THOUSANDS of Yes supporters gathered at George Square last night in a huge rally just hours before the polls opened.
Police said that several thousand people had attended referendum events in Glasgow throughout the day, with around 2,000 remaining at the focal point last night.
A large police cordon was set up around a small band of about 30 No supporters outside the city chambers, and although chants were directed in their direction, they were largely good natured, including several renditions of 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life'.
A spokesman for Police Scotland said last night that no arrests had been made and that supporters on both sides of the debate had behaved impeccably.
On the other side of the square, there was a carnival atmosphere, as speeches were given by figures including former socialist MSP Tommy Sheridan, who said Scotland was "on the cusp of a democratic, peaceful revolution".
Yes voter Aeneas MacDonald, originally from the Isle of Skye and now living in Glasgow, said he had attended to be part of a "big moment in history".
He added: "The atmosphere has been amazing, everyone is being extremely friendly.
"There was a guy from Better Together down which was great to see as he spoke his mind but obviously felt completely safe. I believe the vote is about lasting change - it's important that we make our own decisions."
The optimism among Yes supporters was summed up by Ross Winter, who was born in South Africa, and now lives in Glasgow.
He predicted that Scotland would be waking up tomorrow to a Yes landslide, with the pro-independence side winning after taking 74 per cent of the vote.
Other attractions included an impromptu ceilidh, live music and even a recital of a verse written by England's greatest wordsmith, William Shakespeare.
Yes supporter Megan Love had travelled to the event from Airdrie.
She said: "Everybody here is pulling together, it's amazing. It's about showing we're united and that we can do it.
"It's true Scottish passion. I'm voting Yes for my future, my children's future and their children's future."
Eileen Middleton, who also travelled the 14 miles to Glasgow from Airdrie, said: "We believe in what Alex Salmond has said, but the thing is, if we find out we've been duped he will be booted out.
"At the moment we don't have any say over who's in charge."
Scottish entrepreneurship was also on display at the rally, with one man selling small Saltires for £2 each.
It proved to be the second rally in two days at George Square, with a similar event on Tuesday attracting an estimated 1,000 people at its height.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article