And here we were thinking the American’s love of the British accent was down to the likes of Hugh Grant and Prince William.

But according to a new survey it is not the dulcet, shuffling tones of the home counties that makes the Yanks weak at the knees, but rather the gravelly melodies of the Glaswegian tongue.

British Airways polled 1,000 Americans and 1,000 Britons on their opinions on different regional accents, as well as asking them to identify varying twangs from their opposite country, and one of the resulting headlines was that a quarter of American respondents found the Scottish dialect the sexiest (this despite a fifth thinking it was actually scouse). Cockney came second, with 16 per cent of votes.

In another victory for the north of the country, the pitch shifts of the typical Geordie earned them the title of “most intelligent accent”, with 36 per cent of Americans thinking so. An Essex accent was deemed to be the least intelligent.

As far as Britain’s best accents go, the Americans voted Sean Connery, born in Edinburgh, as top, with Hugh Grant and Keira Knightly in second and third. The Britons reciprocated by judging Morgan Freeman, from Tennessee, to have the most favourable American tones, with Dolly Parton and Reese Witherspoon in second and third.

Morgan Freeman, who has Britain's favourite American voice Photo: Getty

The airline’s survey also raised concerning questions about the one of the nation’s grasp of geography as it was revealed that only 40 per cent of Americans could locate London on a map, and a third thought Bristol was in Northern Ireland.

Britons fared better with nearly half correctly placing North Dakota and Georgia on a map, and three quarters picking out Texas.

• The world's hardest geography quiz

Canadian mounties march to Britain to impress upon the natives their accent Photo: Fotolia/AP

The UK’s respondents did not do quite as well when it came to recognising accents – 97 per cent thought the Canadian accent was from somewhere within the US, with 40 per cent reckoning Texas.

The tones of New Yorkers were the most recognised with a quarter of Britons identifying them.

After hearing an Australian accent, nine out of ten Americans thought it hailed from somewhere within Britain.