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| 'World's worst poems' at auction | 'World's worst poems' at auction |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| Poems by the man ridiculed as "the world's worst poet" are expected to fetch up to £6,500 at auction. | Poems by the man ridiculed as "the world's worst poet" are expected to fetch up to £6,500 at auction. |
| Thirty-five of William McGonagall's works - many of them autographed - are going under the hammer on Friday. | Thirty-five of William McGonagall's works - many of them autographed - are going under the hammer on Friday. |
| The ditties by "The Tayside Tragedian" have been valued in the same league as Harry Potter first editions signed by JK Rowling. | The ditties by "The Tayside Tragedian" have been valued in the same league as Harry Potter first editions signed by JK Rowling. |
| McGonagall, who died in 1902, was often mocked and had food thrown at him during readings in Dundee. | McGonagall, who died in 1902, was often mocked and had food thrown at him during readings in Dundee. |
| He was born in Edinburgh in 1825, but spent much of his life in Dundee as a handloom weaver in the jute mills. | He was born in Edinburgh in 1825, but spent much of his life in Dundee as a handloom weaver in the jute mills. |
| His poems cover subjects including Scottish battles and Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. | |
| He also took pleasure in writing about death and catastrophe, and his most famous work was a poem about the Tay Bridge disaster of 1879. | |
| A section from it reads: | |
| "So the train mov'd slowly along the Bridge of Tay, Until it was about midway,Then the central girders with a crash gave way,And down went the train and passengers into the Tay..." | |
| 'Poem-baiting' | |
| Alex Dove, from auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull, said: "Poetry didn't really come to him until I think he was 47 and the voices in his head told him that he'd be able to write poems. | Alex Dove, from auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull, said: "Poetry didn't really come to him until I think he was 47 and the voices in his head told him that he'd be able to write poems. |
| Poet-baiting became an ongoing activity, they used to throw vegetables at him and all sorts Alex DoveLyon and Turnbull | Poet-baiting became an ongoing activity, they used to throw vegetables at him and all sorts Alex DoveLyon and Turnbull |
| "Then he thought he was the best thing since sliced bread, he thought he should be the poet laureate and all sorts. | "Then he thought he was the best thing since sliced bread, he thought he should be the poet laureate and all sorts. |
| "He tried to hawk these poems around the streets of places like Dundee and he was notoriously encouraged to give performances just so people could make fun of him. | "He tried to hawk these poems around the streets of places like Dundee and he was notoriously encouraged to give performances just so people could make fun of him. |
| "Poet-baiting became an ongoing activity, they used to throw vegetables at him and all sorts." | "Poet-baiting became an ongoing activity, they used to throw vegetables at him and all sorts." |
| The poems which are being auctioned in Edinburgh are expected to fetch more than rare first editions of James Bond novels, a Mickey Mouse book from 1931 and a first edition of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. | The poems which are being auctioned in Edinburgh are expected to fetch more than rare first editions of James Bond novels, a Mickey Mouse book from 1931 and a first edition of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. |
| Ms Dove said: "I think he's still popular now because he's so bad, because they're so humorous and a lot of people have kept him going in the media, people like Spike Milligan, Terry Pratchett, and it means he's still in print 100 years later." | |
| McGonagall was also a lifelong temperance campaigner and used his poems to warn people of the dangers of alcohol: | |
| "Oh, thou demon Drink, thou fell destroyer;Thou curse of society, and its greatest annoyer.What hast thou done to society, let me think?I answer thou hast caused the most of ills, thou demon Drink." |