For over a hundred years, William McGonagall (1830–1902) has been almost universally recognised as the worst poet in English. Utterly convinced of his genius, he remained untroubled by any worrisome self-doubt, despite the mockery of his audiences.

This collection brings together some of his best-known works (The Tay Bridge Disaster, The Battle of Tel-el-Kebir), some lesser-known gems (Beecham’s Pills, The Faithful Dog Fido), and some autobiographical writings that tell of his ill-fated trip to Balmoral, of his much-fêted performance as Macbeth (in which he was so popular he decided not to die), and why publicans threw peas at him.