Bard poetry? More like bad poetry as Scots prepare to celebrate ‘alternative’ Burns Night
Auchentoshan, the whisky firm behind the move to celebrate an alternative Burns Night, said that the celebration of William Topaz McGonagall will be 'an alternative evening of whisky, terrible poetry, haggis and general mayhem.' Picture: Hulton Archive/Getty
HE HAS long been cast as a bit of a joke figure and is routinely described as the worst poet in the history of the English language.
But the name of William Topaz McGonagall is set to be celebrated at pubs across Scotland later this month on a night more traditionally associated with a rather more illustrious writer of verse.
Fans of the eccentric Dundonian wordsmith will gather on Burns Night to toast the man they believe should be regarded as Scotland’s other national poet. In a move set to upset poetry purists everywhere, fans of McGonagall will take part in “alternative” Burns suppers, where dessert will be served first and there will be no renditions of the Address to a Haggis.
Instead, diners will perform a selection of pieces from McGonagall’s own extensive and much-maligned canon.
The brainchild of whisky firm Auchentoshan, the McGonagall suppers will take place at pubs across the UK, with venues being encouraged to serve a menu that starts with the traditional Scottish dessert of cranachan, before moving on to a main course of haggis and a starter of flaked salmon over oatcakes.
Brand manager Hannah Fisher said: “Auchentoshan likes to do things differently and, just like us, McGonagall liked to challenge perceptions. It therefore seems apt that we host a series of dinners that takes an interesting twist on one of Scotland’s most revered celebrations.
“It will be an alternative evening of whisky, terrible poetry, haggis and general mayhem.”
Among the venues taking part in the celebrations are the Hyde Out bar in Edinburgh, as well as three English venues in Darlington, Durham and London.
McGonagall enthusiast Chris Hunt, who runs the website McGonagall Online, welcomed the idea of celebrating the poet on 25 January. He said: “I think this is a brilliant idea.
“I’ve been to quite a few Burns suppers where I’ve tried to sneak in a bit of McGonagall – it’s nice to cover both extremes of Scottish poetic output in one evening.”
Asked if the poet deserved his reputation as the worst Scotland had ever produced, he said. “Yes. He’s pretty much the bottom of the bottom in terms of quality, but his poems are entertaining.
“We’re still buying them 100 years after his death, so he must have done something right.”
Born in Edinburgh in 1825, McGonagall wrote about 200 poems, including the infamous Tay Bridge Disaster –often described as the worst poem in British literary history.
Recounting the tragic events of 1879 in which the Tay Rail Bridge collapsed as a train passed over it, the poems begins: “Beautiful railway bridge of the silv’ry Tay / Alas! I am very sorry to say/ That ninety lives have been taken away /On the last sabbath day of 1879 / Which shall be remembered for a very long time.”
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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Comments
There are 58 comments to this article
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researcher513
Monday, January 16, 2012 at 04:50 PMTo read the story of Burns life, as far as i am concerned, I have only come across one author who does him justice: James Barke's "The Wind that Shakes the Barley". So many falsehoods are corrected here - it is one of the best biographies I have read. Although the occasional bit of license has been taken, it is a wonderful account, and should be more widely known.
davidjames
Monday, January 16, 2012 at 01:14 AMBurns holds the distinction of being the worlds most translated poet. His thoughts transcend his language. Sadly much of MacdiarmidGrieve's work needs translation from a contrived dialect to be comprehensible to common English speakers and he does not. But he is popular with those keen to invent a Scots' Tongue, rather than be content with a good number of entertaining dialects of English and of course Gàidhlig.
AuldLochinvar
Monday, January 16, 2012 at 12:45 AMFTH22inarow asserts that the poetry of Burns is the ranting of a drunk. It is said that Abraham Lincoln was told of his most victorious general, that the man was a drunk. Lincoln told the informant "Find out what Grant drinks and send a barrel of it to each of my other generals!"
AuldLochinvar
Monday, January 16, 2012 at 12:37 AMOK, the trouble is that broad Scots has become almost as unknown as good English has become corrupted. The verb form "lend" is almost everywhere "loaned". There are American dictionaries that assert "Burgled" is a back-formation, and "burglarised" or worse "burglarized" is correct! People use "different than" instead of "different from". (How about "Equal than" ? ) I did once recite "Hah, whaur ye gaun, ye crowlin' ferlie?" to my dear American wife's excellent uncle Fred, who was a great fan of Sir Walter Scott. Alas, uncle Fred told me he understood hardly a word of it.
