Obituary: Jock Scot

Died: April 13, 2016

JOCK Scot, who has died of cancer aged 63, was a former Edinburgh drunk and heroin addict whose poetry and Scottish charm led him to London as an irreverent post-punk poet loved and admired by some of the most famous UK bands, actors and comedians of the day.

Most at home on stage rather than at a desk with pen or typewriter, he returned throughout his life to perform his poetry at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, often leading visitors in song on the top of night buses around the city. Although his real name was John Leslie, like most Scots down south he got called Jock or Scottie, hence the nom de plume he adopted.

Jock Scot was a definite one-off. Like most of us, he may not have known what he was but, unlike many of us, he knew who he was and to his own self he was always true. He found himself dining – and drinking – in London's Soho with the younger, rowdy members of the aristocracy as well as rockers and drunkards from all walks of life. Whoever you were, as far as he was concerned, you could take him or leave him. Few ever left him. It is often written about dead folks that "he did not suffer fools gladly." But Jock Scot did, so long as they were buying the drinks. He became known for his wild look and dress-sense, often wearing the kilt but rarely with the traditional accompanying attire.

Somewhat amazingly, he published only one poetry collection, Where is My Heroine? in 1992 (that's heroine, not heroin, but the title made the point). By then in London, the collection launched Mr Scot onto London's underground literary scene which automatically brought him to the attention of avant-garde poets in New York and beyond.

The poems were autobiographical, frightening yet funny, describing how it was to be a young addict around Edinburgh in the 1970s. Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting (the 1993 novel and 1996 film) was not about Jock Scot but could easily have been. The two men had not yet met when Welsh wrote the novel but they later would meet and become best friends. Welsh described Mr Scot as "one of my all-time heroes," as did English troubadour and left-wing activist Billy Bragg.

After Where is my Heroine?, and by then a "roadie," bon bivant, bohemian and confidant in London to musicians from Shane MacGowan of the Pogues to Pete Doherty of the Libertines, Jock Scot had a kind of a Bob Dylan-style epiphany: he realised his "urban poetry" had more effect when it was not read on a written page but performed "live" on stage, often with musical backing. He had found his métier.

His next collection of poetry was My Personal Culloden (1997), a spoken album in which his Edinburgh accent, Billy Connolly-like timing and humour further enhanced his image as a somewhat off-the-wall poet. Some of the titles are a little too explicit for young Herald readers, including Just Another F***ed-up Little Druggy and There's a Hole in Daddy's Arm. The latter was inspired by the 1971 song Sam Stone by American singer John Prine about a Vietnam war vet who died of a heroin overdose.

Mr Scot recited such poems as an opening act for musician friends including the Libertines, Joe Strummer and The Clash, Ian Dury and the Blockheads and Elvis Costello. They all loved him, despite the fact that he often drank most of the bands' "riders" – pre-performance booze – before they could lay their hands on it.

Being a "roadie," it was he who ordered and "looked after" the booze, hence his tendency to fall over drunk during his readings. But he got the audiences into the mood for the top acts. Paul Simonon, bass guitarist with The Clash, described Mr Scot as "the most Scottish person I have ever met, an excellent representation of that tribe." To emphasise his "performance art" view of his work, Jock Scot would often tear up his poetry on stage after reading it. To him, its purpose, and mere existence, was over.

John Graham Manson Leslie was born in Leith on September 21, 1952, to Jock and Dot Leslie, a poor family who moved to a "Wimpey" council estate in Musselburgh. His father, an amateur musician who played piano and accordion, had fought in Burma and died of asbestosis when John was 15.

John's early interest was bird-watching – the winged kind, rather than the ones he would get involved with later. Although his parents preferred Heart of Midlothian, young John, initially nicknamed Pooch because of his small size, opted for Hibernian, an early sign of his free spirit. He remained a Hibs fan for the rest of his life.

He used a spell as a librarian to read everything he could, which led him to a profound socialism and to folk music, notably the work of Glaswegian singer Matt McGinn.

Mr Scot was diagnosed with cancer in the summer of 2014 and given little more than three months to live but he opted against chemotherapy, choosing to end his life the way he lived it.

Last year, knowing death was imminent, he performed at London's Barbican Theatre with the English rock band British Sea Power. Friends recalled that when Mr Scot was first introduced to the great American singer/songwriter Paul Simon, the Scot's first words were "Hello darkness, my old friend."

He is survived by his wife Helen Montgomery, whom he married in 2005 and took on her surname rather than the other way round, their daughter Iris and two daughters, Tara and Poppy, from earlier relationships.

PHIL DAVISON