McGonagall's family was from Ireland, from County Donegal, as their name might tell you, but settled in the north of Scotland in Dundee. McGonagall one day received a call from a voice telling him to write poetry. His first poem was to praise a minister of religion.
He had grasped the concept of rhyme, but not of syllable counting, of intonation, so his poetry created an unintended humorous effect. He tried to make a living from selling his printed poems and performing them.
He performed as Macbeth in the Shakespeare play, the starring role. However, in the last act, where Macbeth is supposed to die, McGonagall refused to die.
He once performed a poem against drinking in a pub. He was surprised when the annoyed publican threw peas at him.
He wrote a poem about the local wonder of construction, the Tay Bridge. When the bridge collapsed with a train on it, killing numerous passengers, he wrote another poem, which was dreadful, but got widespread publicity.
- But I may say Dame Fortune has been very kind to me by endowing me with the genius of poetry. I remember how I felt when I received the spirit of poetry. It was in the year of 1877.
- "The Autobiography of Sir William Topaz McGonagall", published in the Weekly News
- McGonagall's "knighthood" was an honorary one conferred on him by King Theebaw of the Andaman Islands: "Knight of the White Elephant of Burmah".
- "The Autobiography of Sir William Topaz McGonagall", published in the Weekly News
I was seized with a strong desire to write poetry, so strong, in fact, that in imagination I thought I heard a voice crying in my ears –
"Write! Write"
I wondered what could be the matter with me, and I began to walk backwards and forwards in a great fit of excitement, saying to myself– "I know nothing about poetry."
- "The Autobiography of Sir William Topaz McGonagall".
You can see a plaque on a site where he lived in Edinburgh. A bench where he was buried in a pauper's grave has been photographed and can be seen on the website although unfortunately the bench and its plaque have gone.
Tay bridge disaster column in Dundee Museum of Transport, Dundee, Scotland. Photo by John White.
British comedian Spike Milligan featured McGonagall many times.
Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McGonagall
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20119/william-topaz-mcgonagall
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tay_Bridge_disaster
The Tay Bridge Disaster poem in full:
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Tay_Bridge_Disaster
Tay Bridge Disaster Virtual Cemetery
https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-cemetery
About the Author
Angela Lansbury, is a semi-retired travel writer still researching bucket list countries and seeking out the special, unusual, people, places, landmarks, hotels, museums and trails, fabulous foods, recipes, clothes and online souvenir shopping.
Angela Lansbury is a member of Toastmasters International.
Angela Lansbury B A Hons is the author of ten books by regular publishers plus another ten self-published books.
About Angela The Speaker & Trainer
Angela Lansbury is a teacher of English and other languages to Toastmasters clubs and businesses.
Angela has several blogs speeches, comedy and song writing and organizing, writing intermittently, but writes almost daily on these three:
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