I'm glad I attended Bannockburn Live. I don't have to rely upon somebody else's review of the event.

Take the Sunday Mail's, for example: "A lot of sabre-rattling, a bit of meaningless skirmishing and some middle-aged men running about shouting without any obvious plan or purpose?"

There's no-one like the unionists when it comes to meanness of spirit. What a crabbed, joyless view they have of Scotland.

Maybe they were miffed that Bannockburn Live was a sell-out. There was much gleeful anticipatory rubbing of hands from the naysayers when it was claimed ticket sales were slow. They seemed to be hoping the 700th anniversary of perhaps the most important event in Scottish history would be a flop.

Somehow the No lot got it into their heads that Bannockburn Live - organised by the National Trust and Visit Scotland - was an SNP rally.

For example, John Major made the paranoid accusation that the referendum was timed to coincide with the Bannockburn anniversary "presumably to maximise the opportunity for any anti-English sentiment that may exist".

Well, I can assure Sir John there was absolutely no anti-English sentiment at the event. Even the re-enactment of Scotland's most famous victory was played for laughs - mostly directed at the Scots' side.

"They were a wild bunch, the Scots army," boomed the narrator. "You wouldn't want to get downwind of that lot. And if you got passed their pointed spears, you had to fight their bad breath."

In fact, apart from a few visitors wearing Yes T-shirts, the whole thing was determinedly non-political. As it should be.

Of course, if you have a twisted, cynical mind, you can read something negative into anything. I enjoyed listening to Dougie MacLean at Bannockburn but some think his Caledonia is an SNP anthem.

As the singer himself explains, it's actually about being homesick. All Scots, yes, no and don't know, miss their homeland at some time. It's just a wee song for them.

But as MacLean said in an interview, had Bruce not won at Bannockburn, there would have been no Scotland. Scotland would now be what most foreigners think it is - a region of England.

Without Bannockburn, therefore, there could not have been the historical milestones loved by the Better Together campaign. No Union of Crowns, no Union of Parliaments, no United Kingdom. You'd think unionists would want to celebrate Bannockburn too.

As the rain started late in the afternoon, Karine Polwart gave a rousing rendition of Hamish Henderson's "Freedom Come All Ye." Henderson of course favoured independence but I'd like to think Scots from a wide political spectrum would endorse his vision of a better country where the skirl of Scotland the Brave is no longer used to terrify dark-skinned people in faraway places.

On the Thursday evening before Bannockburn Live, I attended the premier of Bruce 700, a musical piece composed by Allan MacDonald and orchestrated by Neil Johnstone.

The performers included solo pipers, a traditional band, a harpist, Stirling Schools Pipe Band with individual vocals supplied by Kathleen MacInness, in gaelic, and Rod Paterson, in Scots.

I hope this magnificent composition will be widely heard. I'm probably getting soft in my old age but I found it very moving and I confess there were tears in my eyes during the final vocal section.

At the start of this last part, a little choir shuffled shyly on to the side of the stage. They ranged in age from grandparents to small primary school children. With respect, they didn't look like dedicated choristers and I couldn't quite make out their contribution given the volume of the wonderful music around them

It didn't matter. I'm not sure what their musical purpose was but I presumed they symbolised the 'sma' folk' who joined in the final stage of the Battle of Bannockburn. That victory was achieved not only by professional soldiers but by 'ordinary' Scots. Scottish culture too is not just for specialists but for 'ordinary' people as well.

I left Stirling's Albert Halls stirred by Allan MacDonald's music and buoyed by a feeling of elation about my homeland and its people. At that moment, I was wholly convinced that, come September, when Scots cast their votes, all of them, yes or no, will do so out of a love for Scotland.

Returning home after an inspiring weekend, I switched found more bitter negativity and carping of the unionists and naysayers. Normal service resumed

I guess they just don't get the spirit of Bannockburn. I fear they just don't get Scotland.