William McGonagall, often called Scotland’s worst poet, gets his moment on Bad Poetry Day, Wednesday, August 18, 2027. He took his verse very seriously.
Pencil In August 18
It comes around every August 18. Its inventor remains a mystery.
A Weaver Who Chose Verse
McGonagall was born in 1825, possibly in Edinburgh, though even that is unclear. He spent most of his life in Dundee, where he worked for years as a handloom weaver before turning to verse.
At 52, he decided he was destined to be a poet. He performed his work live, often before rowdy, chaotic crowds.
Seeking royal patronage, he once walked about 60 miles from Dundee to Balmoral to see Queen Victoria. A gatekeeper threatened to have him arrested, so he walked home.
The Tay Bridge
When the Tay Rail Bridge opened in 1878, McGonagall praised it. On the night of December 28, 1879, at about 7:15, part of it fell into the river, taking a train with it.
Some 75 people were aboard, according to the University of Toronto’s poetry archive. A court of inquiry blamed the designer, Sir Thomas Bouch.
His poem on the disaster opens, “Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv’ry Tay.” It closes with practical advice: the stronger we build our houses, “The less chance we have of being killed.”
Poetic Gems, published in 1890, later gathered his verse.
A replacement bridge opened in 1887. McGonagall died in Edinburgh in 1902, near the university’s Old College on South College Street. He was poor and lies in an unmarked grave in Greyfriars Kirkyard.
An American rival
Michigan had a famous bad poet too. Julia Moore published The Sentimental Song Book in 1876 and became known as the “Sweet Singer of Michigan.”
Her verse often dwelt on dead children and was widely parodied. Mark Twain drew on her style for Emmeline Grangerford, a character in Huckleberry Finn.
Later, her first book was reissued as The Sweet Singer of Michigan Salutes the Public. In 1998, Thomas Riedlinger edited her complete works as Mortal Refrains.
Why Celebrate Clumsy Verse
McGonagall’s work lasted partly because he seemed to be in on the joke, Historic Environment Scotland suggests. Some readers believe he leaned into the humor to build his name.
He won real recognition in his own lifetime, largely through the Tay Bridge poems.
Dundee hasn’t forgotten him. The University of Dundee calls him “the world’s best bad poet,” and its library keeps his poems alongside biographies and studies of his legacy.
Moore still draws groans in Michigan and beyond. Her verse “continues to be mocked and groaned over by new generations,” Britannica observes.
That sincerity is the charm. Neither McGonagall nor Moore set out to be funny, and both are still read more than a century later.
Ideas for a Day of Terrible Verse
- Read “The Tay Bridge Disaster” aloud, with full dramatic pauses.
- Write an ode to a bridge in your town using McGonagall’s rolling rhymes.
- Try a mournful ballad in the style of Julia Moore.
- Reread the Emmeline Grangerford chapter of Huckleberry Finn.
- Host a reading where the clumsiest rhyme wins, as McGonagall’s rowdy audiences might have liked.
- Search the University of Dundee library catalog for his collected poems.
Frequently Asked Questions
What else did McGonagall write about?
Topics ranged widely, from the Boer War to Sunlight Soap.
How did his disaster poem explain the collapse?
It suggests the central girders should have been held up by buttresses.
When was Julia Moore born?
On December 1, 1847, in Plainfield Township, Michigan. She left school after the third grade.
Did Moore perform her poems?
Yes. In the late 1870s, she sang and recited them with an orchestra in Grand Rapids.