Dad loved to have trouble. That’ll be
DAUGHTER PAYS TRIBUTE TO PUNK, POET, Family join stars and fans in movie hailing Jock Scot
Julie-Anne Barnes Irvine Welsh and Billy Bragg hail him as a hero. Shane MacGowan was one of his closest friends.
His romances with singer Neneh Cherry and actress Anna Chancellor made gossip columns, as did his friendships with aristocracy.
But few outside of the post-punk music scene know much about poet Jock Scot. Yet his family and friends says his influence on music, literature and the arts was extraordinary.
For Poppy Chancellor, his daughter with Four Weddings and A Funeral star Anna, he was just dad – albeit a rather unusual one.
Poppy spoke out as a documentary about her father’s bohemian life – from meeting Ian Dury and The Blockheads and following them to London to becoming a performance poet and opening gigs for the likes of Joe Strummer, The Pogues and The Libertines – is being finished.
Jock lost his battle with cancer earlier this year.
Artist and illustrator Poppy said: “When I was younger, I remember thinking how boring other people’s parents were.
“Dad and I were rebellious – troublemakers on the lookout for fun. I remember being the only kid in the bookies or the pub.
“I felt like I was in on the joke, the secret life of adults. I had an attitude but luckily so did dad. So when I suggested we break into the park after dark to go on the swings, he’d be the one flinging me over the gate.”
Poppy’s parents split up when she was four. But Jock, who found fame after moving from Musselburgh, East Lothian, to London in the 1970s, remained a hugely influential figure in Poppy’s life.
Jock’s lyrical talent saw him become a regular on the punk circuit after meeting Dury at a concert at Edinburgh’s Playhouse. The singer, taken by the Scot’s way with words, employed him as a roadie and introduced him to the music scene.
Jock would go on to write and perform his own work as well as regularly opening for acts such as Strummer and The Libertines.
His ability to silence the rowdiest of crowds with his words, wearing his trademark kilt and Doc Martens, became his forte.
He at t r a c t ed t he attention of f ledgl ing writers who adored music, such as Trainspotting author Welsh, who read his poems. He said Jock and Iggy Pop were his key influences. Poppy, 29, the middle of Jock’s three daughters, said: “He had a wonderful way with words. He could insult you and make you laugh at the same time. “He was fearless, articulate and highly intelligent. I love making people laugh and I love getting on a stage and being in front of people. “Al l his daughters have a fundamental essence of Jock. We have to be the centre of attention.” Jock was born John Graham Manson Leslie in Leith. His father died at 47 when Jock was 15 and he was raised on a council estate in