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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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