Margaret Thompson shares a few interesting stories about accents and how they change over time. She recalls how her cousin moved to North Wales to work down the pit, and when he returned home for the holidays, he spoke with a strong Welsh accent. Her mother, however, was not pleased with this change and scolded him for it. Margaret reflected that her mother herself had experienced a similar change; after moving to Wadebridge, she lost her Camelford accent over time.
Margaret also recounts an experience from another lady who had moved to Cornwall from upcountry. She worked in a boutique, and her Cornish colleagues would often speak to each other in Cornish to exclude her. This sense of isolation led her to leave her job when she became pregnant. Interestingly, Margaret herself comes from Derby and thought she had lost her accent over time, but people still recognize her as being from Derby. Finally, Margaret mentions her daughter, who was born in Hertfordshire but married a Cornish lad. Over time, her daughter’s accent has become so Cornish that it’s difficult to tell she’s from Hertfordshire at all.
