Tay Rail Bridge of Dundee "in respect of his meritorious services as engineer of the bridge. ..." On 20 June 1879, Queen Victoria crossed the bridge during her return south from staying at Balmoral; Bouch was presented to her before she did so. On 26 June 1879, he was knighted by the Queen at Windsor Castle. On the night of 28 December 1879 at 7.15 pm, the bridge collapsed after its central spans gave way during high winter gales. A train with six carriages carrying seventy-five passengers and crew, crossing at the time of the collapse, plunged into the icy waters of the
The Tay Bridge Disaster by far the most famous ever written by McGonagall, and is still widely quoted. It begins: And it ends: William McGonagall wrote two other poems about the Tay bridges. The first one, written before the disaster about the first bridge, begins as follows: The Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay: And it ends: After the original bridge collapsed, a new one was built, providing the opportunity for another poem, which begins: An Address to the New Tay Bridge The Tay Bridge Disaster "The Tay Bridge Disaster" is a poem written in 1880 by the Scottish poet William McGonagall, who has