Last week my wife and I were at the local shopping mall looking at luggage and we stopped in at a travel goods store.
I had been there before, but this time the person keeping the shop was someone new, an elderly woman (well, elderly, I’m 50, so who knows), thin, and with a ramrod-straight posture.
When I asked her a question, I realized immediately that she was Scottish. I have a fascination with accents, and Scottish accents are among my favorite.
So I kept talking to her and asked about her accent. She said she was from the west coast of Scotland, within an hour or two of Glasgow. We talked about the celebrities from Glasgow I could think of–Colin Ferguson, Peter Capaldi, Billy Connolly. She recommended a comedian called Kevin Bridges.
(I could have added Jack Bruce, Mark Knopfler, Billy Boyd, Gerard Butler, Robert Carlyle, Robbie Coltrane, Armando Iannucci, Kelly Macdonald, James McAvoy)
But her accent was absolutely riveting! So crisp, so clear. I don’t know how long she has been in the U.S., but I heard no concessions to American accents. She consistently said “aye” instead of “yes.”
I’ve been plotting for excuses to go to talk to her again. Maybe come up with some kind of interview idea to get her on tape or something. I have no idea except that I want to hear her talking.
My husband’s last duty station before he retired from the Army was Ft Knox. Now we are from California, and California people have the deluded thinking that we have NO accent.
Now, my hearing was not as bad then, but I had a terrible time understanding folks. Mostly because I was so thoroughly enchanted by the accent, I couldn’t pay attention to what people were saying!
Side note: of all the places we lived, I found the people of Kentucky to be the NICEST!
~VOW
If you’re ever jonesing to hear a nice Scottish accent, here’s a link to the website called IDEA, which records everyday people (not actors) of all nations reading some text.
The link I’ve provided here is pre-filtered to show a list of Scottish speakers.
I sometimes visit this site to hear the differences in accents of people from all over the U.K. and the English-speaking world. It’s fascinating.
I’m with you, Ascenray. I love foreign accents. Which is odd, because as I’ve shared here, I really hate the sound of most American accents (misophonia is real, people!)
When I was dating an Englishman and surrounded by Brits all the time, I ceased to hear their accents anymore.But now, three years later, I’m a sucker for any of our friends under the Queen’s dominion:)
I had an experience much like this at my first job at a bank. A coworker had immigrated to the USA from Ireland as a child, and still had a trace of Irish in her speech. I found it charming, but alas! She was but betrothed to another.
Glaswegian is the only Scots accent I really have trouble following. When my sister and I went up to Inverness on the train as students in the '80s, I had to translate English into English for her several times.
In planning for my upcoming trip to Scotland, I’ve phoned various places in Edinburgh lately and spoken to 5 or 6 people, men and women, and loved every one of their accents. I’m so looking forward to being there again.
Oddly enough, I love most Irish, Welsh, and Scottish accents, but there are many English accents I’ve grown to dislike, especially urban accents such as Mancunian and most London-area accents, such as Cockney, Estuary, Multicultural London English, and Contemporary Received Pronunciation.
(Although I still count a slightly older R.P. – such as you hear from Hugh Grant and is used in a lot of movies still – as one of my most favorite accents.)
I recommend Kevin Bridges. Not only is he funny, but he can easily switch from his natural strong Scottish accent into a posh English accent. Here he is on the panel game ‘Would I lie to you?’. His accent changes between the times on the recording from 3.25 until 4.00.