About 500 guests have attended the memorial service to celebrate the life of former First Minister Alex Salmond at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh.

They included Scotland's current First Minister John Swinney and former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Salmond's niece Christine Hendry and his close friends and political allies Duncan Hamilton KC and Kenny MacAskill shared their memories.

Christine Hendry spoke of her uncle's "love for Scotland" and in his opening words, Rev Dr George Whyte said: "We gather here not to beatify a saint but to remember a human being."

In his eulogy, Kenny MacAskill said Salmond was "a giant of a man" and "the cause of Scottish independence was burned in his heart and seared on his soul".

Dougie MacLean sang his song Caledonia and The Proclaimers played their hit Cap in Hand.

Nicola Sturgeon, who had a public fallout with Salmond in the years after she succeeded her ex-mentor as SNP leader, did not attend.

She was at the funeral of comedian Janey Godley.

That brings our live coverage to an end. Thank you for joining us today. The editor was Paul McLaren. The writers were Jonathan Geddes and Craig Hutchison.

Political heavyweights and famous faces from entertainment were among those attending the memorial service.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Lynsey Bews
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Thousands of words have been written about Alex Salmond's political talents, yet far less is known about his life away from the spotlight.

Those who knew him well talk about a man who relied on the support of his wife of more than 40 years.

A man who sought refuge at their Aberdeenshire home. And a man whose gregarious nature could at times give way to a quieter side.

"The truth is that Moira was an absolute mainstay for Alex," says Roseanna Cunningham.

Read more here.

Image source, PA Media

Nicola Sturgeon has told BBC Scotland News that her "thoughts are with Alex's family" after she did not attend today's memorial service.

The former first minister - whose relationship with Salmond ended acrimoniously - was instead in Glasgow for the funeral of the comedian Janey Godley.

She said: "My thoughts are with Alex's family and friends today. It's a very sad day for them but one that I hope will allow them to remember Alex in the way they want to."

The friends and family of the former first minister are gathering outside St Giles' Cathedral after the memorial service.

Many of them applaud the crowds people who came to show their support.

At the conclusion of the service, piper Hamish Moore leads the congregation from St Giles’.

Hamish plays Farewell to the Creeks (Pipe Major James Robertson, 1886 – 1961) and Bonnie Dundee (att. Charlotte Dolby, 1821 – 1885), as well as other famous songs.

He has been one of Scotland’s most influential pipers and pipe-makers over the last three decades, a leading figure in what has become known as the “cauld wind revival” – the renaissance of Scotland’s hitherto forgotten bellows-blown bagpipes.

Rev Whyte asks everyone present to pray for Alex Salmond's widow Moira and all his close friends and family "for whom so much has changed with his sudden loss".

We will now hear a prayer from Rev Dr George Whyte.

This will be followed by the hymn: Be Thou My Vision

Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Alex Salmond was fond of quoting the poet Robert Burns in Parliament.

So it is fitting that his work is included in the service. Burns himself wasn’t able to vote, he wasn’t of sufficient social standing at the time. His song, A Man’s a Man for a’ That, is about equality and was perhaps his way of railing against social injustice when the ballot box wasn’t available to him.

It was memorably sung by Sheena Wellington at the official opening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. And the tune was played on the fiddle at the funeral of Scotland’s first First Minister Donald Dewar too.

Sheena Wellington will now lead the choir singing the Congregational Song.

Ms Wellington is a renowned traditional singer and one of the great champions of Scottish traditional music.

She is a recognised as a leading exponent of the songs of Robert Burns andsang “A Man’s a Man for a’ That” to great acclaim at the opening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.

Sheena is reprising that role today, leading the congregation in a collective rendition of the song.

A Man’s a Man for a’ That Robert Burns’s great anthem on the Rights of Man dates from 1795 and is set to a traditional Gaelic air.

The Proclaimers will now sing their hit Cap in Hand - and they say they do so "with love and respect and with eternal gratitude for what you did for our country".

Charlie and Craig Reid, came to prominence when the single Letter from America from their 1987 album This is the Story” reached #3 in the UK charts.

