McGonagall — The boos turn into posthumous pounds sterling

During his lifetime William Topaz McGonagall was often subjected to boos and thrown tomatoes when he declaimed his poetry in his native Dundee, Scotland. And since his death, he has become known as the epitome of the self-promoting bad poet — we called his poem “The Tay Bridge Disaster” “the worst poem of all time” without reservation. McGonagall was in the news last year when the proposed memorial to him in the Edinburgh Writers Museum was vetoed. Yet the BBC has recognized the enduring affection for McGonagall’s work by calling him Scotland’s other National Bard (Burns, of course, being the first). And now we hear that a collection of his broadsides has garnered a higher price at auction than signed first editions of the Harry Potter books, or even of Charles Dickens!

from BBC News:
“Worst poet outsells boy wizard”
“A private collector has paid £6,600 for poems by the man ridiculed as ‘the world’s worst poet.... The ditties by ‘The Tayside Tragedian’ went for more than a collection of Harry Potter first editions signed by author JK Rowling.”

from The Wall Street Journal:
“I Think That I Shall Never See A Poet Bad as the Bard of Dundee; But Mr. McGonagall Has a Secret Admirer,” by Alistair MacDonald
“Like many poets, William Topaz McGonagall struggled for his art. Against all odds, and despite evidence to the contrary, the former weaver spent more than two decades in the late 19th century trying to prove he was a literary genius. His recitals attracted crowds that came to mock, heckle and throw rotten fruit at the man who was known as the world's worst poet.... On Friday, though, at an auction house here in his birthplace, Mr. McGonagall was having the last laugh.”