Scottish born resident Gordon Muir says commonsense has prevailed.

“It didn’t make any economic sense for Scotland to vote for independence in a country where for example university education is free at the moment.”

However Mr Muir says the close vote, with a margin predicted of 55 per cent to 45 per cent for the no vote, is a wake up call for Prime Minister David Cameron’s government that the people of Scotland want more autonomy.

“But they still enjoy all the freedoms of a democracy and this is absolutely the right decision,” he said.

David Howell, who celebrates his Scottish heritage by regularly donning his kilt to play his bagpipes at public events in Orange says the no vote was also his preference.

Mr Howell says animosity between the Scottish and the English has reared its head over the centuries.

“But how would they have funded an army for example if the vote had been yes,” he said.

“The Scots have been fighting under the British flag for a long time and been happy to do so,” Mr Howell said.

He said settling on the type of currency to be used had the yes vote succeeded would have proved a major challenge for the Scots.

“Commonsense has prevailed over emotion in this issue,” he said.

Mr Howell said he believed the strong interest in the Scottish yes or no vote in Australia came from our heritage.

“Everybody you know seems to have someone in their family who has an affinity with Scotland,” he said.

janice.harris@fairfaxmedia.com.