To a dreich Aberdeen, the oil-rich capital of Europe, for the Prime Minister's last hurrah for the Union.

Before shiny-haired Dave rose to make his final keynote address to an audience of Tory activists, the press was told there would be no questions; underlying the nervousness, that, at this point, a misplaced word here or there could prove fatal.

After a video extolling the contributions of Great Britons from William Wilberforce and Charles Darwin to J K Rowling and, yes, Andy Murray, Ruth Davidson bounced on to the stage as the warm-up act for the UK Conservative leader, urging the blue-rinsers not to put their foot off the gas until Referendum Day was over.

Then the PM, under the slogan Let's Stick Together, appeared for his Bryan Ferry moment.

He began by making clear to Scotland that Thursday was a once and for all decision. "There's no going back from this. No re-run," he declared. A Yes vote would mean "we will go our separate ways - forever".

Dave then went through how Britain had been great together from the Enlightenment to the Industrial Revolution, from abolishing slavery to defeating fascism.

A tear bubbled up when he stared straight at his audience and declared: "It's only become Great Britain because of the greatness of Scotland."

Insisting this 300-year-old union had been a great success story, he boomed: "This isn't any old country, this is the United Kingdom. This is our country."

The PM admitted he understood why the Yes campaign's message of change was appealing but warned that when something looks too good to be true, it probably was.

He turned Mr Salmond's often-made remark on its head and insisted that no-one should be fooled that a Yes vote represented a positive vision because it would divide people, close doors and make foreigners of friends and family. "The optimistic vision," he claimed, "is of our family of nations staying together..."

Insisting independence would not be a trial separation but a painful divorce, he spelt out the terms - no shared currency, no shared armed forces, pensions sliced up, half of Scotland's mortgages run from England and an international border between the two countries.

Mr C emphasised that this was not scaremongering as Alex Salmond and his colleagues suggested but reality. "I say all this," the PM intoned, "because I don't want the people of Scotland to be sold a dream that disappears."

He made clear that a No vote would bring real change, much sooner than the independence offer would, and promised a "major, unprecedented programme of devolution with additional powers for the Scottish Parliament," stressing: "Real change is Scotland's for the taking."

Throughout the speech, the PM regularly referred to people's children and the importance of family, insisting the United Kingdom was a "family of nations", which, yes, sometimes bickered but was so much stronger for staying together. He even described it as a "magical identity".

He echoed his "effin' Tories" moment, saying: "If you don't like me; I won't be here forever. If you don't like the Government; it won't last forever. But if you leave the UK; that will be forever."

One of the key points of his address came when he counselled people that when they were standing in the stillness of the polling booth on Thursday, they should ask themselves will they be better off and will they be safer by "turning their backs on Britain"

And then, with a sniff and blinking heavily he reached his emotional climax, urging Scots not to lose faith: "As you reach your final decision, please, please don't let anyone tell you that you can't be a proud Scot and a proud Brit. Don't lose faith in what this country is and what we can be...Vote to save our United Kingdom."

The audience erupted and after he delivered his final words, he waved. The voters will decide in two days' time, if it was, in fact, the PM saying - cheerio Scotland, it was nice knowing you.