Written By: Ben Cosgrove
Millions of Scots will head to the polls on Sept. 18, 2014, to vote in an independence referendum that would, if the “Yes” votes prevail, mean the partial dissolution of the 307-year-old United Kingdom. Right now, polls gauging sentiment for and against independence in the great northern land suggest that the vote is too close to call. But whatever the outcome, it’s all but certain that Scotland’s relationship with England, Wales and Northern Ireland will never be the same.
Here, on the eve of the historic vote, LIFE.com shares a series of photos from the middle part of the last century: pictures that capture some elemental characteristics of the country and its people (as well as some enduring stereotypes), while reminding all of us just how unique and, referendum or no, how independent a people the Scots truly are.
Scotland 1946
Hans Wild Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scotland 1945
Ian Smith Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
The Old Bridge of Doon
William Sumits Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scotland 1944
Ralph Morse Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scotland 1950
Nat Farbman Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scotland Yard 1946
David E. Scherman Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Orkney Islands, 1952
Nat Farbman Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Gaia Servadio 1968
Terence Spencer Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Cawdor Castle 1946
Hans Wild Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scotland 1938
John Phillips Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Gordon Castle, 1948
William Sumits Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
John MacLeod 1956
Mark Kauffman Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scotland 1946
Hans Wild Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scotland 1946
Hans Wild Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
