Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Scottish First Minister John Sweeney were among those who gathered at a memorial service for Alex Salmond after his sudden death in October aged 69.
Tributes were paid to Salmond at the service on Saturday in Edinburgh; was held to celebrate his love of Scotland and his commitment to the cause of independence.
Among those paying tribute was Kenny MacAskill, a long-time friend who was Mr Salmond’s justice minister and helped him run the Alba party after both men left the Scottish National Party.
MacAskill, now acting leader of Alba, told the congregation Salmond was a “great man” who was “an inspiration, a political genius”. “Most of all, a man who had a cause for independence, it was burning his heart and burning his soul,” he added.
The cause of independence was Salmond’s “guiding light,” his north star, MacAskill said, adding that “he was so close to achieving it.”
Recalling Salmond’s words from when he stepped down as first minister that “the dream will never die”, MacAskill ended his address by saying: “Your dream will be fulfilled”.
Among those present were Salmond’s widow Moira, as well as Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar, former Labor First Minister Henry McLeish and Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay.
Former Conservative Brexit minister and long-time friend of Salmond’s David Davies gave a reading, as did former SNP government minister and MSP Fergus Ewing.
Scottish folk singer Dougie McLean performed his song Caledonia and singer Sheena Wellington led mourners in a rendition of the Robert Burns classic A Man’s a Man For a’ That.
Scottish duo the Proclaimers were applauded for their performance of Cap in Hand, a pro-independence song that contained the line: “I can’t understand why we let someone else rule our land cap in hand.”
Brothers Craig and Charlie Reid said: “We will do this for Alex, with love, respect and eternal gratitude for all he has done for our country.”
Christina Hendry described her ‘Uncle Alex’ as a ‘political giant, a strong leader, a fearless campaigner’ but also remembered him as a ‘much loved husband, brother and uncle’.
While she said he was “the best man in Scotland”, he “always made time for his family”, recalling how he called her brother on his birthday – the day after the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 – to apologize for not posting a card “because he’s been busy” before telling them he’ll be “resigning in 10 minutes.”
She told the gathering: “As his family, we always felt loved, no matter how far he was or how long it was before we saw him next.
“We always knew he stood up for our country and we are grateful to him for that.” Hendry continued: “The world will be a much quieter place without Uncle Alex, for Moira, for the whole family and for Scotland.
“Uncle Alex’s passing means a great loss to many. Loss of Scotland’s voice on the international stage. Loss of integrity in Scottish politics. And a great loss to the Scottish independence movement. As a family this is probably a loss we will never get over.’
A private family funeral has already taken place. While around 500 people, including family, friends and politicians from across the spectrum, attended the service at St Giles’ Cathedral, his successor Nicola Sturgeon was not present.
