McGonagall Honored by Royal ‘Verse’ That Couldn’t Be Worse

DUNDEE, Scotland — Above all else, The Great McGonagall craved royal recognition for his poetry. But only in 1977, 75 years after his death, did he finally get it.

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, visiting Dundee with his wife Queen Elizabeth II, confessed to being a McGonagall fan and even dashed off a McGonagallesque ode of his own which was hung in the Windmill, a pub he visited. It bears the title “The Prince of Bad Verse.”

First Glasgow, the ancient, all pomp and Thanksgiving.

Then followed the new Cumbernauld.

From there ‘cross the Glen to the ramparts of Stirling,

Then into the station at Perth we were hauled.

But the sight the most glorious in store for us to see

Was the friendly old Windmill in Hilltown, Dundee.

I recall very well the pub on the hill

Which now I see was the Old Windmill.

It wasn’t the crowd coming out the door

That caught my eye at quarter past four:

T’was the Ann Street windows attracted my stare.

I wondered if anyone could be living up there.