Transcript
Tim Harford (0:00)
Foreign.
Narrator/Host Introduction (0:09)
You're about to hear an episode of Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford. Tim's podcast explores mistakes from history and importantly, what we can learn from them. As you can imagine, there's a lot of disasters to choose from, but there's always an interesting angle on what we can take from them. I learn something new every time. You'd be surprised, but a shipwreck from the 60s can teach us something about a mistake we all make when making decisions Today, this episode is about a poet. William McGonagall is remembered today as the worst poet in the world, and Tim is obsessed with his work. I think I am too. Here's a quick example. A pathetic tale of the sea I will unfold enough to make one's blood run cold concerning four fishermen cast adrift in a dory. As I've been told, I'll relate the story. Twas on the 8th April, on the afternoon of that day that the village of Louisburg was thrown into a wild state of disarray. So what can we learn from a disastrous poet? Tim has a few ideas, and in true revisionist history style, he has a feeling we've been understanding McGonagall all wrong. Enjoy the episode. It's one of my favorites. And make sure you subscribe to Cautionary Tales for plenty more disasters and plenty more lessons. This message is a paid partnership with Apple Card there's something interesting about how seamlessly certain tools fit into daily life. Apple Card is one of those things it can be applied for right in the wallet app on iPhone and approval can happen in minutes, so it's ready to use immediately with Apple Pay. I'm so glad the days of finding my wallet, fishing out the credit card, using it, putting it back in my wallet, or oops, maybe I use cash. Where's the atm? Enough. The first time I used Apple Pay on my phone with my Apple Card, I was like, this is the future. There's no going back. With Apple Card, purchases earn daily cash up to 3% with no points to track and no waiting for rewards. It's simply daily cash back that I earn on every purchase. There's even an option to open a high yield savings account through Apple Card. And while I haven't done it yet, if I do, my daily cash can grow automatically over time without any extra effort. Because Apple Card lives in the Wallet app, it's always accessible on iPhone and can be used with Apple Pay at over 85% of merchants in the US and the security of Face ID and Touch ID prevents unauthorized purchases. Whether using iPhone or Apple Watch to exploit yourself. You can apply for Apple Card in the Wallet app on your iPhone, subject to credit approval. Savings is available to Apple Card owners subject to eligibility Savings in Apple Card by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch Bank Member FDIC terms and more@applecart.com.
Tim Harford (3:14)
The wind is fierce, no doubt about it. It's the strongest gale that John Watt can remember, and he's been working for the North British Railway since 1867, a full 12 years. It's a good night to be safe. You sheltered in the railway signal cabin, sharing a mug of tea with a friend, signalman Thomas Barkley. As Watt and Barclay sip their tea and look out of the window into the darkness, it can see the faint line of lamps all along the new railway bridge running almost two miles across the wide River Tay to the city of Dundee. Every now and then the clouds gust apart and the full moon picks out the high girders of the longest bridge in the world. A few minutes after 7 o' clock comes the signal from the south. The northbound train is approaching. Thomas Barclay steps out of the cabin into the wind and waits as the train approaches, the sparks from the wheels visible in the dark. He greets the crew with a smile, handing over the baton that gives permission for a train to cross the bridge. The train is moving at walking pace. He sees a child peer out of the window of a carriage as it passes. Then, as the train passes over the long, high iron span, Thomas goes back to his friend in the shelter of the cabin and sends a message to the signal box over on the other side of the River Tay. The signal bell rings three times in response, and still the wind howls. Thomas turns back to his mug of tea, but John Watt is gazing out of the window at the bridge. There's something wrong with the train, he says. Thomas Barclay thinks he's imagining it, but John knows what he's seen. Three red tail lamps fading into the distance over the bridge. And then a series of flashes, three small and one big. Then darkness. No tail lamps. The train's gone over. Thomas, he says. Thomas Barclay still isn't convinced. Surely the train has just disappeared from view after cresting the highest point of the bridge. Surely they'll see her again soon. But they don't. Thomas tries calling the signal box on the other side of the bridge. Nothing. They go outside briefly venture onto the bridge. Men retreat as the wind threatens to tear them off the girders and into the waters below. The clouds part again and the full moon reveals the SCENE A thousand yards of the bridge are gone. The high girders of the central spot, the iron piers that had supported them, also gone. And of course, the train has gone too, and every one of its passengers. It's a catastrophe. But this is not a story about a fatal bridge collapse. It's a story about a poet. I'm Tim Harford, and you're listening to Cautionary Tales. Beautiful railway bridge of the silvery Tay. Alas, I am very sorry to say that 90 lives have been taken away on the last sabbath day of 1879, which will be remembered for a very long time. Thus begins a poem titled the Tay Bridge Disaster. It is widely regarded as the worst poem ever written and its author, William McGonagall, is widely regarded as the worst poet. I'll spare you the full poem, but here's a central verse. So the train moved slowly along the Bridge of Tay until it was about midway. Then the central girders with a crash