Since then, they have enjoyed great international success and recorded twelve studio albums.

Before their musical careers took off,Craig and Charlie were very active in the independence movement and knew Alex Salmond well.

Cap In Hand was released on The Proclaimers’ second studio album Sunshine On Leith in 1988 – a song as relevant now as it ever was.

SNP MSP Fergus Ewing will now read The Wild Geese.

Fergus Ewing has represented Inverness and Nairn in the Scottish Parliament since 2011, prior to which he represented the previous seat of Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber from 1999 to 2011.

A solicitor by profession, he is the son of the late Winnie Ewing and sister of Annabelle Ewing MSP.

He delivered a eulogy at Alex Salmond’s funeral last month.

The Wild Geese was first published in Songs of Angus in 1915, speaks of longing for home and the transience of life, seen through the eyes of the wild geese that are a familiar sight in the skies over Angus and Buchan every Spring as they migrate north.

Alasdair Fraser (fiddle) accompanied by Natalie Haas (cello) are now playing Sir Walter Scott's Jock o Hazeldean.

The song was one of Alex Salmond’s favourite party pieces. Scott’s version is based on an older traditional ballad.

Hamilton recalls his "mentor and friend".

He says Salmond took the SNP from a "fringe party" to Scottish political "dominance" with success that was "spectacular and unrivalled".

He adds that Salmond redefined the SNP and that Salmond was the party's "beating heart".

"History will certainly remember him as a man of talent, charisma and substance," continues Hamilton.

He concludes: "He dared to dream and so should we."

Duncan Hamilton KC is now reflecting on Alex Salmond's life in politics.

Hamilton served alongside Alex in the first Scottish Parliament of 1999-2003 as SNP MSP for the Highlands and Islands region.

At 25 years old, he was the youngest MSP in parliament.

He left parliament in 2003 to pursue a legal career and was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 2006.

The following year, Alex Salmond appointed Duncan as a Special Advisor to the First Minister.

Moira Salmond joins in as the choir and congregation sing The Lord is my Shepherd.

MacAskill continues by saying that Salmond had "the cause of independence burned into his heart and seared in his soul".

He says that Salmond could have succeeded at any walk of life, "such were his talents" but that his "guiding light" was independence.

He embodied "national pride" and made people in Scotland "walk tall" says MacAskill, citing the SNP's time in government and policies like free prescriptions.

MacAskill says: "It can't be said often enough, the greatness of the man and what a loss he is to our nation."

He highlight's Salmond's impact and legacy.

"A giant of a man, the leader of our country, the leader of our movement, an inspiration, a political genius, an orator, a debater and communicator without parallel."

Kenny MacAskill will now share his memories of his friend Alex Salmond.

MacAskill grew up in Linlithgow and knew Alex Salmond from his school days onwards.

As an SNP activist, he rose to public prominence in the late-1980s through his role in the successful campaign to stop the poll tax.

When the SNP went into government in 2007, MacAskill served as Cabinet Secretary for Justice from 2007-2014, stepping down from the Scottish Parliament in 2016.

In 2019 he was elected as SNP MP for East Lothian, joining the Alba Party in 2021.

MacAskill delivered a eulogy at Alex Salmond’s funeral last month. He is currently acting leader of the Alba Party.

Dougie McLean will now sing Caledonia

Dougie MacLean is a Perthshire-based singer and a long-time supporter of Scottish independence.

MacLean was actively involved in the devolution referendum campaign of 1997 and the independence referendum campaign of 2014.

Caledonia was first recorded by MacLean in 1978 on an album of original and traditional tunes Caledonia by Alan Roberts and Dougie MacLean.

He wrote the song as a young man busking in France, yearning for home.

Caledonia is a modern-day anthem that stirs up patriotism in expat Scots across the globe. This love song to Scotland was cleverly used in a lager advert in the 1990s and struck a chord with a nation. The folk legend performed Caledonia at the launch of the Yes Scotland campaign for the independence referendum.