His name was Timothy Cotter but to everyone in Soho he was
known as Rosie, or sometimes Second-hand Rose, on account of the rose he wore
behind his ear. His days were spent begging or earning a few pennies or a hot
meal cleaning up the rubbish from Soho's
strip clubs, restaurants and market
stalls, and at night he slept on the empty stands of Berwick Street market.
A notorious drunk, Rosie had been barred from most of Soho's
pubs at one time or another, and was famous for stopping Soho's traffic with his often foul-mouthed song
and dance routines, not all of which were appreciated. He died at the age of
fifty-four in 1970 in Brixton prison where he had been sent after he couldn’t
pay a £5 fine for being drunk.
He would have been destined for a pauper's funeral , but
Rosie was held in so much affection around Soho that the area’s market traders,
strippers, entertainers, shop owners and policemen raised over £200 to pay for
his funeral. Hundreds lined the streets as his funeral
procession of three Rolls-Royces and fifty floral bouquets made its way to the
Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and Saint Gregory in Warwick Street. Market
traders closed their stalls for the day, and the Church was packed with locals
and celebrities including Danny La Rue and Charlie Chester.
At the funeral service the Reverend John McDonald described
Rosie as "a very colourful, gay, lively character who has disappeared from
the Soho scene. He brought joy to many with his unique personality."
One market trader
told news agency UPI, "Rosie drank Scotch like water when he could get it,
but he was a happy bloke – he made people laugh. He would have loved his
funeral," while Mabel, one of the mourners, remembered him as "a very
kind person, especially to children, and although he was almost always drunk
he'd never swear at women."
"He was a very religious man," another fruit
vendor recalled. "When the Apollo 13 astronauts were in danger for their
lives Rosie knelt down here in the market and prayed for their safe return. And
you know something – he was sober for once. That’s how our Rosie was."
(This was published earlier in an edited version in the Soho Clarion.)
