On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at
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| "On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at" ("On Ilkley Moor without a hat") |
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 Ilkley Moor, setting of the song. |
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| Music by | Thomas Clark |
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| Lyrics by | Anonymous |
| Published | 1916 |
| Written | 1805 (music) 1850s-1870s (words) |
| Language | Yorkshire dialect |
On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at (Standard English: On Ilkley Moor without a hat) is a popular folk song from Yorkshire, England. It is sung in the Yorkshire dialect, and is considered the unofficial anthem of the county.[1] According to tradition, the words were composed by members of a Halifax church choir during an outing to Ilkley Moor near Ilkley, West Yorkshire. [2]
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[edit] Theme
Sung to the old Methodist hymn tune Cranbrook (composed by Canterbury-based shoemaker Thomas Clark in 1805 as a setting of While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night), the song tells of a lover courting the object of his affections, Mary Jane, on Ilkley Moor without a hat (baht 'at). The singer chides the lover for his lack of headwear – for in the cold winds of Ilkley Moor this will mean his death from exposure. This will in turn result in his burial, the eating of his corpse by worms, the eating of the worms by ducks and finally the eating of the ducks by the singers.
The Yorkshire Dictionary (Arnold Kellett, 2002) stated that the song (i.e., the lyrics) probably originates from the Halifax area, based on the dialect used in the song, which is not common in all areas of Yorkshire.
The title is seen in various transcriptions of Yorkshire dialect, but is most commonly On Ilkla Mooar [or Moor] baht 'at, i.e. "On Ilkley Moor without [wearing] a hat". The song's origins are believed to be as a ditty to poke fun at a courting couple, as sung by a mischievous local choir.
The first published version of the words appeared in 1916, when it was described as "a dialect song which, for at least two generations past, has been sung in all parts of the West Riding of Yorkshire".[3] Arnold Kellett calculates that the song "could well have originated in the early years of the second half of the [19th] century, and not as late as 1877 ...".[4]
[edit] Tune
The song has become so popular that the origin of the music as a hymn tune has been almost forgotten in the United Kingdom. It is still regularly used for the traditional words While Shepherds Watched in some churches including Leeds Parish Church, but is no longer widely recognised as a hymn or carol tune in the United Kingdom.
Cranbrook continues in use as a hymn tune in the United States, where it was not adopted as the tune of a popular secular song. In America Cranbrook is the tune customarily used with the lyrics of Philip Doddridge's Grace! 'Tis a Charming Sound.[5] British visitors to an American church which sings Doddridge's lyrics to Cranbrook, which they recognise as Ilkley Moor, may have difficulty suppressing laughter.[6] MIDI files of several tunes used with Grace! 'Tis a Charming Sound are available at the Cyberhymnal site for Grace! 'Tis a Charming Sound.
[edit] Lyrics
Within the lyrics there is one central verse to the song, the first, third and fourth lines are changed with each following verse. All of the verses in the song feature the second, fifth, sixth and seventh lines which are "On Ilkla Mooar baht 'at".
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Some younger singers, especially in the Scouting movement, add the responses "without thy trousers on" after the fourth line of each verse, and "where the ducks play football" after the seventh. The origin of these additions is unknown, but they work just as well with the lyrics of "While Shepherds Watched". Other variations include "where the sheep fly backwards", "where the ducks fly backwards", "where the ducks wear trousers", and "an' they've all got spots".
There are also alternative endings, where verse nine states: "There is a moral to this tale", and is followed by a chorus of "Don't go without your hat / Don't go without your hat / On Ilkey moor baht 'at" (which is sung commonly within South Yorkshire and 1st Marple Scouts), or "Don't go a courtin' Mary Jane" (another variation known in the Scouting movement). Alternatively, verse nine is sung as "There is a moral to this tale", and verse ten as "When courtin' always wear a hat".
[edit] Useage
Outside of the church and other more traditional settings for the song, it has also been used by parts of the entertainment industry. The song was also the inspiration for the pre-programme ident used by Yorkshire Television from 1968 to 1987. Its tune was used in the late 1970s for the BBC children's television "Go With Noakes", which starred the former Blue Peter presenter John Noakes and his dog Shep. The song also makes an appearance in Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey murder mystery Clouds of Witness, which is set partly in Yorkshire.
Some popular culture musicians and acts have released a version of the song, the Leeds based Anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba released a version of this song as a hidden track on their Just Look At Me Now CD single. It was also parodied by Bill Oddie, who recorded a version in 1970 using the tune and musical arrangement of Joe Cocker's With a Little Help from My Friends.
[edit] References
- ^ "The National Anthem of Yorkshire 'God's own county'", DKSnakes.co.uk, 24 October 2007.
- ^ Kellett, Arnold (1998). On Ilkla Mooar baht 'at: the story of the song. Smith Settle, 55. ISBN 1858251095. “We can at least clear the ground by looking at the most widely accepted tradition that On Ilkla Mooar came into being as a result of an incident that took place during a ramble and picnic on the moor. It is further generally believed that the ramblers were all on a chapel choir outing, from one of the towns in the industrial West Riding.”
- ^ Kellett, Arnold (1998). On Ilkla Mooar baht 'at: the story of the song. Smith Settle, 83. ISBN 1858251095.
- ^ Kellett, Arnold (1998). On Ilkla Mooar baht 'at: the story of the song. Smith Settle, 89. ISBN 1858251095.
- ^ See, e.g., John P. Wiegand, editor, Praise for the Lord (Expanded Edition) (Nashville, TN: Praise Press / 21st Century Christian, 1997), Item 199.
- ^ A comparable situation prevails with German Erdmann Neumeister's Jesus nimmt die Sünder an! (commonly known in English by the refrain line Christ Receiveth Sinful Men, the first line being "Sinners Jesus will receive"). The poem was translated into English by Emma Frances Shuttleworth Bevan (1827-1909) and published in 1858; James McGranahan in 1883 wrote a tune for it, which later in the U.S. took on the name Neumeister whilst in Germany it entered the beer halls and became forever rendered unsingable for serious religious purposes, in Germany. Thus other tunes have to be used in Germany in place of the tune which bears Neumeister's name. See Forrest Mason McCann, Hymns & History: An Annotated Survey of Sources (Abilene, TX: ACU Press, 1997), p. 265; William J. Reynolds, Hymns of Our Faith (Nashville: Broadman, 1964). pp. 179-180.
[edit] Published Versions
- Rise Up Singing, Peter Blood and Annie Patterson, , editors, 1988, page 74 ISBN 1881322130
[edit] Further reading
- Kellett, Arnold (1998). On Ilkla Mooar baht 'at: the story of the song. Smith Settle. ISBN 1858251095.
[edit] External links
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