On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at

"On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at" ("On Ilkley Moor without a hat")
Ilkley Moor, setting of the song.
Music by	Thomas Clark
Lyrics by	Anonymous
Published	1916
Written	1805 (music) 1850s-1870s (words)
Language	Yorkshire dialect

Ducks on Ilkley Moor, as in the song.

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]

Theme

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 to 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]

Tune

Sung to the old Methodist hymn tune Cranbrook (composed by Canterbury-based shoemaker Thomas Clark in 1805 and later used as a tune for While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night), the song has become so popular that the origin of the music as a hymn tune has been almost forgotten in the United Kingdom.^[5] 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 and is customarily used with the lyrics of Philip Doddridge's Grace! 'Tis a Charming Sound.^[6][7]

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".

Yorkshire lyrics Wheear 'ast tha bin sin' ah saw thee, ah saw thee? On Ilkla Mooar baht 'at Wheear 'ast tha bin sin' ah saw thee, ah saw thee? Wheear 'ast tha bin sin' ah saw thee? On Ilkla Mooar baht 'at On Ilkla Mooar baht 'at On Ilkla Mooar baht 'at Tha's been a cooartin' Mary Jane Tha's bahn' to catch thy deeath o` cowd Then us'll ha' to bury thee Then t'worms'll come an` eyt thee up Then t'ducks'll come an` eyt up t'worms Then us'll go an` eyt up t'ducks Then us'll all ha' etten thee That's wheear we get us ooan back

Translation Where have you been since I last saw you, last saw you? On Ilkley Moor without a hat Where have you been since I last saw you, last saw you? Where have you been since I last saw you? On Ilkley Moor without a hat On Ilkley Moor without a hat On Ilkley Moor without a hat You have been courting Mary Jane You are bound to catch your death of cold Then we will have to bury you Then the worms will come and eat you up Then the ducks will come and eat up the worms Then we will go and eat up the ducks Then we will have eaten you That's where we get our own back

Some singers add the responses "without thy trousers on" after the fourth line of each verse, and "where the ducks play football" after the seventh. Other variations include "where the nuns play rugby", "where the sheep fly backwards", "where the ducks fly backwards", "where the ducks wear trousers", and "an' they've all got spots".

Also in some recitals, after the first two lines of "On Ilkla Mooar baht 'at" it is followed by a "Where's that?". Another variant adds "Howzat?" after the first line and "Not out!" after the second. In Leeds the line immediately before the chorus is often ended with "And we all got wet".

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), 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".

Usage

The song has been used in various television programmes:

• Yorkshire Television – pre-programme ident 1968–1989 and 1996–2002
• Go With Noakes – 1970s BBC children's television programme
• Clouds of Witness – TV adaptation of Dorothy Sayers' murder mystery
• Heartbeat – sung by character Alf Ventress in an episode entitled "In The Bleak Midwinter" (series 14, episode 13, first aired 26 December 2004)
• All Creatures Great and Small (TV series) - first season of TV series, and film
• A distorted version of the chorus is sung by Eccles (Spike Milligan) in an episode of The Goon Show

Commercial recordings:

• George Formby sang the second verse and the chorus in a medley of British folk songs.
• Chumbawamba - hidden track on Just Look At Me Now CD single; however, this is not a Chumbawamba cover, but rather, an anonymous rendition sourced from a vinyl recording
• Ted Heath recorded a Big Band Swing arrangement of the song in 1945
• Bill Oddie - 1970^[8] a parody of the Joe Cocker arrangement of the Lennon/McCartney song With a Little Help from My Friends

Other:

• Yorkshire Regiment - Regimental March

References

1. ^ "The National Anthem of Yorkshire 'God's own county'". DKSnakes.co.uk. 24 October 2007. http://www.dksnakes.co.uk/national_anthem.htm. 
2. ^ Kellett, Arnold (1998). On Ilkla Mooar baht 'at: the story of the song. Smith Settle. p. 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." 
3. ^ Kellett, Arnold (1998). On Ilkla Mooar baht 'at: the story of the song. Smith Settle. p. 83. ISBN 1858251095. 
4. ^ Kellett, Arnold (1998). On Ilkla Mooar baht 'at: the story of the song. Smith Settle. p. 89. ISBN 1858251095. 
5. ^ Ian C. Bradley (1997), Abide with me: the world of Victorian hymns, p. 9, ISBN 9781579990107 
6. ^ See, e.g., John P. Wiegand, editor, Praise for the Lord (Expanded Edition) (Nashville, TN: Praise Press / 21st Century Christian, 1997), Item 199.
7. ^ "Grace! 'Tis a Charming Sound". Cyberhymnal. http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/g/r/gracetis.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-07.  But note that the default tune here is not Cranbrook.
8. ^ "eil.com". eil.com. http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=222302. Retrieved 2009-06-12. 

Published Versions

• Rise Up Singing, Peter Blood and Annie Patterson, , editors, 1988, page 74 ISBN 1881322130

Further reading

• Kellett, Arnold (1998). On Ilkla Mooar baht 'at: the story of the song. Smith Settle. ISBN 1858251095. 

External links

• Lyrics and music