Not that, if Scotland does vote “Yes”, everybody south of the border will mourn. Rump Britain will bubble with rage at the perceived ungratefulness of its Scottish neighbours, a rage that over time, will cool and stiffen. This, at least, is what has happened in Ireland, where, these days, most southerners just want to be able to forget about Northern Ireland. There is no appetite whatsoever for importing into their body politic those they privately call “Nordies”. In Scotland, those contemplating voting “Yes” in the hope that if anything goes wrong, they will be welcomed back into a comforting British embrace, might be in for an unpleasant surprise. Like a spurned but resilient lover, Britain will move from grief to anger and then, hard of heart and without looking back, move on.