The Tay Bridge disaster, Prince Leopold, and the worst poet in the world

Queen Victoria to Vicky

Osborne, 2 January 1880

This awful accident on the Tay Bridge – so fearful in every way – (and I fear 100 lives lost) – gave us all a terrible shock as only six months ago we travelled over it!  What a mercy we got over safe.  I fear it was not securely built but “cheaply” which is monstrous.

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(The Tay Bridge following its collapse in December 1879.  Photo credit: mysteriousuniverse.org)

On December 28, 1879, the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland, collapsed while carrying a passenger train.  Gusts of between 70-80 mph were reported during a violent storm that hit Dundee that day, and it is believed that one of these gusts contributed to the train falling into the River Tay.   Victoria writes in her letter to Vicky that the accident had killed about 100 people.  Various figures of between 50 and 200 were reported immediately following the incident, but it is now thought that 75 people – 15 crewmembers and 60 passengers – died in the accident.  There were no survivors.

The bridge itself had been in operation for about 18 months at the time of the accident.  Construction had taken place over a five-year period.  Prior to its June 1878 opening, the bridge was examined by several notable people of the day, including Emperor Pedro II of Brazil and U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant.

Victoria did not attend the opening of the bridge, but instead sent her fourth son, Leopold.  Although he was known to dislike Scotland, Leopold did take an interest in the make up of the bridge, praising its elegance and seemingly solid construction.  Leopold’s visit inspired the work of an (in)famous local poet, William McGonagall. McGonagall devoted several poems to Victoria and even appealed to her at Balmoral once unsuccessfully for a royal patronage.  In fact, McGonagall is still considered one of the worst poets in the history of the English language. 

But back to our bridge - during its short time in use, the Tay Rail Bridge was the longest railway bridge in the world spanning nearly two miles.  Queen Victoria had crossed the Tay Rail Bridge herself in June 1879 on her way back from her summer home at Balmoral.  Accompanied by the ever-present Princess Beatrice, Victoria accepted a bouquet and listened to the prepared address before taking the expected ride over the bridge.  After the ride, Victoria noted the fine view.  A week after the Queen’s crossing, bridge engineer Thomas Bouch was knighted for his creation.

  

Unfortunately for the victims, Victoria’s suspicions of the bridge’s construction contributing to its demise appeared to be true.  Following an investigation of the disaster, it was determined that in addition to the damage from the storm, the construction and subsequent maintenance of the bridge was subpar.  The train may have also been traveling faster than the 25 mph speed limit. 

The question of who or what was at fault for the Tay Bridge disaster has never been fully settled, as it was difficult to determine which factor – poor weather, construction, or maintenance – was most to blame.  But history is very clear on where the blame was placed.  Thomas Bouch, who had up until this point enjoyed a very successful engineering career, faced a ruined reputation following the investigation.  Bouch was immediately removed from a second bridge project he was overseeing at the time of the disaster and had difficulty securing more work.  He retired and died just 10 months after the collapse of the Tay Bridge. 

The Tay Bridge disaster inspired several writers to pen songs, novels, and poems conveying their feelings on the incident.  This of course included McGonagall, who produced a rather rambling poem now considered one of his most well-known.  Oddly enough, McGonagall’s poem on the demise of the Tay Bridge wasn’t his first (he’d previously written a poem praising the bridge) or his last (he later wrote another poem praising the second Tay Bridge) as well as at least one poem on the River Tay itself.  Apparently McGonagall was very, very moved by bridges, particularly those that spanned the River Tay.

In an interesting side note, William McGonagall’s bad poetry had another tie to Prince Leopold.  Following Leopold’s death from complications from hemophilia and/or epilepsy in 1884, McGonagall was again so moved to create another equally heartfelt and atrocious poem marking the occasion. Victoria must not have appreciated the effort, as she never did award McGonagall the patronage.