AFTER 25 years firing the One O’Clock Gun, a memorial to Edinburgh’s best known character should be built in his hometown.

But instead a cannon has been unveiled in honour of Tam the Gun about 500 miles away across the North Sea – in Norway.

His widow Joyce made the emotional journey to unveil the three-and-a-half tonne memorial in a square in Bergen on what would have been their third anniversary.

She said it was touching, but also “embarrassing” that he was being honoured in Norway rather than his native land.

Tam, aka Staff Sergeant Thomas McKay, died in 2005, after working at Edinburgh Castle for a quarter of a century.

He was the longest-serving district gunner since the firing of the One O’Clock Gun began in 1861.

He formed a strong friendship with the local businessmen’s guild in Bergen after he was invited to take part in National Day celebrations.

After he proposed to Joyce during a trip there, the townspeople gave them a VIP wedding and reception.

The couple’s big day in an 11th-century church was covered on Norwegian television, as well as in national newspapers.

She said: “We were asked to go to Norway to carry the Saltire in the Norway Day parade, and we’ve had that friendship ever since.

“They held Tam in such high esteem out there. There is a genuine sadness that Tam is no longer with us.

“They gave us the 200-year-old cannon as a wedding present, and they offered to ship it over here. But we had nowhere to put it, so we asked them to keep it there.”

The guild has now decided to place the cannon on a stone mount, with a dedication to Tam. It will be in the centre of a square that is being redeveloped, and will be renamed in his honour next year.

A warehouse on the square, which is being converted into a museum, will also have a Scottish-themed bar, featuring pictures of Tam.

The townspeople are even considering firing a salute to him each May 17 during the Norway Day celebrations. Joyce said: “Norway has a very strong affinity with Scotland, partly because of the help we gave them during the Second World War.

“We’ve just been lucky that we formed such a strong friendship. They are so determined they are going to do something, because he made such an impact on them.

“It’s embarrassing that another country is going to so much trouble, while in the city where he worked every day, they haven’t bothered.”

Although Tam’s colleagues clubbed together to buy a bench in his memory at the Castle, there is currently no official memorial to him in the city.

GNER has named one of its Edinburgh-London trains after him.

Hans Henrik Tosdal, chairman of the Spiritual Guild of Bergen, which represents local businessmen, said they had always had a strong relationship with Edinburgh. There is a thriving Scottish Society in the town. He said: “Tam was a great friend of Bergen. He was a very special man, and when we were invited over to Edinburgh we were treated as kings. We feel we owe this to him.”