His nickname would usually be taken to indicate that he was either a Gaelic-speaker or from Scotland-north-of-the-Forth (Scotia), but according to John of Fordun, he was from the villa of Podoth in Cheshire.
[2] After the death of his patron Richard, he was elected by the cathedral chapter in either 1177 or 1178 in the presence of Cardinal Vibiano of Santo Stefano al Monte Celio, the Papal legate.
His election, however, was not approved of by the king, William I of Scotland, who wanted his chaplain Hugh to succeed to the bishopric.
John travelled to appeal to Pope Alexander III, who quashed the case of Hugh and sent to Scotland a man named Alexius as legate.
Alexius obtained entrance to William's kingdom, and consecrated John at Holyrood Abbey in the presence of four other Scottish bishops, in the year 1180.