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Scotland votes to remain part of United Kingdom

EDINBURGH — The day of the most important popular vote in Scottish history began with a buzz of excitement on the streets of this ancient capital. “Yes” signs filled city windows, Scottish flags flew from car antennas, and kilts added a rainbow of tartan to many gray, cobbled streets.

For supporters of independence, a 307-year-old goal of sovereignty appeared finally, tantalizingly, within their grasp.

But for all their hopes, all the late momentum they seemed to seize, the day belonged to a quiet, unswayed swath of Scots who brought to the ballot box a conviction that the United Kingdom, in the “No” camp’s words, is better together.

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“It was too big of a risk,” said Laura McGill, a 26-year-old emigrant from Australia who works in a law firm. “I didn’t feel some questions were answered sufficiently.”

McGill was concerned that the nationalists did not have a plan for a new Scottish currency if the British pound was not an option, as London had warned it would not be.

She also questioned whether the new country’s revenues would be sufficient to pay its share of the United Kingdom’s debt. What would happen if they weren’t?

Many Scots apparently shared her fears. Going it alone, for all its emotional appeal, seemed fraught with too much uncertainty.

The result was disappointing and sometimes devastating to “Yes” supporters. Poll after poll had showed a steady climb in their numbers until the race, by consensus, had become too close to call when voting stations opened at 7 a.m. Thursday.

“Yes” owned the streets throughout the day, with supporters knocking on doors, filling the pubs to watch the results, and marching gleefully up and down the Royal Mile with banners waving and voices raised in song.

“We want to be part of the world stage and have a direct line to talk with the rest of the world,” said Andrew McIlvride, who traveled to Edinburgh from Argyll, in the Highlands, to be part of history. “This would mean an absolute revisiting of our self-pride and sense of nation.”

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It was not to be.

At Greenmantle, a pub filled to capacity near Edinburgh University, what had been a raucous, confident, pro-independence crowd grew restless, then quiet, and finally dispirited as the results trickled in.

First to announce was Clackmannanshire, between the urban centers of Edinburgh and Glasgow, where the “No” campaign won by a margin of 54 to 46 percent. Then the Orkney Islands, north of the Scottish mainland, trounced the “Yes” movement by more than 2 to 1.

“That’s a worry for me,” Rory Penman said as he pondered the data. “That would be so Scottish, to vote against your own independence.”

The news got worse as the night wore on, and what had been a laughing, engaged, shoulder-to-shoulder crowd began to collect their belongings about 2 a.m. and head disconsolately into a cold mist.

Some voters saw hope in a national discussion that lasted for more than two years and attracted an astonishing number of people to the polls.

“People are wanting change, whether they’re voting yes or no,” said Euan Dickson, a 20-year-old university student who voted for independence.

The Conservative government in London apparently agrees, having pledged before the vote to grant Scotland more authority whatever the outcome of the referendum.

In the end, however, the camp that had been much less vocal, much less visible, and much more concerned about the security of their families and country chose the status quo.

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As a result, the United Kingdom will remain together, the Union Jack will continue to fly, and these often-fractious neighbors will try to adjust to a shaken and changed relationship.


Brian MacQuarrie can be reached at macquarrie@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeMacQuarrie.