Expat Scotsmen and women, along with all who carry Caledonia in their hearts, waited with bated breath yesterday as results poured in from a historic referendum over a potential Great British split.

About 45 per cent of all Scottish voters backed moves to secede from the UK yesterday, while 55 per cent opted to stay as part of the 300-year-old union. 

Panmure bagpipe player Donald Blair has strong Scottish roots but felt it was best the land of tartan remained connected to England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

“I’m a true-blue Aussie but I’ve always had an affinity with Scotland due to my family connection,” Mr Blair said.

“I don’t follow the politics but it would make sense for Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom. There’s plenty of shared history there.”

Mr Blair’s father James was born in a village near Glasgow called Thornley Bank in 1900 and emigrated to Australia in the 1930s. The Panmure pipe major was part of a successful band that picked up several awards at the Victorian Pipers Association Championships last weekend.

Scottish nationalists have been pushing for an independence referendum since former PM James Callaghan was in Downing Street in the 1970s.

Warrnambool vet and Scotswoman Hannah Holmes said holding a referendum on the matter was an achievement in itself.

Ms Holmes has lived in Australia for three years since emigrating from the UK and was therefore ineligible to vote.

“I was thinking in the lead-up to the referendum that ‘wouldn’t it be good if Scotland was independent’ but now that we’re staying part of the UK, I’m quite relieved,” she said.

“The ‘yes’ vote was very high in the final weeks but I think there were a lot of people like me that had second thoughts, reflected on it and thought about the benefits of being part of the United Kingdom.”