"On Ilkley Moor Baht 'at" is a popular song in the English county of Yorkshire. Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages English Capital London Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – 60,609... Yorkshire is the largest traditional county of Great Britain, covering some 6,000 sq. ...

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 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 require 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 singer. A great deal about Yorkshire folk can be determined by close analysis of this song. The Methodist movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity. ... A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a god or other religiously significant figure. ... Canterbury is a cathedral city in east Kent in South East England and is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primate of All England, head of the Church of England and of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ... 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Ilkley Moor is a part of Rombalds Moor, the moorland between Ilkley and Keighley in West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. ... Ilkley Moor is a part of Rombalds Moor, the moorland between Ilkley and Keighley in West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. ... A worm is an elongated soft-bodied invertebrate animal. ... Subfamilies Dendrocygninae Oxyurinae Anatinae Merginae For other uses, see Duck (disambiguation). ...

According to tradition, the words were composed by members of a Halifax church choir during an outing to Ilkley Moor.

The song makes an appearance in Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey murder mystery Clouds of Witness, which is set partly in Yorkshire. Dorothy Leigh Sayers (Oxford, 13 June 1893 – Witham, 17 December 1957) was a British author, translator, student of classical and modern languages, and Christian humanist. ... Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers. ... Sherlock Holmes, pipe-puffing hero of crime fiction, confers with his colleague Dr. Watson; together these characters popularized the genre. ... Clouds of Witness is a 1926 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the second in her series featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. ...

The song was also the inspiration for the pre-programme ident used by Yorkshire Television from 1968 to 1987, even though it was composed in Kent. A television ident shown on BBC One. ... Yorkshire Television Limited is the ITV contractor for Yorkshire, England, and the surrounding areas. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Ilkley Moor has become so popular that the origin of the music as a hymn tune has been almost forgotten. The effect of singing traditional words such as "While Shepherds Watched" to the tune is now too comical for performance in some churches, even though that was the composer's intention. 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. Ilkley Moor is a part of Rombalds Moor, the moorland between Ilkley and Keighley in West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. ... Bill Oddie William Edgar (Bill) Oddie, OBE, BA, MA (Cantab. ... Joe Cocker Joe Cocker (born John Robert Cocker, May 20, 1944) is a rock/blues musician. ... With a Little Help from My Friends is the title of a 1967 song written by Paul McCartney and recorded on the Beatles album Sgt. ...

This song is unusual in that the commonly-understood words are in "normal" Yorkshire accent, whereas the originals were in a more unusual form.

"On Ilkla Moor Baht'at" is the common interpretation, but should read: "On Ilkla Moor Baht'aht", literally "On Ilkley Moor without [wearing] a hat".

This version makes a good deal more sense, especially in the light of the song's origins which were of a ditty to poke fun at a courting couple, as sung by a mischievous local choir. Note also that the above wasn't the first recorded version, merely the best known one.

Lyrics

1. Where hast tha been sin' I saw thee, I saw thee?
On Ilkley Moor baht 'at
Where hast tha been sin' I saw thee, I saw thee?
Where hast tha been sin' I saw thee?
On Ilkley Moor baht 'at
On Ilkley Moor baht 'at
On Ilkley Moor baht 'at

2. Tha's been a-courtin' Mary Jane

3. Tha's boun' to catch thy death o` cowd

4. Then we shall ha' to bury thee

5. Then t' worms'll come an` eat thee up

6. Then ducks'll come an` eat up t' worms

7. Then we shall go an` eat up t' ducks

8. Then we shall all ha' eaten thee

9. That's wheer we get us oahn back

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". Scouts and Guides from different countries on World Scout Moot 1996 Scouting is a worldwide youth organization. ...

Another variation on additions used in the same way is "where the sheep fly backwards".

Yet another variation on additions used in the same way is "an' they've all got spots'". (This variation is commonly used in the Sheffield/South Yorkshire region.)

External links

• Lyrics and music