ello'

[Doubtful]

Not before Games Workshop got their claws into them (The same group who gave us green orcs no less).

It's not as if the Scottish have a strong history of mining either (though the violent, hairy, drunkards bit I do get).

I mean, classically the dwarves should have a Scandinavian / Nordic / Germanic accent, not Glaswegian. I could even understand it if they were Welsh (That would also go a long way to explain the hairy women).

But I guess we're stuck with a bunch of dwarves spewing faux-Scottish gibberish and reminding me of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k7VoFiagfs

[Intrepid42]

Personally, I don't mind the accent either way. There have been a lot of cultural influences on RPG dwarves since the original folklore you mention, that Tolkien drew upon for his masterpiece.

I agree that Warhammer is a major cause of the Rise of the Accent, but other major influences include R.A. Salvatore (Bruenor), and of course Gimli in the movie adaption of LOTR. Whether you like those depictions or not, they exist and are hugely influential. I believe that another factor may be that a Scottish-type accent is relatively easy to put across using the written word, compared to others. Myself, I tend to give an accent (when using Common) to my PC's from northern Holds (those of old Delzoun), and no accent to those from further afield. Personally, I'm cool with what anyone else chooses to do.

Rather than dwell on the past, let us look instead to the glorious dwarven future. Not only are they no longer a dying race in DnD, but Peter Jackson's movie adaption of The Hobbit is coming soon. This will include the entire 13 dwarves of the party, plus extras, and may be very influential on dwarven Roleplaying. Thorin Oakenshield for the win!

Maybe they'll use Scottish accents, maybe they won't. As it's being filmed in my home country of New Zealand, perhaps Kiwi accents might become the new standard... Aye, G'day mate!