Most people outside of Scotland misunderstand why a country like Scotland wouldn't want to be 'free'. It's because a vote for independence is also a vote to break a 300-year-old union in which we are a major partner. The separatists say we are dominated by England, but I often wonder who dominates who? The separatists want to replace this working Union with the EU, a failing 40-year old experiment in which we would only play a minor part, and be dominated by Germany.
An equivalent would be like California wanting to leave the USA because it has, in recent years, voted Democrat. While some are agitating for that, the citizens know that the federal government for all its faults, still gives many benefits, and any such proposal will never get serious traction. People can be californians AND be Americans in the same way that I can be Scottish AND British. Imagine then, how frustrated Californians would be if those agitators put governance to the side, while pushing for "once-in-a-generation" referenda every few years.
The reality is that every poll shows that the Scottish people don't want another referendum. They already voted, and want to get on with their lives. Today's vote was pushed by the SNP (scottish National Party), who will use any pretext to have another try at independence, despite 30% of their own followers voting for Brexit, and increasing anger at their lack of action on policies that actually matter to people's daily lives. The SNP have overplayed their hand to the extent that lifelong Labour supporters I know are going to vote Tory just to stop the SNP.