How many Pole lacquerers does it take...

   to make Scotland independent of England?  Apparently we'll soon find out;

PERTH, Scotland -- As he sips a pint of beer at an outdoor cafe, Bartosz Maroszek lapses into a Scottish accent as broad as the nearby River Tay.

The 26-year-old Dabrowa Gornicza native came to Scotland seven years ago to take up a job as a coffin varnisher in a place he'd never heard of.

So, naturally he'd have a voice in Scottish politics?

...on September 18 he'll be doing the same as millions of others living in Scotland -- voting in a referendum on whether Scotland should be an independent country.

Maroszek wears his views on his sleeve, almost; along with a couple of varnish stains, his left forearm sports a blue "Yes 2014" wristband.

"Poland fought so many times to be independent and now we manage to be independent," he says. "Scots don't have to die to be independent, they just can simply go and put a 'yes' vote."

Not like the good ol' days when Mary Stuart was losing her head.

Maroszek is one of an estimated 61,000 Polish nationals who make up Scotland's largest national minority group. As European Union citizens, they get a vote in the independence referendum. And with the polls saying the result is too close to call, it's just possible that the votes of EU nationals like Maroszek could hold the key to the result.

Leading pro-independence figures -- including Scotland's first minister, Alex Salmond, and his deputy, Nicola Sturgeon -- have made campaign appearances with Poles and other EU nationals in the run-up to the vote.

Europe. Just one big family.