William McGonagall Papers
- Reference:GB 615 WMG
- Dates of Creation:1st Jan 1875 - 29th Sep 1902
- Name of Creator:
- Language of Material:English
- Physical Description:41 ms poems 36 MS letters 344 printed broadsides four folders of additional secondary material including newspaper cuttings etc.
Scope and Content
Personal correspondence from poet William McGonagall, including with temperance hotel owner and literary collector A.C. Lamb, and Poet's Box shop owner Lowden MacArtney, relating to the poet's family life, writing, and other business. Handwritten first drafts of several poems and his Autobiography. Printed broadsides of McGonagall's poems and songs in their original style.
Administrative / Biographical History
William McGonagall (1825 or 1830 - 29 Sept 1902) was born in Edinburgh to an Irish family. He moved to Dundee where he worked in textile mills, and became an amateur actor with a particular love of Shakespeare. He then became very well known for his poetry, published in local newspapers and in broadside form, which he also performed regularly. His style, where rhyming is prioritised and scansion is largely neglected, is an extreme example of the 'bad verse' which was a popular form of humour in Victorian Scotland. He became famous both in his lifetime and after it as the "worst poet in the world."
Access Information
Open to the public, but advance notice and ID are required.
Acquisition Information
Donated to Dundee Libraries from the papers of A.C. Lamb, collector, in the early twentieth century.
Accruals
Not currently accruing material.
Personal Names