Editing William McGonagall (section)

==In popular culture==
===In comedy and theatre===
* ''The Real McGonagall, ''by playwright Willy Holtzman, has been produced in New York and Portland, Maine.
* The memory of McGonagall was resurrected by comedian [[Spike Milligan]]. A character called McGoonagall frequently appears in ''[[The Goon Show]]'', alternately played by Milligan and [[Peter Sellers]]. Milligan also occasionally gave readings of McGonagall's verse. McGoonagall often introduces himself as "William McGoonagall, Poet, Tragedian and Twit".
* An episode of ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' featured a McGonagall-esque poet called Ewan McTeagle,<ref>{{cite web |author=As listed |url=http://orangecow.org/pythonet/sketches/mcteagle.htm |title=The Poet McTeagle |publisher=Orangecow.org |access-date=3 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090703160712/http://orangecow.org/pythonet/sketches/mcteagle.htm |archive-date=3 July 2009}}</ref> whose poems were actually [[prose]] requests for money.
* In 2018 and early 2019, a musical comedy play titled ''McGonagall's Chronicles (Which Will Be Remembered for a Very Long Time)'' was toured in Scotland, retelling the story of the poet in "almost rhyme". It was directed by Joe Douglas and written by Gary McNair; McNair appeared in the lead role, with live musical support from Brian James O'Sullivan and from Simon Liddell, who composed the show's songs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on/event-detail/1525/mcgonagalls-chronicles-(which-will-be-remembered-for-a-very-long-time).aspx|title=McGonagall's Chronicles (Which Will Be Remembered for a Very Long Time)|publisher=Traverse Theatre|access-date=29 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329230606/https://www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on/event-detail/1525/mcgonagalls-chronicles-(which-will-be-remembered-for-a-very-long-time).aspx|archive-date=29 March 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===In literature and publications===
* A collection of 35 broadsheet poems of McGonagall, the majority signed by him, was bought for £6,600 (including commission) from Lyon & Turnbull, Edinburgh auctioneers, on 16 May 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://auctions.lyonandturnbull.com/auction-lot-detail/208/298 |title=Books, Maps & Manuscripts – Sale 208 – Lot 298 |website=Lyon & Turnbull |access-date=26 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426144345/http://auctions.lyonandturnbull.com/auction-lot-detail/208/298 |archive-date=26 April 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news
|title='Worst poet' outsells boy wizard
|date=16 May 2008
|work=BBC News
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/tayside_and_central/7402920.stm
|access-date=6 August 2008
}}</ref>
* Satirical magazine ''[[Private Eye (magazine)|Private Eye]]'' has printed a number of McGonagallesque poems concerning great events of the day, sometimes under the byline William Rees-McGonagall, a portmanteau of McGonagall's name and that of [[William Rees-Mogg]]. For example, in 2007, they covered the success of the [[Scottish National Party]] in the [[Scottish Parliament Election, 2007|Scottish Parliament election]].
* McGonagall was the subject of the newspaper column ''[[Ripley's Believe It or Not!]]'' on 11 October 2007, saying he "was often considered the world's worst poet, even by his own publisher, yet his writings are still in print a century after his death!".
*Milligan further recounted McGonagall's life story in the pastiche novel ''William McGonagall – the Truth at Last'', co-written with Jack Hobbs.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Milligan|first1=Spike|author-link1=Spike Milligan|last2=Hobbs|first2=Jack|title=William McGonagall, The Truth at Last|date=1978|publisher=Penguin|location=Harmondsworth|isbn=978-0140045499}}</ref>
* In ''[[The Wee Free Men]]'' by [[Terry Pratchett]], the [[Nac Mac Feegle]]'s ''gonnagle'' is a more linguistically-educated member of the clan skilled in poetry and song. Rather than encouraging allies through the bardic tradition, he repels enemies through deliberate use of excruciating music or poetry "offensive to the ear and a torrrture ''[sic]'' to the soul". ''[[The Folklore of Discworld]]'' specifically cites the Scottish poet as inspiration.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pratchett|first1=Terry|last2=Simpson|author-link1=Terry Pratchett|first2=Jacqueline|title=The Folklore of Discworld|url=https://archive.org/details/folklorediscworl00prat|url-access=limited|date=2008|publisher=Doubleday|location=London|isbn=9780385611008|pages=[https://archive.org/details/folklorediscworl00prat/page/n86 79]-81}}</ref>
* In the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' books, author [[J. K. Rowling]] chose the surname of the Professor of [[Transfiguration (Harry Potter)|Transfiguration]], [[Minerva McGonagall]], because she had heard of McGonagall and loved the surname.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Professor McGonagall {{!}} Wizarding World |url=https://www.wizardingworld.com/writing-by-jk-rowling/professor-mcgonagall |access-date=2024-01-16 |website=www.wizardingworld.com |language=en}}</ref>
* The life of the bard, and Corstorphine Round Table's particular affection for the poet, is celebrated in a comic graphic novel by one of its former members, Charles Nasmyth.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nasmyth|first1=Charles|title=The Comic Legend of William McGonagall: A Pictorial story based on the life of The World's Worst Poet with illustrated verse|date=2007|publisher=Waverley|location=New Lanark|isbn=978-1-902407-53-1}}</ref>
* The [[Scots language|Scots-language]]  translation of ''[[Asterix]]'' the tuneless bard [[Cacofonix]] is named "Magonaglix" in reference to McGonagall.<ref>{{cite news |author=Rakewell |title=Au revoir, Albert Uderzo – on Asterix in different tongues |url=https://www.apollo-magazine.com/asterix-characters-in-different-languages/ |work=Apollo Magazine |date=27 March 2020 |access-date=28 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328153743/https://www.apollo-magazine.com/asterix-characters-in-different-languages/ |archive-date=28 March 2020 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dalenllyfrau.com/asterix-the-bonnie-fechter.html|title=Asterix The Bonnie Fechter|work=dalenllyfrau.com|access-date=20 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421092048/http://www.dalenllyfrau.com/asterix-the-bonnie-fechter.html|archive-date=21 April 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===In live performances===
* [[Billy Connolly]] visited Dundee and the [[Tay Rail Bridge|Tay Bridge]] during his 1994 ''[[World Tour of Scotland]]'', where he talked about McGonagall and recited a passage from his book ''Poetic Gems''.

