Friends and family said farewell yesterday to Jamie Taggart, the botanist from Linn Gardens in Cove.
Retained firefighters formed a guard of honour as he started his final journey, to Barbour Cemetery.
St Modan’s Church in Rosneath was filled to capacity for the funeral service led by Rev Christine Murdoch.
Jamie disappeared while on a plant-hunting trip in a remote part of Vietnam in November 2013; despite repeated searches his remains were not found until last December, bring to an end two years of uncertainty for his family.
Almost Jamie’s last act before flying to Vietnam was to attend a fire service call-out; he died in the mountains of Vietnam doing what he loved most, searching for rare plants.
Born at the Linn, Jamie was the son of Jim and Jill and brother to Janet and Peter; later in life he came a proud uncle to Robyn, Jonathan and Anthony, and great-uncle to Eleanor.
Jamie’s interest gardening began early and he was happily potting up plants from the age of five.
He left school early and worked at Benmore Botanic Gardens near Dunoon, where his potential was spotted – he sat his Highers and went to Auchincruive, where he completed an HND and was student of the year, before completing an honours degree in botany at the University of Glasgow.
He worked at the Linn throughout his studies and it was through Jamie’s cataloguing of all the plants there that Linn became a Botanic Garden – the smallest acreage to have that distinction, it draws visitors from all over the world and shortly before Jamie’s disappearance it was added to Historic Scotland’s Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes.
Keen on cricket, rowing and rock climbing, Jamie was a member of the fire brigade running team – he would often run to the fire station when there was a call-out, getting there before some other firefighters who drove.
Rev Murdoch said in the eulogy: “Above all, Jamie was a caring and kind man, who always tried to be fair to others.
“Perhaps it was his innate goodness that led him to serve Cove Fire Station for 15 years. As with the rest of the crew, he wanted to commit time to serving the local community.”
She added: “When he received his first pay check, he was pretty surprised that the crew were given a wage for their time.
“It had not crossed his mind to expect anything in return for what he was doing it for the local area and the local people.
“That was Jamie through and through, he was there to help anybody if he could.”
Offered a full-time job by the fire brigade turned it down as it was unlikely he would be able to stay at Cove.
Rev Murdoch said: “He didn’t want to let the village down.
“He has been greatly missed by his crew and will always be remembered as a key member of the station.”
Jamie’s family would like to thank the Jamie Taggart Search Fund, the Friends of Linn, everyone who helped to fund Jill’s visit to Vietnam and members of the media who have kept Jamie’s story alive.
Rev Murdoch said: “We are all indebted to Mr Chan in Vietnam who after all this time, found Jamie and ensured that he could be returned to the peninsula that he knew and loved so well.”
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