William McGonagall

Poet - 1825-1902

	"Mac Gonagall, Mac Gonagall,
	the worst of writers, of them all.
	He's known tae pen a poem or two,
	and through so doing gather,
	a fame that gets the purists goin',
	in somethin' o' a lather."

William McGonagall was born in Edinburgh but brought up in Orkney until his family moved to Dundee when he was 11. This was his true, spiritual home and no mistake. The City that would ultimately spawn such literary classics as "The Beano", "The Dandy", "The People's Friend" and last but by no means least "The Sunday Post", is a somewhat fitting scenario for a genius such as McGonagall's.

He has the somewhat dubious claim to fame of being the worst poet that Scotland, or indeed the world, has ever produced.

When one examines his work, it's easy to see why. But damn, he's so bad, he's superb.

We think he's an utter Superstar.

Let's just let the man speak for himself;

(On the "Tay Bridge Disaster", which claimed 90 lives after the bridge buckled and disintegrated with a packed passenger train going 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."

Moving stuff. They just don't write it like that anymore.

As for all time favourites, it has to be "The Death of Lord and Lady Dalhousie", an emotional roller-coaster ride which goes like this;

	"Alas! Lord and Lady Dalhousie are dead, and buried at last.
	Which causes many people to feel a little downcast."

Lennon and McCartney, eat yer heart out.

Those who dare mock the great man would do well to remember one thing. McGonagall has attracted a cult following that has lasted from his lifetime to this day and, unlike so many would-be "better" poets, his work is still published in re-print after re-print.

His enduring popularity is absolute proof that sometimes indeed it's really good to be really bad, and that's well cool in our book.