Bon Scott hometown plaque

The Bon Scott hometown plaque in Kirriemuir acknowledges the town's most famous rock and roll export on the same High Street precinct that includes the 2016 bronze statue. Kirriemuir's claim on Scott is one of birth and early childhood: he was born on July 9, 1946, in nearby Forfar and lived in Kirriemuir until 1952, when his family emigrated to Melbourne under the Australian government's Ten Pound Pom scheme. He was six years old when he left Scotland, and his memories of Kirriemuir would have been those of a small child.

Nevertheless, the town has adopted Scott wholeheartedly as its own -- more enthusiastically, arguably, than many towns adopt native sons who actually chose to stay. The annual BonFest, held each April in Scott's honour, fills Kirriemuir's pubs and venues with rock music and fans from across Europe and beyond. The economic and cultural impact of the festival on a town of around 6,000 people is significant, and the plaque, the statue, and the various heritage markers around the town centre represent a coherent effort to make Kirriemuir a genuine pilgrimage destination.

The plaque is accessible at all times in the town centre. It is typically visited alongside the statue and the nearby Scott family bakery site on Bank Street. For visitors making the journey from Edinburgh or Dundee, Kirriemuir repays the trip with its combination of Scottish market-town character and rock music heritage -- an unlikely combination that the town has made work.