Around 40 pipers struck up on the stroke of noon, and beneath a forest of Saltires and lions rampant, the marchers took more than 90 minutes to process from the High Street via North Bridge to the vista of Calton Hill.

Yes Scotland estimated that by early afternoon 20,000 people had made the trip in support of independence and to insist that, sick of a remote Westminster elite and eager for change, Scots will ultimately vote Yes in next year's referendum.

Police Scotland put the number at 8300.

Addressing the crowd to the biggest cheers of the day, First Minister Alex Salmond said the forces ranged against the pro-independence movement were "great and powerful", and would sow fear and doubt wherever they could, but they would be overcome just as the nay-sayers to devolution had been defeated.

"We have now in 362 days' time the opportunity of a lifetime. The forces against us thrive on doubt but they can be dispelled.

"Look around, friends. Feel your strength. We, gathered here, are the change we wish to see."

He said a Yes vote would not be a win for the SNP or any other party, but for the people.

"It will be a vote for choice, a vote for the people's right to choose. It will therefore be a people's victory for the right to choose the Scotland we seek. It will be an act of self-confidence and self-assertion.

"The decisions about Scotland will be made by the people who must make the best decisions: the people who live and work in Scotland."

He promised to scrap the so-called bedroom tax, keep the Royal Mail in public hands, and prioritise childcare instead of nuclear weapons ("bairns before bombs") after a Yes vote.

"We are a lucky generation - to achieve the powers the people want, to win a fresh start, and change our country for the better - we need only say the word. To put this country on the path of hope, optimism and achievement - to put the disappointments and missed opportunities of the past behind us - we need only say yes."

The gathering was the second of three designed to build momentum for a Yes vote in 2014.

Last year's event, in a sun-filled Princes Street Gardens, attracted around 5000 people, according to the police, though organisers estimated the number at twice that.

This year's target was to "fill the Hill", which has a capacity of around 20,000.

As the march thinned out on its arrival, and gaps opened up in the crowd, it seemed that target had been missed.However, attendance was nevertheless up significantly, in spite the grey skies threatening overhead.

Raised alongside the Saltires were the flags of a host of independence movements from overseas, including Sardinia, Flanders, and Catalonia, with marchers from Venice and the South Tyrol also lending their support.

Bravely dressed in matching tartan "onesies", Dean and Maggie Barrow from Edinburgh had brought their children, Grace, one, and Findlay, three, to the gathering.

Dean, 26, said Scotland might be a small country but it had always punched above its weight in science, technology and innovation. "I don't see it as oppression, but we are kept down, we're held back, and I think it's time we just stood on our own feet."

Janette McGowan, 58, from Tullibody, hoped the event would raise awareness among people who are currently undecided or even pro-union.

"I don't think Westminster knows what's right for Scotland. I think we could do a better job locally for the people of Scotland."

Addressing the crowd on Calton Hill, actor, comedian and compere for the day, Elaine C Smith, said she didn't believe Scotland was inherently better than any other country, but "we are every bit as good as every other nation, and we have the right to determine and control our future as much as everybody else".

She also said she believed supporters of the union had Scotland's best interests at heart.

But vested interests in the No campaign would unleash a "tsunami of negativity" rather than see Scotland go its own way, she added.

Many of the speakers stressed the need to contact and persuade female voters during the coming year, and of the "responsibility" those present had to campaign flat out for a win. There were also repeated attacks on Trident, the bedroom tax, the legacy of Margaret Thatcher and calls for a socialist republic.

Yes Scotland chief executive Blair Jenkins said he was often asked what Scotland would lose if it became independent.

"Well, we would lose nuclear weapons, the bedroom tax, Tory governments we have never voted for, and what's not to love about that?"

Independent MSP Margo MacDonald asked people to imagine a Scotland after a No vote.

"What would people think about the Scots? That we're all mouth and no kilts. We would not carry respect, we would not respect ourselves." Yes Scotland chair Dennis Canavan reminded the crowd the campaign was a marathon, not a sprint.

"I know we have the people with the stamina, the guts and the determination to win."

Scottish Socialist leader Colin Fox added: "I feel the hand of history on our shoulders. I can see the future from here."

Tory MSP Murdo Fraser was withering about the event: "It's a shame the supporters from the nearby Hibs v St Mirren game didn't pop along to double the attendance."