On Ilkla Moor Baht'at

"On Ilkley Moor Baht 'at" is a popular song in the English county of Yorkshire.

Related Topics:
English - Yorkshire

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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.

Related Topics:
Methodist - Hymn - Canterbury - 1805 - Ilkley Moor - Worm - Duck

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The song makes an appearance in Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey murder mystery Clouds of Witness, which is set partly in Yorkshire.

Related Topics:
Dorothy Sayers - Lord Peter Wimsey - Murder mystery - Clouds of Witness

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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.

Related Topics:
Ident - Yorkshire Television - 1968 - 1987

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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.

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