the alleged sightings of the cryptozoological Loch Ness Monster, also known affectionately as "Nessie"...
  
  .
• The Silvery Tay
  River Tay
  The River Tay is the longest river in Scotland and the seventh-longest in the United Kingdom. The Tay originates in western Scotland on the slopes of Ben Lui , then flows easterly across the Highlands, through Loch Dochhart, Loch Lubhair and Loch Tay, then continues east through Strathtay , in...
  
  .
• The Den O' Fowlis.
• Inauguration of the Hill O'Balgay.
• Little Popeet: The Lost Child: a story of a lost child in France.
• The Bonnie Lass of Ruily.
• Mary, the Maid O' The Tay. In traditional Scots.

Still More Poetic Gems

• Adventure in the Life of King James V of Scotland: a narrative of the "Gudeman of Ballengeich", in which King James V is attacked while travelling in disguise and aided by a bondsman named John Howieson, whom he later rewards.

On one occasion King James the Fifth of Scotland, when alone, in disguise,

Near by the Bridge of Cramond met with rather a disagreeable surprise.

• The Clepington Catastrophe: description of a fire occurring in a store in Clepington, on the outskirts of Dundee.
• The Rebel Surprise near Tamai: narrative of an ambush by Arab forces against a British unit led by "General M'Neill".
• The battle of Cressy: narrative of the British victory over the French in the Battle of Crécy
  Battle of Crécy
  The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 near Crécy in northern France, and was one of the most important battles of the Hundred Years' War...
  
  .
• Wreck of the Barque "Wm. Paterson" of Liverpool.
• Sorrows of the Blind.
• General Gorden, the Hero of Khartoum.
• Burning of the Exeter Theatre.
• John Rouat the Fisherman.
• Hanchen, the Maid of the Mill.
• Wreck of the Schooner "Samuel Crawford".
• Wreck of the Whaler "Oscar".
• Jurry Carrister, the Heroine of Lucknow Mine.
• The Horrors of Majuba.
• Miraculous Escape of Robert Allan, the Fireman.
• Collision in the English Channel.
• The Battle of Shina, in Africa, fought in 1800.
• Beautiful Edinburgh
  Edinburgh
  Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
  
  .
• Women's Suffrage.
• Lord Robert's Triumphal Entry into Pretoria.
• Tribute to Mr J. Graham Henderson, the World's Fair Judge.
• Wreck of the Columbine.
• Balmoral Castle.
• A New Temperance Poem, in Memory of my Departed parents, who were Sober Living & God Fearing People.

Yet More Poetic Gems

• Summary History of Sir William Wallace.
• The Heatherblend Club Banquet.
• Lines in Praise of Tommy Atkins; refers to Tommy Atkins
  Tommy Atkins
  Tommy Atkins is a term for a common soldier in the British Army that was already well established in the 19th century, but is particularly associated with World War I. It can be used as a term of reference, or as a form of address. German soldiers would call out to "Tommy" across no man's land if...
  
  , not a real person, but the generic name for a British soldier.
• The Relief of Mafeking.
• The Battle of Glencoe.
• The Capture of Havana.
• The Battle of Waterloo.
• The Albion Battleship Calamity.
• An All Night Sea Fight: refers to the capture of HMS Pique (1795)
  HMS Pique (1795)
  HMS Pique was a 38-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She had formerly served with the French Navy, initially as the Fleur-de-Lys, and later as the Pique. She was captured in 1795 by HMS Blanche, in a battle that left the Blanches commander, Captain Robert Faulknor, dead...
  
   by the British Navy.
• Wreck of the Steamer "Stella".
• Wreck of the Steamer "Storm Queen".
• Wreck of the "Abercrombie Robinson".
• Loss of the "Victoria".
• Burning of the Ship "Kent".
• Wreck of the "Indian Chief".
• Death of Captain Ward.
• Disastrous Fire at Scarborough.
• Burial of Mr Gladstone, the Political Hero.
• Death of the Rev. Dr Wilson.
• Captain Teach alias Black Beard: brief telling of the life and defeat of Blackbeard
  Blackbeard
  Edward Teach , better known as Blackbeard, was a notorious English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of the American colonies....
  
