It was a stormy night on the 28 December 1879 when the Tay Railway Bridge collapsed into the Firth of Tay at Dundee. Down with the bridge went a train with 6 carriages and 75 passengers. All were lost, there were no survivors.
News of the disaster echoed around the British Empire, and soon became the subject of songs, dissertations, and poetry, the most enduring being William McGonagall’s best known poem, The Tay Bridge Disaster, which begins:
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.
And continues in similar vein. Not so well known was the fact that a distant cousin of William McGonagall’s cook was due to be a passenger on that very train, on that very night
He was Mr. Angus McFingle, aged 58, of Brannockside, Fife. Due to a broken bootlace, and a resultant tumble into a ditch (perhaps under the influence of strong spirit, it was a very cold and stormy day, after all), Mr McFingle missed the train.
He was adamant till his dying day that the broken bootlace was an ‘Act of Divine Providence’ as the bootlace in question was but three months old, and in good repair. The subject was however most disappointed never to have a full refund for his ticket.
The curator of the Cabinet of Curiosities has here collated Mr McFingle’s unused ticket, together with associated correspondence and news cuttings.
Designed by Bernard Pearson.
Mixed media in a wooden frame measuring 223mm by 275mm