No one knows definitively how many took part in the All Under One Banner march yesterday.
Some claimed there were 300,000 – or one in 16 of the entire Scottish population.
Organisers said 80,000, an impressive number nonetheless.
No less a figure than Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said, in glowing terms, it was the biggest gathering of its kind that he had ever attended.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: “Good luck to everyone marching for independence in Glasgow today – hope the weather isn’t too bad! Sorry I can’t be there, but look forward to seeing you all again soon. In the meantime, sending my support and best wishes.”
It was conducted in a decent spirit and, to the great credit of the organisers and marchers, passed peacefully.
A harmless enough way to spend a day out then and there’s no doubting the restorative effects of a bit of community activity with like-minded people.
One question that’s unlikely to have been given much of an airing is what good the march, and dozens of others like it, is going to do the independence cause.
And what’s even less likely is that some have suggested that it may actually be counter-productive.
It doesn’t matter, however, whether there are 80,000, 800,000 or one million on such a march.
It is proof of nothing very much.
That there are millions of supporters of Scottish independence is not up for debate.
The larger mystery is how a march which does little more than underline this point is going to advance the cause.
It’s entirely possible that if every marcher had stayed put and instead chosen a No voter to engage in conversation, then more progress would have been made.
That doesn’t seem to be in the political make-up of some of those drawn to march.
A continuing re-assertion of a political identity – particularly in a format which disrupts daily life for others – is, therefore, a dangerous tactic.
The good news for the Yes movement is that a genuine opportunity may now lie in wait.
The tide towards the staging of a second referendum appears now to be with them.
If they are to capitalise, then a more sophisticated approach to finding new converts, rather than reconnecting with old ones, may be required.
