Editing William McGonagall (section)

==Origins and early life==
William McGonagall's parents, Charles and Margaret, were Irish. His Irish surname is a variation on ''Mag Congail'', a popular name in [[County Donegal]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sloinne.ie/surname/ga/mag-congail/|title=Sloinne|website=sloinne.ie|access-date=3 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103204418/https://www.sloinne.ie/surname/ga/mag-congail/|archive-date=3 January 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.libraryireland.com/names/macc/mac-congail-mac-congaile.php|title=Mac Congail – Irish Names and Surnames|website=libraryireland.com}}</ref> Throughout his adult life he claimed to have been born in [[Edinburgh]], giving his year of birth variously as 1825<ref name=summary>{{cite web|last1=McGonagall|first1=William|title=A Summary History of Poet McGonagall|date=1878|url=http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/life/a-summary-history-of-poet-mcgonagall|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927221929/http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/life/a-summary-history-of-poet-mcgonagall|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-09-27}}</ref> or 1830,<ref name=brief>{{cite web|last1=McGonagall|first1=William|title=Brief Autobiography|date=1890|url=http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/life/brief-autobiography|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927221929/http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/life/brief-autobiography|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-09-27}}</ref> but his entry in the [[United Kingdom Census 1841|1841 Census]] gives his place of birth, like his parents', as "Ireland".<ref name=census>{{cite web|title=McGonagall in the Census|url=http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/life/mcgonagall-in-the-census|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927221929/http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/life/mcgonagall-in-the-census|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-09-27|website=McGonagall Online}}</ref> Biographer Norman Watson suggests that McGonagall may have falsified his place of birth, as a native-born Scotsman would be better treated under the [[Poor Law (Scotland) Act 1845|Poor Law of 1845]] than one born in Ireland.<ref name=watson>{{cite book|last1=Watson|first1=Norman|title=Poet McGonagall: The Biography of William McGonagall|date=2010|publisher=Birlinn|location=Edinburgh|isbn=978-1841588841}}</ref> By looking at census, marriage and death records, David Phillips identifies 1825 as the more likely birth date.<ref name=abbey>{{cite book |first=David |last=Phillips |title=No Poets' Corner in the Abbey |publisher=David Winter |location=Dundee |date=1971}}</ref>{{rp|46}}

The McGonagall family moved several times in search of work, possibly spending time in [[Glasgow]] and on [[South Ronaldsay]]<ref name=summary/> before settling in [[Dundee]] around 1840. Here, William was [[Apprenticeship|apprenticed]] to follow his father's trade as a [[loom|handloom]] [[Weaving|weaver]], putting an end to whatever formal education he may have had. Having learned his trade, McGonagall proceeded to educate himself, taking "great delight in reading books", particularly cheap editions of [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare's]] plays.<ref name=brief/>

On 11 July 1846,<ref name="odnb">{{Cite ODNB|id=40706|title=McGonagall, William |first=William |last=Donaldson |date=2004}}</ref> he married Jean King, a fellow mill worker from [[Stirling]]. Together they had five sons and two daughters. Despite the [[Industrial Revolution]] slowly making weavers obsolete, McGonagall appeared to prosper, as there was still need for skilled workers to perform tasks of great complexity.<ref name=hunt>{{cite book|editor-last=Hunt|editor-first=Chris|title=William McGonagall: Collected Poems|date=2006|publisher=Birlinn|location=Edinburgh|isbn=978-1841584775}}</ref>{{rp|v}}

Whilst working at the loom, McGonagall would entertain his shopmates with recitations from Shakespeare. On one occasion they paid a local theatre owner to allow him to appear in the title role in a production of ''[[Macbeth]]''. Convinced that the actor playing [[Macduff (Macbeth)|Macduff]] was envious of him, McGonagall refused to die in the final act. For this performance, the ''[[The Book of Heroic Failures|Book of Heroic Failures]]'' awarded him the title of the "worst Macbeth" as well as "worst British poet".<ref name="pile">{{cite book |last1=Pile |first1=Stephen|title=The Book of Heroic Failures |date=1979 |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |location=London |isbn=978-0710003171|url=http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/articles/mcgonagall-the-heroic-failure |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927221929/http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/articles/mcgonagall-the-heroic-failure |url-status=dead |archive-date=2019-09-27 }}</ref>