Old report from the UK.

http://abpr2.railfan.net/abprphoto.cgi?july03/07-20-03/Taybridgedisaster.jpg
ryarger@rypn.org

http://abpr2.railfan.net/abprphoto.cgi?july03/07-20-03/Tay_Bridge_02-05-2003_3028.jpg
ryarger@rypn.org

This is what Willam MacGonagall, of Dundee, who must be the world's worst poet had to say about it:

The Tay Bridge Disaster

Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay!
Alas! I am very sorry to say
That ninety lives have been taken away
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.

'Twas about seven o'clock at night,
And the wind it blew with all its might,
And the rain came pouring down,
And the dark clods seem'd to frown,
And the Demon of the air seem'd to say-
"I'll blow down the Bridge of Tay."

When the train left Edinburgh
The passengers' hearts were light and felt no sorrow,
But Boreas blew a terrific gale,
Which made their hearts for to quail,
And many of the passengers with fear did say-
"I hope God will send us safe across the Bridge of Tay."

But when the train came near to Wormit Bay,
Boreas he did loud and angry bray,
And shook the central girders of the Bridge of Tay
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.

So the train sped on with all its might,
And Bonnie Dundee soon hove in sught,
And the passengers' hearts felt light,
Thinking they would enjoy themselves on the New Year,
With their friends at home they lov'd most dear,
And wish them all a happy New Year.

So the train mov'd slowly along the Bridge of Tay,
Until it was about midway,
Then the central girders with a crash gave way,
And down went the train and passengers into the Tay!
The Storm Fiend did loudly bray,
Because ninety lives had been taken away,
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.

As soon as the catastrophe came to be known
The alarm from mouth to mouth was blown,
And the cry rang out all o'er the town,
Good Heavens! the Tay Bridge is blown down,
And a passenger train from Edinburgh,
Which fill'd all the peoples hearts with sorrow,
And made them for to turn pale,
Because none of the passengers were sav'd to tell the tale
How the disaster happen'd on the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.

It must have been an awful sight,
To witness in the dusky moonlight,
While the Storm Fiend did laugh, and angry did bray,
Along the Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay,
Oh! ill-fated Bridge of thSilv'ry Tay,
I must now conclude my lay
By telling the world fearlessly without the least dismay,
That your central girders would not have given way,
At least many sensible men do say,
Had they been supported on each side with buttresses,
At least many sensible men confesses,
For the stronger we our houses do build,
The less chance we have of being killed.



gavin@hamilton.powernet.co.uk

I'll make it FAR worse...........

This is the middle poem of a three-poem Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay trilogy.

I was once at a poetry reading at the University of Delaware where William Snodgrass was reading examples of the world's worst poetry, and they read off the trilogy in order. At one point towards the end of the second poem, he read off " ' . . . of 1879'--CHORUS, ALL!--'Which will be remembered for a very long time!'" for which the audience gleefully joined in. At the second line of the third poem, people literally fell on the floor and in the aisles with laughter, some clutching themselves in convulsions.

This only works if you read the poems in order, and aloud.

LNER4472-NOSPAM-@bcpl.net

THREE of them? AAAARGH. Actually it should be "read out loud with a Dundee accent"

Thanks for the info, poetry is not something I find remotely interesting in normal circumstances.

G

gavin@hamilton.powernet.co.uk