Scottish identity is in. Scotland’s nationalist party is (likely) out. Why the disparity?

Growing up in this working-class city of 600,000, Sophie Johnson has long wanted her Scotland to be independent from the United Kingdom.

So impassioned was she that, at 16 years old, Ms. Johnson and her older sister were regular fixtures at Scottish pro-independence rallies. One gathering became a face-off against a sea of British unionists, who were amassing in a public square in Glasgow. Ms. Johnson and her older sister planted themselves in the middle along with a Scottish flag.

The mob shouted abuse and threw bottles at the young women, prompting the police to remove them for their own safety. But ultimately the police arrested the Johnson sisters for obstruction.