View Poll Results: Why are English-sounding Welsh people much more commonplace than English-sounding Scots?

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  • Scots tend to be more proud and nationalistic

    2 50.00%
  • Scottish accents diverge much more from RP anyway

    1 25.00%
  • Both in equal measure

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Thread: Why are English-sounding Welsh people much more commonplace than English-sounding Scots?

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    Default Why are English-sounding Welsh people much more commonplace than English-sounding Scots?

    I thought I would revive this debate, having earlier today seen Welsh footballer Aaron Ramsey being interviewed on TV. Despite being from Caerphilly (I have visited the town - it is hardcore Valleys), he sounds like a weird London-Yorkshire hybrid.

    Anyway, my two hypotheses are:

    (1) Scots tend to be more nationalistic and proud than the Welsh, thus are more likely to retain their accents even when outside their homeland.
    (2) Scottish accents diverge much more from Received Pronunciation than do Welsh ones in the first place, thus they are more obvious even in their mildest forms and harder to lose.

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    It's simply because there is more interaction between English and Welsh people than English and Scots. Wales is effectively part of England.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Neon Knight View Post
    Wales is effectively part of England.
    Boo hiss. Jokes aside though, from a legal and political perspective there is a lot of truth in that.

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    bump

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    Scots are more proud than the Welsh and historically have held back from the English in many ways. The Welsh on the other hand have always been much closer to England, either geographically by being closer to the more populated areas of England in comparison to Scotland or by the stronger presence of English immigrants in Welsh cities, specially in the South.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Smaug View Post
    Scots are more proud than the Welsh and historically have held back from the English in many ways. The Welsh on the other hand have always been much closer to England, either geographically by being closer to the more populated areas of England in comparison to Scotland or by the stronger presence of English immigrants in Welsh cities, specially in the South.
    For a long time I have wondered why Wales was colonised by England much more easily than Scotland was, when its geography and terrain are in many ways just as forbidding.

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    I think it is simple a matter of orientation. Scotland sits on the top of Northern england, which is itself already hilly and remote, whereas Wales sits sideways to the Midlands, one of the key areas of population, so much more easily conquered.

    Pembrokeshire also enabled occupation from the sea relatively easily, with deep water harbours, hence why the Normans were able to colonise and build a power base there.

    Edward 1st still took the building of all his castles to hold Wales though, and the mountains were never really conquered.

    Scotland is much further from the seat of power, much more difficult to supply any invading forces, and bigger too I guess

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tooting Carmen View Post
    For a long time I have wondered why Wales was colonised by England much more easily than Scotland was, when its geography and terrain are in many ways just as forbidding.
    Probably because Wales is closer to English populational centres than Scotland.

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    There's a class divide in Scotland, where large land owners have English accents, but are fully Scottish. They have a history of sending children to English private schools. Some middle class Scots sound sort of Englishy too in Edinburgh and Rural Scotland.

    Comes down to exposure as already said.

    Also fashion in a way. Younger generations feel more Scottish than the older generations and it helps maintain it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Graham View Post
    Younger generations feel more Scottish than the older generations and it helps maintain it.
    What do you mean by this?

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