Comment: from the eye of the referendum storm

After a slow steamroller start to campaigns earlier in the year, referendum fever steadily grew, with almost nightly debates in recent weeks and a frenzy of public campaigns culminating in an almost carnival atmosphere in George Square on the eve of polling day.

After a flurry of early morning activity, as early bird queues snaked down streets to get their vote in before heading to work, word got around that at least a staggering one third of the electorate had already placed their vote by 11am.

After which, it seems, all the electorate can do is hold our breath until final results come in in the wee small hours before letting out a collective sigh of either relief or despondancy.

After all, many late night vote-watchers would likely be too knackered to fill the streets with noise having pulled an all-nighter in anticipation of whichever outcome will prevail.

In Giffnock, No campaigners were quietly confident. At Giffnock Primary School polling station, Elspeth Wright said: “People have been very positive, smiley and chatty. It’s been a steady flow and, judging from those who nodded or smiled at me on the way in to vote, I’d say this is going to go in favour of the No voters; which isn’t a surprise. I think it’s expected.”

SNP councillor Vincent Waters, standing nearby with fellow Yessers, was looking forward to a long night. He said: “I’ll be going to the count at East Ren first and then, around 3am-ish, I’ll head over to the Emirates arena for the Glasgow count.”

Over at Langside Hall, John Vail had just arrived from spending the morning at Mount Florida, where he witnessed a veritable snake of voters queuing up to vote.

He said: “I was at the polling station at 7am this morning and the queue of people waiting for the doors to open was right out into the street and along the road. I’ve never seen that in general elections. And it was constant from then on in. No gaps. Quite extraordinary.”

Along Pollokshaws Road at Shawlands Primary polling station, Paul Thomson (No) was tallying the ‘knows’ from the ‘don’t knows’.

He said: “I was asking everyone as they came in if they had already made their mind up. Everyone said ‘yes’. I haven’t heard anyone here saying they still are undecided.”

At the other side of the gate, Yessers Jennifer Hamilton and Gordon Newlands were confident that more Yesses than Nos were putting their cross on the ballot paper at the affirmative.

West of Scotland College lecturer Jennifer was entertained by the variety of badge designs. She said: “There have been people passing through with Celtic badges and Rangers badges but the one I liked was a badge with the picture of [Scotland’s first First Minister] Donald Dewar’s statue with a cone on his head and a Yes badge perched on it.”

A “decidely No!” voter, former chief accountant to a global financial giant Catherine Logue, invited me into her waiting taxi and we headed off to visit her cousin in Merrylee - check out her views and the views of heart surgeon Tareen Farooq on my very rickety video elsewhere on the Extra website.

Married couple Isobel and Alan MacGregor had just voted when I caught up with them. They were evenly split. Isobel said: “We’re a 50/50 household. One Yes and one No.”

Birthday boy husband Alan added: “It’s my birthday today, too, and they say life begins at 40, don’t they?”

Whatever colour Scotland’s political mantle will be in the morning, the trees will still be green, the birds will still wake us up far too early and families, collegues and friends will begin the tentative steps towards healing the cleavage of the Yes-No divide.

No post-polling parties for me, as I’m going to be out for the count in a different way, covering the results at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow’s east end.

Reporter Gillian Loney will be fielding snippets, vids, claims, counter-claims and downright rumours through the night on the website and on Facebook and Twitter, bringing readers every morsel of information that comes our way.

So, if you’re up at the same ungodly hours as us, do fire up the smartphones and tablets and keep us company throughout the most exciting night in political history for generations — find us on Twitter @ExtraSouthside for all the latest.