William topaz mcgonagall biography of christopher
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Until the age of 52, in 1877, McGonagall worked as a handloom weaver, with occasional diversions into amateur dramatics, and Shakespeare in particular.
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And a great beautification to the river Tay,
Most beautiful to be seen
Near by Dundee and the Magdalen Green. Well, it being the holiday week in Dundee, I was sitting in my back room in Paton's Lane, Dundee, lamenting to myself because I couldn't get to the Highlands on holiday to see the beautiful scenery, when all of a sudden my body got inflamed, and instantly 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!
I remember how I felt when I received the spirit of poetry.
... Over the following 25 years McGonagall published some 200 poems, in a style that jettisoned all the conventions of poetry and most rules of the English language.
William Shakespeare, there's none can you excel,
You have drawn out your characters remarkably well,
Which is delightful for to see enacted upon the stage
For instance, the love-sick Romeo, or Othello, in a rage;
... received with eclat and [he] was pronounced by the Press the Poet Laureate of the Tay Bridge...'.
He died in 1902. Beautiful Summer now hath fled,
And the face of Nature doth seem dead,
And the leaves are withered, and falling off the trees,
By the nipping and chilling autumnal breeze.
'Twas at the Seige of Matagarda, during the Peninsular War,
That a Mrs Reston for courage outshone any man there by far;
She was the wife of a Scottish soldier in Matagarda Port,
And to attend to her husband she there did resort.
On one occasion he was playing Macbeth, but refused to die after being stabbed by Macduff; on another, his over-exuberance in a battle scene led to the orchestra pit and the whole stage area being evacuated.
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A pathetic tale of the sea I will unfold,
Enough to make one's blood run cold;
Concerning four fishermen cast adrift in a dory.
As I've been told I'll relate the story.
Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay!
Alas!
Ye sons of Mars, come list to me,
And I will relate to ye
A great and heroic naval fight,
Which will fill your hearts with delight.
'Twas in the United States of America some years ago
An aged father sat at his fireside with his heart full of woe,
And talking to his neighbour, Mr Allan, about his boy Bennie
That was to be shot because found asleep doing sentinel duty.
Each verse starts with the same opening line, but by the sixth verse McGonagall is making a serious point, much discussed by Dundonians of the day, about the apparent fragility of the bridge:
Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay!
I hope that Providence will protect all passengers
By night and by day,
And that no accident will befall them while crossing
The Bridge of the silvery Tay,
For that would be most awful to be seen
Near by Dundee and the Magdalen Green.