AuldLochinvar
Monday, January 16, 2012 at 12:24 AMNah, Nah! You've another article about Rabbie Burns, which says that Scots in their twenties have nae interest in him. For heaven's sake! Please note that in my adopted country, the USA, their greatest writer IMHO, Mark Twain, had no patience whatever with our Sir Walter Scott, and that for reasons amounting to the fact that Scott, almost diametrically the opposite of Burns in such matters, was enamoured of the aristocracy, and worse, the ancient aristocracy and their use of the Church. There are few sentiments, in any language, better or more democratic than the statement and elucidation by Burns that "A man's a man for a' that". It ranks with Goethe's "es ist nichts shrecklicher als eine statiger Unwissenheit" -- translated by our own J.B.S Haldane, "there is nothing worse than stubborn ignorance"
The Ayrshire Bard
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 10:43 PMI have recently read "Robert Burns, A Life in Letters", which has no poems or songs but only a large selection of his letters arranged to form the nearest thing to an autobiography that is possible. This book gives a totally new slant on Burns and his letters are all written in beautiful prose, totally different to the songs and poems. Many of the letters are masterpieces in their own right and are well worth reading. They also give an insight as to the mindset of Burns through the various stages of his life and I was left astonished at the sheer breadth of knowledge that Burns had in a time when communications were difficult. He really was light years ahead of his time.
Tartancult
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 10:43 PMAt least McGonagall's utterances were generally understandeable versus the incomprehensible, mealy-mouthed nonsense from many other so-called national poets who obviously wrote for an audience of one.
Ewan Macintyre
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 09:47 PM#49 Pilrig -- Study his work. Promote his memory. Go down to your library and read Contemporary Scottish Studies by C. M. Grieve (Hugh MacDiarmid), a publication by the Scottish Educational Journal of articles and letters which appeared in the journal between 1925 and 1927. It will almost certaily change your view of Scottish cultural life. Who was the awkward letter writer who called himself 'Buchan'?
panayiotis
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 09:35 PMPilrig. .Burns was part of the Enlightenment society - his poetry was in many ways an enlightenment itself by describing what he saw around him ,he had the incredible talent to be able to convey and write down emotion,feelings,sensations, that was entirely new and sensational to the people of the time.He also wrote often to make money. Poor McGonagall,was a loner, wrote just for himself , just the way he saw things and not really for anyone else or for money. A type of pre Spike Milligan if you wish -read any of his stuff ?? -it can have the same or similar type of reaction -- note "reaction" Read McGonagall and Spike then read some Burns and watch your reaction.
Pilrig.
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 09:06 PM46 - MacDiarmid should be national bard - he spoke Gaelic, even though he was a Borderer through and through.
Rhynieman
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 09:01 PMSir William Topaz McGonagall, Knight of the White Elephant, Burmah...the Scottish Don Quixote, performance artist extraordinaire and comic genius ....dont confuse the man with a mere poet....he walked 70 miles to Balmoral in the rain to meet Queen Victoria and got very wet.
Rhynieman
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 08:40 PMYep Born and Died in Edinburgh thats all its good for. LIVED in Dundee!
Ewan Macintyre
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 08:37 PM#45 Pilrig -- "so if McGonigall lived a blemish-free life we should have a national evening tae celebrate his 'genius'." =================================================== No. Quite frankly, nobody should be called Scotland's national bard, certainly not a non-Gaelic-speaking poet. How could a Welsh national poet not be a Welsh (Cymraeg) speaker as well as an English speaker? It would not make sense.
Pilrig.
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 07:38 PM43 - so if McGonagall lived a blemish-free life we should have a national evening tae celebrate his 'genius'? This episode in Burns's life, which in effect wisnae acted on, is the only blemish on Burns - unless folk regard lovin' numbers o' women as a fault. MacDiarmid praised Mussolini early on, then transferred that support tae Stalin, should we ignore his works ? Or Pound whae never apologised for his admiration o' Il Duce (albeit Pound recanted his anti-semitism). Perhaps ye better no' go tae see paintins by Caravaggio - he was a violent thug after all !
SINGAPOREAN
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 07:37 PMI am all in favour of celebrating both poets. It's a good excuse to have an extra social occasion during the long winter evenings. In fact we should think of a few more Scottish poets to add to the list. With any luck we might end up spending the whole winter talking and eating and drinking instead of watching Emmerdale, Corrie and Eastenders. That would be a huge improvement.
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