Contemplating a wee dram in a Scottish bar in the middle of Times Square while the highlands and the lowlands voted on where they stood as a nation was a memorable pause. Whisky is Scotland’s third biggest source of revenue and after Thursday night, it may even overtake oil. It was a great day for the Scots – yes or no – if the sense of excitement in St Andrews was anything to go by. As one of the few Scottish pubs in the city, the 46th street tavern was a hub of anticipation. An NBC crew took up residence in the street outside as a local lawman & his mount looked about optimistically for curbside refreshment. Televisions broadcast commentary from behind the bar but there was little chance of early reports being heard above the crowd. The woman next to me was looking for a real Scot – ‘I can never understand what they say’, she said, ‘but I love the way they talk’. While the message in the Times by Alan Cumming earlier in the week was enough to encourage the Queen to delay her annual Gala at Balmoral, just in case, the result was not yes we can. But the spirited conversation about identity and independence is on-going and who knows who the Scots may inspire…. Australia…?