A foul-mouthed, jetpack-flying parody of former Dundee FC manager Jocky Scott has emerged as a shock contender to be named Scotland’s favourite literary character.
The Scottish Book Trust is running a competitionto find the nations favourite characterfrom a Scottish book and has drawn up a shortlist of 50 favourites, ranging from Trainspotting’s Begbie to Dennis the Menace and from Inspector Rebus to the Gruffalo.
Members of the public can vote for their favourite but can also nominate characters not on the shortlist.
Fans of the cult comedy novel The Tartan Special One by Dundee-born Barry Phillips have now launched a campaign for Jocky to win the competition instead.
Facebook and Twitter pages encouraging fans to nominate Jocky famous for his catchphrase “wha’s in cherge?” have now sprung up online.
“I’m flattered and honoured that people think one of my characters is worthy of inclusion on the list” said Barry, a former pupil of Menzieshill High School in Dundee.
“If social media is anything to go by there may be several hundred votes already in for Jocky. I’m sure the man himself would be ecstatic and will no doubt raise a glass of Tartan Special to those voting for him.”
The Tartan Special One’s story began when Celtic and Scotland striker Leigh Griffiths, then a Dens Park star, wrote a blog for the BBC website.
Challenged by his fellow members of the Pie and Bovril football forum to come up with a more interesting version, Barry re-imagined Scottish football as a profanity-laden world in which the country’s most talented teenage footballer is billeted in a tipi at Caird Park, where training consists of racing up and down the Dundee Law on space-hoppers and tactical instructions are delivered via hip-hop lyrics.
The surreal Real Leigh Griffiths Blog attracted hundreds of thousands of fans around the world and formed the basis of what eventually became the first title from Dundee-based publishers Teckle Books.
Barry (36), who now lives in Glasgow, said seeing his book published was an immensely proud moment but Jocky beating the likes of Oor Wullie, Judge Dredd and Harry Potter in the race to be named Scotland’s favourite character would be equally satisfying.
“I failed Higher English so to even be in the running for an accolade like this is surreal,” he said.
“A lot of people have seen this grow from a daft post on a website through to publication and beyond so they have a lot of loyalty and pride in Jocky, who they see as being their own. It’s not surprising as they’ve got behind me from the minute it was announced the book would be coming out, pre-ordering and helping to spread the word.”