Caithness/Northern Ireland Accents nearly the same

[rich]

This sounds like a daft question but if people in Ballymena sound like Caithness people why don't all the intervening counties also have Caithness accents?
Why don't the folk from Midlothian or, come to that, Liverpool or London or anywhere in the British isles have Caithness accents?
Why should there be one pocket of Caithness talk in Caithness and one in Ballymena?
Does this suggest that Caithness accents drop from the skies over certain priveleged venues?
Another question. Has anyone disproved the theory that there is no such thing as a Caithness accent - only a Ballymena accent?
In which case you are all talking Ballynese?
And where should the search for Caithness accents stop? Has anyone really listened to a Wisconsin accent or the odd variety of English they speak in New Orleans? Or Ottawa?
Or is it just possible that some of the visitors to this site have wrecked their hearing due to excessive exposure to overamplified popular music.....

[canuck]

Greetings from a first time participant.
First, three cheers for Colin who seems to have come up with the technical resolution to keep my posts from disappearing into the etherworld.

In March I was offered the opportunity to work in Caithness for the summer. From my home in Burlington, Ontario I explored your delightful county through this website. In time I became aware of the forum and have learned many valuable bits and pieces from your conversations. Thank you to all who have posted comments over these last several months.

Now that I am here, I am continually awed by the scenery. It looks like I am going to escape a hot, miserable southern Ontario summer. But I was warned, and I brought a suitcase of thermals and woollies to keep back the brisk Caithness winds.

One of my major fears was the accent. I wondered if the Caithness sound would be something I could translate in my Canadian brain. I am delighted to report that the people I have met in Reay and Thurso have, to my ear, very little accent. And I would be thrilled if at the end September I went home with a Caithnessian melody to my voice.

In his last posting, Rich mentions "the odd variety of English they speak in New Orleans or Ottawa." Those cities would reflect a distinctive French influence, so there is a bit of a different flow to it. I am wondering, given the federal elections happening in both the US and in Canada, if his "odd variety of English" does not refer to political speak.

I look forward to August when we can do some discussion around the Olympics. I cannot comment on the World Cup, and whether one should cheer for England or not. Canada's team usually looses in the first round. But you need teams to beat to have a competition, so we hang in there!

Thank you again for all the personalities I have come to know through this forum.

Canuck 2