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It couldn't be verse but he sells

He was dubbed "the world's worst poet" and had rotten vegetables pelted at him during readings, but William Topaz McGonagall looks set to have the last laugh.

  • The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2008
  • Published: 23:39 May 16, 2008
  • Gulf News

London: He was dubbed "the world's worst poet" and had rotten vegetables pelted at him during readings, but William Topaz McGonagall looks set to have the last laugh.

More than a century after his death, a collection of poems by the Scot is set to reach up to 6,500 pounds (Dh46,463) at auction. That would put him in the same league as first edition copies of Harry Potter books signed by author J.K. Rowling.

Nicknamed "The Tayside Tragedian", McGonagall became gripped by the belief that he was a great poet in his middle age. His enthusiasm and lack of talent was seized upon by townsfolk in Dundee.

Alex Dove, from auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull, explained that McGonagall never really understood that his popularity did not come from his talent.

She told BBC News: "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.

"Then he thought he was the best thing since sliced bread, he thought he should be the poet laureate and all sorts... Poet-baiting became an ongoing activity, they used to throw vegetables at him and all sorts."

But now a collection of 35 of his poems, on subjects such as Women's Suffrage, Beautiful Glasgow and The battle of Tel-el-Kebir, is set to fetch thousands.

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."

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