  .

Black Beard derived his name from his long black beard,

Which terrified America more than any comet that had ever appeared.

• Ode to the King. To Edward VII of the United Kingdom
  Edward VII of the United Kingdom
  Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
  
  .
• A Soldier's Reprieve.
• Richard Piggot, the Forger.
• The Troubles of Matthew Mahoney.
• The Pennsylvania Disaster.
• The Sprig of Moss.

Further Poetic Gems

• To Mr James Scrymgeour, Dundee.
• The Battle of Bannockburn.
• Edinburgh.
• Glasgow.

So let the beautiful city of Glasgow flourish,

And may the inhabitants always find food their bodies to nourish.

• The Battle of Flodden Field.
• Greenland's Icy Mountains.
• Tribute to Henry M. Stanley.
• Jottings of New York.
• Beautiful Monikie
  Monikie
  Monikie is a village in Angus, Scotland, north-east of Dundee, and which takes its name from the civil parish of Monikie.-History:The village grew from small beginnings as just one of many hamlets. The other large village in the parish is Newbigging...
  
  .
• Death of the Old Mendicant.
• Loch Katrine.
• Forget-me-not.
• The Royal Review.
• The Nithsdale Widow and her Son.
• Jack o' the Cudgel.
• The Battle of Culloden.
• The Battle of Sheriffmuir.
• Execution of James Graham, Marquis of Montrose.
• Baldovan.
• Loch Leven.
• The Castle of Mains.
• Montrose.
• Broughty Ferry.
• Robert Burns.
• Adventures of Robert the Bruce.
• A Tale of the Sea.
• Jottings of London.

But during my short stay, and while wandering there,

Mr Spurgeon was the only man I heard speaking proper English I do declare.

• Annie Marshall the Foundling.
• Bill Bowls the Sailor.
• Young Munro the Sailor.
• A Tribute to Mr Murphy and the Blue Ribbon Army.

Yet Further Poetic Gems

• The Sunderland Calamity.
• Inauguration of the University College, Dundee.
• The Great Franchise Demonstration, Dundee, 20th September 1884.
• Wreck of the Barque "Lynton" While Bound for Aspinall, Having on Board 1000 Tons of Coal.
• The Great Yellow River Inundation in China.
• Death of Fred Marsden, the American Playwright.
• Excursion Steamer Sunk in the Tay.
• Funeral of the Late Ex-Provost Rough, Dundee.
• The Crucifixion of Christ.
• Death and Burial of Lord Tennyson.
• New Year's Resolution to Leave Dundee: McGonagall's published declaration of his intent to leave Dundee in 1893 owing to his treatment by the local people:

Every morning when I got out

The ignorant rabble they do shout

"There goes Mad McGonagall"

In derisive shouts, as loud as they can bawl,

And lifts stones and snowballs, and throws them at me;

And such actions are shameful to be heard in the City of Dundee.

• Beautiful Balmerino
  Balmerino
  Balmerino was a bay Thoroughbred stallion that was foaled at Cambridge in the Waikato region of New Zealand. He later became a champion racehorse with many international successes.-Breeding:...
  
  .
• Lines in Memoriam regarding the Entertainment I Gave on the 31st March, 1893, in Reform Street Hall, Dundee.
• Lines in Praise of Mr J. Graham Henderson: in praise of a local tailor who give McGonagall a suit.
• The Terrific Cyclone of 1893.
• Tribute to Dr Murison: in praise of a local doctor who helped McGonagall while he was "ill with inflammation".

He told me at once what was ailing me;

He said I had been writing too much poetry,

And from writing poetry I would have to refrain,

Because I was suffering from inflammation on the brain.

• The Kessack Ferry-Boat Fatality.
• Lines in Praise of the Lyric Club Banquet which was held in the Queen's Hotel, Perth, on the Evening of 5th September 1894.
• Lines in Praise of Professor Blackie.
• Funeral of the Late Prince Henry of Battenburg.
• Burning of the People's Variety Theatre, Aberdeen.
• The Storming of Dargai Heights.
• Saving a Train: a different poem to the one appearing in Poetic Gems.
• The Battle of Atbara.
• Lines in Reply to the Beautiful Poet who Welcomed News of my Departure from Dundee: actually addressed to the editor of the Dundee Weekly News, attacking an individual who had published a poem in response to New Year's Resolution to Leave Dundee saying, effectively, good riddance.

