The agony and ecstasy of the Scottish independence referendum

Jane Phillips was among the many first individuals to vote within the Scottish independence referendum.

A instructor from Dundee, she was second in line to vote at her native polling station on the morning of 18 September 2014.

She was 58 years previous on the time and dreaming of a Yes victory, which had appeared nearly unimaginable for months.

A decade later, he advised BBC Scotland News: “I just remember the tension and the excitement.

“We really felt like we could do it – a tremendous excitement. It felt like we were going to cross the line.”

Kat Hedley says it was an emotional day in the 'no' camp too.

The 30-year-old lawyer, then making her first foray into politics, campaigned for Better Together in Edinburgh.

“The energy that was there was amazing to be a part of and I doubt I’ll ever experience that again,” says Kat.

Malcolm Andrew, 20, who was a NO activist in Inverclyde in 2014, remembers each the thrill and concern felt by these campaigning to maintain Scotland within the UK.

“We were fighting for our country’s location, which had been stable for hundreds of years,” he says.

Malcolm remembers the intense skies of September 18, which continued a sunny summer time spell throughout a lot of Scotland.

But for a lot of, polling day introduced cloud and rain, and the curtain fell on a exceptional marketing campaign.

Referendums naturally create deep-rooted tensions. And all people needed to have their say.

From US President Barack Obama To Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin,

From the royal family- Queen Elizabeth – For Scottish royalty – Andy Murray,

Across the Border MP Rory Stewart additionally stated helped construct a cairn An occasion to advertise “mutual respect and affection” was held close to Gretna.

But it was additionally a really altering time.

The radicals and right-wingers united and stood on the 'sure' aspect.

Party politics – and intra-party politics – had been pressured to take a backseat in Better Together, it doesn’t matter what tensions had been effervescent to the floor.

What started with Big Country’s One Great Thing as its unofficial soundtrack has taken an surprising flip, although. Leading in opinion polls Just every week earlier than the referendum.

Three days earlier than the vote, independence supporters gathered at Glasgow's Usher Hall, the place they had been entertained by some well-known independence supporters – together with Frightened Rabbit, Amy Macdonald, Mogwai and Franz Ferdinand.

After a stroll alongside Byers Road on the town’s west finish – which was filled with stalls, flags and activists handing out Yes badges – Jane remembers her son Tom saying to her: “We’re going to do this, aren’t we?”

Louise Thomson Drever, who campaigned for Yes in Shetland, remembers a “mood of possibility”.

“We felt like we had seen a real chance,” he advised BBC Scotland News.

This kind of enthusiasm was not at all times felt on the “no” aspect.

Former Better Together activist Alan Grant, then a 26-year-old politics graduate, says on polling day he was relieved “this election was about to be over.”

Although he had little question concerning the consequence, he described the marketing campaign as “long, tedious, tortuous”.

Ian Thomson, organiser of Yes Berwickshire, describes polling day as “probably the busiest day of my life”.

Aged 60 on the time, he did the Borders “valley dash” – co-ordinating stalls on village greens and driving individuals to polling stations.

The first concrete indication that such efforts could be futile got here from Clackmannanshire at 01:30.

Eva Comrie, a lawyer who ran the marketing campaign for Yes, was “absolutely certain” of victory in her native space. Instead, it received with 55% of the vote in favour of No.

“It was incredibly frustrating, embarrassing and shameful,” Eva says.

“It was one of the biggest disappointments of my life.”

Agony for some, ecstasy for others.

Catt, who spent the evening on the counting website in Edinburgh, says: “You could sense it from the Yes campaigners – from that moment on they knew what the result was going to be.”

The 'No' aspect then received landslide victories in Orkney and Shetland, though this was not a shock, and by a slender margin within the Western Isles.

Lewis and his buddies, stuffed with “nervous excitement”, gathered in Shetland to observe the consequence.

When issues started to go “horribly wrong” he determined to go to mattress early.

“I was thinking I'd just sit up all night, but I remember thinking I couldn't actually face it,” she says.

The predominant drama got here from Inverclyde, the place No received by simply 86 votes, resulting in a landslide. groan and hand on head Yes within the ranks in Glasgow.

Malcolm says it was a complete aid for the Better Together group.

Soon Allen was celebrating No’s “joyous” win in his native East Lothian.

When the nationwide consequence – 55.3% 'No', 44.7% 'Yes' – was confirmed, Catt described scenes of “euphoria” on the Edinburgh rely.

However, she provides that “it's impossible not to feel sorry for people who were just as passionate as you, but weren't getting the results they dreamed of.”

The comfort was that cities like Glasgow and Dundee stated sure – which Jane says she is pleased with – however the dream of 2014 was over.

Better Together veterans celebrated their success at Glasgow's Marriott Hotel, whereas Yes chiefs attended an occasion. Nicola Sturgeon advised as “Awakening” in one other a part of city.

Meanwhile, there was chaos within the metropolis centre when a bunch of union supporters attacked independence activists in George Square. Dozens of arrests made,

Although this was a uncommon occasion of dysfunction, tensions remained excessive all through the marketing campaign – on the streets of Scotland and within the nascent Twitter-sphere.

Ian, from Berwickshire, complained of 'aggression' from the 'No' aspect, whereas Kat stated Better Together activists are generally accused of being 'unpatriotic'.

“It wasn't all shouting from street stalls,” she says, recalling individuals who got here to Edinburgh from throughout Britain to assist the union on the day of the vote.

The Better Together activist felt Scotland was “on the brink of something”, including: “But the kind of new beginning we were on the verge of was not what I was expecting.”

Such sentiments level to a key paradox of the referendum – neither aspect walked away totally happy.

Although No received that evening, Better Together activists lamented that that they had failed to maneuver the political debate ahead in a correct method since September 2014.

“That's the lasting, scarring legacy of this whole unfortunate incident,” Allen says.

The Yes aspect didn’t get the consequence it needed, but it surely has nonetheless claimed a victory of kinds.

Louise remembers a time when she felt Scottish individuals had been “capable of imagining something other than the status quo.”

“It was extremely positive,” Ian says of the marketing campaign.

Jane provides: “It has changed my view of what is possible. It has given me hope and aspiration for the future.”

A decade later, the reminiscences might need pale, however the feelings are nonetheless contemporary.