Jock McCool

Politicians do come out with some strange things from time to time. For example, Tony Blair, now ex-Prime Minister of Great Britain, once said, “I have never made predictions and I never will.”

Now we have Donald Trump, sitting President of the USA, coming out with this in a ‘Tweet’:

Of course, it may well be photo shopped but it is fun nonetheless.

However, it brings to mind a series of cartoons I drew many years ago under the heading of ‘Jock McCool’.

Jock McCool was a real person. This was not his real name – although the ‘Jock’ part is, but the fact remains that he was a real person.

Jock was a ‘worthy’. This means that he was a character that inhabited the streets of Dundee in Scotland. And a mighty character he was, too.

One day, near the Wellgate Centre, Jock was seen with a bucket of sand strewing it liberally along and across the approach road to the doors of the Mall.

“Hello, Jock,” for I often spent a few minutes in his company and occasionally had a coffee with him.

“Whisht awa’ wi’ ye!” he hissed.

“What is it, Jock?” I whispered back because it was clear that he was doing something in secret.

“Ut’s fur yon alligators. This potion keeps ‘em awa’ the noo!”

I looked around. No alligators.

“Jock, there are no alligators here,” I pointed out to him.

He looked up at me conspiratorially, “Aye. Ut’s braw stuff this, ye ken!”

As far as he was concerned it was working regally because of the pronounced absence of alligators in Dundee City Centre.

Rather like Mr. Trump’s Chinese Mexicans.