Therefore I laugh at such bosh that appears in print.

So I hope from me you'll take the hint,

And never publish such bosh of poetry again,

Or else you'll get the famous Weekly News a bad name.

• The Battle of Omdurman.
• The Village of Tayport and its Surroundings.
• The Blind Girl.
• Wreck of the Steamer "Mohegan".
• The Hero of Rorke's Drift.

Last Poetic Gems

• Farewell Address at the Argyle Hall, Tuesday, June 22, 1880.
• The Last Berkshire Eleven: the Heroes of Maiwand.
• The Demon Drink.
• Grif of the Bloody Hand.
• A Summary History of Lord Clive.
• The Battle of the Nile.
• Beautiful Aberfoyle.
• The Convict's Return.
• The Battle of Alexandria, or the Reconquest of Egypt.
• Saved by Music.
• Beautiful Newport
  Newport
  Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
  
   on the Braes o' the Silvery Tay.
• The Battle of Corunna.
• A Tale of Christmas Eve.
• The Battle of Gujrat.
• Bill Bowls the Sailor.
• The Battle of the Alma, fought in 1854.
• Beautiful Rothesay
  Rothesay, Argyll and Bute
  The town of Rothesay is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It can be reached by ferry from Wemyss Bay which offers an onward rail link to Glasgow. At the centre of the town is Rothesay Castle, a ruined castle which dates back to the 13th...
  
  .
• The Battle of Inkermann.
• Little Pierre's Song.
• The Capture of Lucknow.
• The Burns Statue.
• The Hero of Kalpore: an Incident of the Indian Mutiny.
• Jack Honest, or the Widow and her Son.
• The Downfall of Delhi.
• The River of Leith.
• The Ashantee War: the Fall of Coomassie.
• The Beautiful City of Perth.
• General Robert in Afghanistan.
• Requisition to the Queen.

Most Mighty Empress of India, and Englands beloved Queen,

Most Handsome to be Seen.

I wish you every Success.

And that heaven may you bless.

For your Kindness to the poor while they are in distress.

I hope the Lord will protect you while living

And hereafter when your Majesty is dead.

I hope Thee Lord will place an eternal Crown

upon your Head.

I am your Gracious Majesty ever faithful to Thee,

William McGonagall, The Poor Poet,

That lives in Dundee.

See also

• Romeo Coates
  Robert Coates (actor)
  Robert Coates , often called Romeo Coates, was a West Indian-born heir to significantly profitable, sugar-growing slave plantations. As a young adult, he emigrated to England...
  
  
• James McIntyre (poet)
• Julia A. Moore
  Julia A. Moore
  Julia Ann Moore, the "Sweet Singer of Michigan", born Julia Ann Davis in Plainfield Township, Kent County, Michigan , was an American poet, or more precisely, poetaster...
  
  
• Amanda McKittrick Ros
• Scottish literature
  Scottish literature
  Scottish literature is literature written in Scotland or by Scottish writers. It includes literature written in English, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Brythonic, French, Latin and any other language in which a piece of literature was ever written within the boundaries of modern Scotland.The earliest...
  
  
• Wesley Willis
  Wesley Willis
  Wesley Willis was a musician and artist from Chicago. A diagnosed chronic schizophrenic, he gained an enormous cult following in the 1990s after releasing several hundred songs of simple but unique music, with emphasis on his humorous, bizarre, and frequently obscene lyrics...
  
  

External links

• McGonagall Online gives a different interpretation of McGonagall's work, suggesting he was a deliberate satirist
  Satire
  Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
  
  .
• Bard of the Silv'ry Tay A profile by James Campbell
• Picture of his memorial
• The Life and Death of William McGonagall @ Ward's Book of Days Page A1.
• McCheyne, McGonagall and the West End of Dundee - a lecture by David Andrew Robertson on 2010-06-21 as part of Dundee's WestFest celebrations.