Mr Alfred Tennyson’s official position is disputed by a Dundee gentleman of the name of McGonagall, who claims the proud title of “Poet to Her Majesty.” In the intervals of his poetic pursuits Mr McGonagall condescends to follow the prosaic occupation of a weaver, but his joint callings cannot be described as lucrative. His income varies, it seems, from nothing to 15s a week, and the not unnatural consequence was that he found himself the other day in the Small Debt Court. Whatever be the merits of the rival claims to the Laureate’s wreath, it is certain that Tennyson finds the business pay better than McGonagall.
Evening Telegraph, 18th June 1878