===In motion pictures===
* A 1974 movie called ''[[The Great McGonagall (film)|The Great McGonagall]]'' starred [[Spike Milligan]] as a fictionalised William McGonagall. [[Peter Sellers]] played [[Queen Victoria]].
* In episode 13 of season 2 of the Canadian TV series ''[[Murdoch Mysteries]]'', a murder victim is holding a copy of a book entitled "The Collected Works of William Topaz McGonagall". While the death appears accidental, the detective suspects foul play because "it is highly unlikely that anyone would voluntarily reach for a volume of McGonagall."
* In 2016, ''[[The Atlantic]]'' premiered a short documentary about the life of McGonagall entitled "worst.poet.ever."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/476427/william-mcgonagall-worst-poet-ever/|title=William McGonagall: Worst Poet Ever|last=Ajaka|first=Nadine|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US|access-date=2017-03-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322015819/https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/476427/william-mcgonagall-worst-poet-ever/|archive-date=22 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===In music===
* McGonagall's poem "[[The Famous Tay Whale]]"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/poems/pgwhale.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927221929/http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/poems/pgwhale.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 September 2019 |title=McGonagall Online: The Famous Tay Whale|website=Mcgonagall-online.org |access-date=19 June 2008}}</ref> was set to music by [[Matyas Seiber]] for the second [[Gerard Hoffnung|Hoffnung]] Music Festival in 1958. The arrangement calls for a narrator (at the premiere the narrator was [[Edith Evans]]), full orchestra, a fog horn, and an [[espresso]] machine.
* The opening stanza of "The Epic Rage of Furious Thunder" on [[Gloryhammer]]'s album ''[[Tales from the Kingdom of Fife]]'' contains several references to McGonagall's poem "[[The Tay Bridge Disaster]]". The closing epilogue of the song also ends with a direct quote of the final two lines of the poem.
* In 2022, the Norwegian duo EL/NeUe released a song on streaming services called "William McGonagall" – a ballad from McGonagall's point of view.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kampenkontor.no/|title=EL/Neue / Adrian Cox / Adrian Cox & 'lys assia'|website=EL/Neue / Adrian Cox / Adrian Cox & 'lys assia'}}</ref>

===In radio===
* [[Dundonian]] actor [[Brian Cox (actor)|Brian Cox]] compared the comic character [[Bob Servant]] to McGonagall while playing Servant in a radio [[adaptation]]. Servant is the creation of [[Dundonian]] author [[Neil Forsyth]], who has acknowledged McGonagall as an influence in the Bob Servant character.<ref>{{cite news
 |work         = The Dundee Courier
 |title        = Brian Cox To Play Dundonian 'Man of The People'
 |date         = 4 October 2010
 |url          = http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/Dundee/article/5904/brian-cox-to-play-dundonian-man-of-the-people-bob-servant.html
 |access-date  = 12 June 2010
 |url-status   = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20101105044754/http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/Dundee/article/5904/brian-cox-to-play-dundonian-man-of-the-people-bob-servant.html
 |archive-date = 5 November 2010}}</ref>
* Cox went on to play the part of William McGonagall in the radio play ''[[Bruce Young (drama)#Topaz|Topaz]]'', a fictional depiction of his trip to Balmoral which was broadcast on [[BBC Radio 4]] on 26 October 2013.<ref>{{cite web|title=Topaz|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03f86l3|publisher=BBC|access-date=30 October 2013}}</ref>

===Comparisons to other artists===
McGonagall later entered common parlance as shorthand for an exceptionally poor writer in both poetry and prose.<ref>"[A] McGonagall of prose with an eerie gift for choosing the wrong word and then misapplying it," [[David Langford]] on Jim Theis. {{cite web |url=http://www.ansible.co.uk/sfx/sfx043.html |title=Bottom of the Barrel |accessdate=2008-01-16 |work=SFX Magazine }}</ref> Figures that can be considered "McGonagalls" as such include:
* [[Robert Coates (actor)|Robert "Romeo" Coates]], actor
* [[Florence Foster Jenkins]], amateur singer
* [[James McIntyre (poet)|James McIntyre]], known as the "Cheese Poet"
* [[Amanda McKittrick Ros]], novelist and poet
* [[Julia A. Moore]], poet
* [[Wesley Willis]], singer-songwriter
* [[Tommy Wiseau]], cult filmmaker
* Jim Theis, author of ''[[The Eye of Argon]]''