“Sir William Topaz McGonagall, Knight of the White Elephant, Burmah,” is still to the fore. He has recently issued two poems. The first is “Beautiful Balmoral,” which I quote one verse. It is a whopper.
“Ye lovers of the picturesque, away and see
Beautiful Balmoral, near by the River Dee;
There ye will see the deer browsing on the heathery hills,
While adown their sides ran clear sparkling rills.”
Down the deers’ sides? It must have been fearfully wet in the North. Number two “pome” is in celebration of “The Beautiful Village of Penicuik,” and opens thus:—
“The village of Penicuik, with its neighbouring spinning mills,
Is most lovely to see, and the Pentland Hills;
And though of a barren appearance and some parts steep,
They are covered with fine pasture and sustain flocks of sheep.”
Will Alfred Austin step down?
Dundee Evening Post, 10th August 1900
