Personal Gems

Many of McGonagall's works are addressed to famous people or to notable citizens of Dundee. The appeal of celebrity was clearly as great in nineteenth century Scotland as it is in our own time. Many only found their way into McGonagall's work in obituary form, but others had the dubious delight of being addressed in their lifetime...

Famous People

Robert Burns
Richard Piggot, The Forger
An Address to Shakespeare
A Tribute to Henry M. Stanley

Several poems were also addressed to Queen Victoria and her family.

Dundee Worthies

Lines in Praise of Professor Blackie
An Address to the Rev. George Gilfillan
Lines in Praise of Mr. J. Graham Henderson, Hawick
A Tribute to Mr J. Graham Henderson, The World's Fair Judge
A Tribute to Dr. Murison
To Mr James Scrymgeour, Dundee