Authors In History: Knight of The White Elephant, William Topaz, McGonagall

William McGonagall was born in Edinburgh in March 1825. He was a poet  from Dundee and has been widely hailed as the writer of the worst poetry in the English language. He was a self educated hand loom weaver of Irish descent. His first career was as a Shakespearean actor, and as Macbeth, he once reputedly refused to die on stage- he informed the crowd that his pleasing performance was central to his second career as a poet. He had an epiphany at the age of 52 that prompted him to devote the rest of his life to poetry and in 1877 he embarked upon a twenty-five year career as a working poet. He delighted and appalled audiences across Scotland and beyond. His audiences threw rotten fish at him, the authorities banned his performances.
But his books remain in print to this day, and he's remembered and quoted long after more talented contemporaries have been forgotten. His romantic verse, often sparked by recollections of war or natural disaster, is strictly narrative without lyrical or metaphorical gestures. His poems have been criticized for their lack of imagery and lapses in rhythm and meter, and his style has been frequently parodied. His work is immediately recognizable and memorable, however and emotionally driven.
He only published a single volume of poems in his lifetime, Poetic Gems (1890), but made a living selling broadsides of his work and offering dramatic performances of it.
He travelled extensively despite limited means and late in life claimed to have been given the title "Sir William Topaz McGonagall, Knight of The White Elephant of Burma " by the King Of Burma
Though the story presumed to be a hoax, McGonagall adopted the name for the rest of his career.
He died in Edinburgh in 1902 in poverty and was buried in a pauper's grave.