untonuggan | 100 things blogging challenge: 4

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

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

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".
Finally, a picture of Ilkley moor itself:

Ilkey Moor

100 things blogging challenge: 4

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