IF true, it would be one of the most surprising developments in the life of one of Britain's greatest living poets. Or perhaps it is yet another intriguing riddle, a provocative literary mystery.

Edwin Morgan, Scotland's Makar and one of the country's leading openly gay artists, has claimed he has a son, called Mahmoud, who lives in Egypt.

The 84-year-old poet has always lived alone in Glasgow, and for years has been frank about his homosexuality.

However, in the introduction to his latest book of poems, Tales from Baron Munchausen, Morgan writes about the child he had with Leila, a woman he met in Egypt during his Army service in the second world war.

He has written about Leila before, in his collection of recollections about his personal life, Love and a Life, which was published in 2003.

In the first poem in that collection, Those and These, he refers to the woman as "Leila who clutched your crotch in Cairo in '41".

She is believed to have been a prostitute he met in a brothel during the six years he served with the Army Medical Corps in the Middle East, although he has revealed little about the encounter.

In the Munchausen tales, a collection of 12 poems, he writes a letter to the baron - the German nobleman famed for his tall stories - in which he says that he learned the "full potential of narrative" from Leila when she read him The Thousand and One Nights, the classic tales of Arabian romance.

He writes: "Although the end of the war separated me from Leila, we kept in touch, and I remember how pleased I was when she wrote to tell me, years later, that our son Mahmoud had decided to study folklore and archaeology at the university, concentrating on the art of storytelling in Ancient Egypt."

The poet goes on to say that his son became an expert at the Cairo Museum.

Now, Morgan writes, Mahmoud is due for retirement, and has grandchildren to whom he can read the same stories Leila once told him.

This week, the Makar was good-naturedly coy when asked by The Herald whether he really does have a long-lost son living in the Middle East.

Indeed, he refused to confirm or deny the story's authenticity.

Morgan said: "I am sure there are those who will try and find out, but I am not saying anything more. I am afraid I cannot co-operate any further.

In this case, I am afraid it's a firm 'no comment' from me."

Hamish Whyte, the poet's friend and publisher at Mariscat Press, in Glasgow, said that Morgan could be stubborn and reticent when discussing his private life.

Mr Whyte said the poet had never publicly explained what really happened with Leila in Egypt, and that he could not elaborate on what was stated in the introduction.

He added: "It is not a subject I want to discuss really. I think it's fair to say it is a nice story, especially within the context of the Tales of Baron Munchausen, so you can take it or leave it that way.

"I personally find it very touching, and Edwin has said in the past that he would have liked to have had a family. He was an only child too, and because he has dedicated himself to poetry he has lived by himself all his life. I think it is great, at this stage of his life, that he can still be provocative and playful."

The 12 new poems were commissioned by the Working Party theatre group of Glasgow.

Baron von Munchausen, who lived from 1720 to 1797, was a German nobleman who joined the Russian military. He served until 1750, in particular taking part in two campaigns against the Turks. Returning home, Munchausen told a great number of outrageously tall tales about his adventures.

His stories have entered popular culture as a byword for exaggerated tales - his alleged astounding feats included riding cannonballs, travelling to the moon and escaping a swamp by pulling himself up by his own hair.

These stories were collected and published, in English, in London in 1785.

Morgan, who has been suffering from cancer for a number of years and now lives in a nursing home, was born in Glasgow, and for many years taught at Glasgow University.

He was named Glasgow's first poet laureate in the autumn of 1999, received the Queen's gold medal for poetry in 2000, and was officially named as Scotland's

national poet last year.

Tale from the East

Extract from A Letter to Baron Munchausen from Tales from Baron Munchausen, by Edwin Morgan, published by Mariscat Press."As a poet, of course, I am by definition a storyteller, whatever else I may be. But the full potential of narrative struck me only after I learned about The Thousand and One Nights from the lips of the enchanting Leila whom I met in Cairo during the second world war . . .

Although the end of the war separated me from Leila, we kept in touch, and I remember how pleased I was when she wrote to tell me, years later, that our son Mahmoud had decided to study folklore and archaeology at the university, concentrating on the art of storytelling in Ancient Egypt.

"He eventually obtained a post in the Cairo Museum. As I look back now, I realise that he himself will soon be due for retirement, which will leave him more time to be with his

family and to fascinate his new grandson with stories his mother told him so long ago."