Sandscript Goes North

I was glad to be travelling on holiday around Scotland as the referendum took place; an event that had claimed attention well beyond these shores, as it began to look as if the YES vote would win.
Like many families we are a mixture of English and Scottish and goodness knows what else further back, but as none of us live in Scotland we had no vote.
Would Scottish residents vote yes to breakaway from the United Kingdom? Judging by what we saw, Yes... blue and white YES banners and Saltires were everywhere, while NO Thanks in purple was seen only in wheat fields or discretely in windows. In Glasgow and Dundee there was a buzz in the air, on Scottish television the sixteen year olds given a vote, for the first time ever, were enthusiastic. YES deserved victory for effort, I admired them, but united we stand, divided we fall and I hoped No would be the answer.
A record turnout of 85% voters was an achievement in itself. It was soon obvious that No had won in a close race, but Glasgow and Dundee were the two cities to vote Yes and it was sad to see heartbroken campaigners in tears on television.
But Scotland has always been a unique country in its own right and always will be.
As for our holiday; varied weather, wonderful scenery, lovely accents and lots of interesting people to meet. Strangely, the locals we chatted to in the most remote places were often not Scottish at all.
In a remote cottage I got more of my current novel written and plenty of inspiration for future settings.