KIRRIEMUIR SALUTED another of its famous sons at the weekend in a ceremony which drew visitors from Europe and interest from the opposite side of the world.

Fifty-five years after he emigrated to Australia with his family, Bon Scott was remembered by the town and hundreds of fans of rockers AC/DC with which he became a legend.

The appeal Scott and his fellow band members hold for all ages was evident in the range of generations which packed Kirrie’s Cumberland Close under Saturday’s sunny skies to see the unveiling of a Caithness stone slab commemorating the singer, which now sits alongside similar memorials unveiled to three other famed Kirriemarians—J. M. Barrie, Hugh Munro and Charles Lyell.

All the slabs have been carved by internationally renowned sculptor Bruce Walker, whose base is in Cumberland Close and Saturday’s ceremony was led by Kirriemuir Community Council, which commissioned the Scott stone after an idea sparked by member Davie Milne.

Born Ronald Belford Scott on July 9, 1946, he spent his early years in Kirriemuir, where his father, Charles, worked in the family bakery in Bank Street.

Details of Bon’s biography were delivered by community council chairman Major Ronnie Proctor, who revealed that he had been contacted just before the weekend event from Down Under by a lifelong friend of Scott’s who wanted to pay his personal tribute to the musician, whose untimely death came in 1980.

Mr Proctor read a message from Vincent Lovegrove, who first met the then 19-year-old Bon in 1965 and forged an instant friendship which was to stretch right up until the Angus man’s death.

Mr Lovegrove said “I spoke to his mother last week and Isa told me how proud she was of this plaque in Kirriemuir.”

He continued, “The thing I loved most about Bon Scott was his almost unique self honesty. What you saw was what you got, he was a real person and as honest as the day is long.

“To my mind he was the street poet of my generations and of the generations that followed.”

Among the crowd was Australian Darren Hill, who now owns a restaurant outside Forfar but travelled back home in 2005 to a memorial service at the singer’s grave.

Mr Hill brought AC/DC memorabilia back for an exhibition mounted in Kirrie to coincide with the anniversary of the singer’s death and revealed how this weekend’s event had also sparked interest from his homeland.

“I was contacted by Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio on Friday night and did a live interview in which I was asked about Kirriemuir and my own interest in Bon Scott,” said Mr Hill.

“Bon Scott’s music speaks to many generations and I think it’s great that they’ve made this memorial to him.”