
My mum is from Yorkshire, in the northern part of the United Kingdom. The first time my partner went to Yorkshire with me she had a difficult time understanding what many of my family members were saying, because Yorkshire has a very particular dialect. I've grown up hearing it, although my mum's is mostly gone except for when she talks to family in the UK. People with a very strong dialect are said to have a "broad" Yorkshire accent.
Here is the "unofficial anthem" of Yorkshire sung in the Yorkshire dialect, to give you a sense of both the Yorkshire sense of humor and how people talk. My mom and my aunts and uncles have all sung it round the dinner table before.
Lyrics and their translation into "standard English" (from
Wikipedia)
- 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
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- Tha's been a cooartin' Mary Jane
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- Tha's bahn' to catch thy deeath o` cowd
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- Then us'll ha' to bury thee
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- Then t'worms'll come an` eyt thee up
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- Then t'ducks'll come an` eyt up t'worms
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- Then us'll go an` eyt up t'ducks
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- Then us'll all ha' etten thee
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- That's wheear we get us ooan back
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- 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
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- You have been courting Mary Jane
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- You are bound to catch your death of cold
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- Then we will have to bury you
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- Then the worms will come and eat you up
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- Then the ducks will come and eat up the worms
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- Then we will go and eat up the ducks
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- Then we will have eaten you
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- That's where we get our own back
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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".
Finally, a picture of Ilkley moor itself:
