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| Emblem |  Yorkshire rose |
|---|---|
| Food | Yorkshire Pudding |
| Sport | |
| Sweet | |
Theculture of Yorkshire has developed over thecounty's history, influenced by thecultures of those who came to control/settle in the region, including theCelts (Brigantes andParisii)[citation needed],Romans,Angles,Vikings,NormansYorkshire people are said to have a strong sense of regional identity, and are sometimes thought to identify more strongly with Yorkshire than England, or the UK as a whole.[1] Despite the decline of many traditional and distinctive features of theYorkshire dialect, its accent is widely perceived as trustworthy and friendly.[2][3][4]
According to a genetic study published inNature (19 March 2015), the local population of West Yorkshire is genetically distinct from the rest of the population of Yorkshire.[5]
The 2015 Oxford University study compared the current genetic distribution in Britain to the geographical maps of its historic Kingdoms, and found that the distinct West Yorkshire genetic cluster closely corresponds toElmet's known territories. This suggests Yorkshire may have maintained a regionalCeltic identity through the centuries.[6]
Many Yorkshire people are immensely proud of both their county and their identity, embracing the popular nickname ofGod's Own Country, which appears on mugs and tea towels and used by the writerNigel Farndale, himself a Yorkshireman, as a headline in a special Yorkshire edition ofCountry Life magazine in 1995.[7][8][9]
The most common stereotype of a Yorkshire person is as tight with money: there is a British saying that "a Yorkshireman is a Scotsman with all the generosity squeezed out of him", which references how Scots are also stereotyped as being tight but not as tight as Yorkshire folk. This stereotype can also be seen in theYorkshireman's Motto:
Translation: "Hear all, see all, say nothing; Eat all, drink all, pay nothing; And if ever you do anything for nothing – always do it for yourself."
Yorkshire people are often stereotyped as friendly but "bloody-minded",stubborn (also known as "Yorkshire-stubborn") and argumentative.[11][12] Indeed, throughout the history of the area, this has been noted, dating from theCeltBrigantes[citation needed],Norse Viking settlement, through theNorman period, theWars of the Roses, thePilgrimage of Grace duringHenry VIII'sDissolution of the Monasteries, to the1984 Miner's Strike; The region has seen a number of rebellions against non-Yorkshire or non-Northern rulers[citation needed].
It is this stereotype which is referred to in the saying "Yo can allus tell a Yorkshireman, but yo can't tell him mich" ("you can always tell a Yorkshireman, but you can't tell him much"). However, the popular understanding of the Wars of the Roses is mostly false. The House of York had its support mostly in southern England, while northern England on either side of the Pennines mainly supported the House of Lancaster. Indeed, the city of York itself was a Lancastrian power base.[13]
Onesocial stereotype of a Yorkshireman had a tendency to include such accessories as aflat cap and awhippet; this alludes torural life. While the stereotype might not always ring true, the county certainly has an illustrious rural history; many of the now prominentWest Yorkshire cities grew thanks in part to thewool industry. Another stereotype often heard in connection with Yorkshire workers is the proverb "wheer ther's muck, ther's brass" ("where there's muck, there's money"); this refers to the widely held view that where one is willing to do unpalatable work, there is plenty of money to be made.[14]
Tyke or Yorkie is now acolloquialism used to identify theYorkshire dialect, as well as the term some Yorkshiremen affectionately use to describe themselves, especially in theWest Riding. Originally "tyke" was a highly derogatory word, meaning "a crude uncouth ill-bred person lacking culture or refinement"; southerners used the term against Yorkshiremen,[15] but in defiance of the negative connotations it was adopted locally, taking on a new life.[16]
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Among Yorkshire's unique traditions is theLong Sword dance, a traditional dance not found elsewhere in England. The most famous song of Yorkshire isOn Ilkla Moor Baht 'at ("OnIlkley Moor without a hat"); it is considered the unofficial anthem of the county.[17] In celebration of its culture,Yorkshire Day has been celebrated annually on 1 August since 1975. Amongst the celebrations is a civic gathering of Lord Mayors, Mayors and other civic heads from across the county, convened by theYorkshire Society.
Thecuisine of Yorkshire and that ofNorthern England in general is known for its rich ingredients, especially insweet dishes. Below is a list of foods which either originated from Yorkshire or are strongly associated with it.
In its traditional form, it is easily large enough to fill the plate. It is eatenbefore the main meal as a starter – the idea being that you would then not want to eat as much of the more expensive meat.[citation needed]
It can also be served as a savoury dish with onions and herbs as part of the batter mix but can also be served afterwards with jam.
It is only those from outside the county who think it must be served with the main meal.[citation needed]
From the 1700s onwards, Yorkshire, and in particular the city ofYork, saw the growth of severalchocolate factories or companies, forming an important part of the confectionery industry and now with globally known products.[25][26] These include:
Yorkshire is also a historic centre for the brewing of beer, withbreweries such asTetley's,John Smith's,Sam Smith's,Black Sheep,Wards Brewing Company,StonesTheakston,Timothy Taylor andCopper Dragon.[27]
Yorkshire has played a highly important role in the development of sports, some forms of which have become world-famous. Sport is important in the modern culture of the county. The main sports arefootball,cricket andrugby league.
In theLondon 2012 Olympics, competitors from Yorkshire won 7 gold medals, 2 silver and 3 bronze. If Yorkshire had been treated as a country it would have come twelfth in the overall medal table.[28]
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents thehistoric county atfirst-class cricket. It competes in theCounty Championship against 17 others, playing at their home ground ofHeadingley,Leeds.[29] and occasionallyNorth Marine Road Ground, Scarborough, Yorkshire is by far the most successful in the history of the championship: they have won the title 32 times (outright). Their nearest competitor in titles achieved isSurrey, who have won it 19 times (outright).[29] They participate in aderby withLancashire County Cricket Club known as theRoses Match, named after theWars of the Roses.[30]
The first cricket club in Yorkshire is thought to have beenSheffield Cricket Club, founded in 1751. Some players from Yorkshire have been highly acclaimed in the general history of the sport, includingHerbert Sutcliffe,Sir Leonard Hutton,Wilfred Rhodes,George Herbert Hirst,Fred Trueman andGeoffrey Boycott.[31] Aside from the county club and its achievements, Yorkshiremen have also made a distinct mark on cricket in general:Thomas Lord foundedLord's Cricket Ground in London. As forumpires, the man regarded as the most famous and a figure synonymous with cricket,Dickie Bird, is fromBarnsley.[32]
Yorkshire is officially recognised byFIFA as the birthplace of clubfootball, asSheffield F.C. who were founded in 1857 are certified as the oldest association football club in the world.[34] South Yorkshire hosted the first ever inter-club match and the first everlocal derby on 26 December 1860; between Sheffield FC andHallam FC.[35] South Yorkshire is also home to what is recognised by theGuinness Book of Records as theOldest Ground in the World,Sandygate Road.[36] TheSheffield rules code was highly influential to the development of theFA'sLaws of the Game, which is now the worldwide standard code for the game and happened to be drafted byEbenezer Cobb Morley fromHull.[35]
In 1961Rotherham United played in the firstLeague Cup Final, when they lost 3–2 toAston Villa in two legs, they won the first 2–0, but lost the second 3–0.[37] Yorkshire clubs compete in theEnglish football league system. While they are by no means the most dominant footballing county, Yorkshire has produced several national league winners, some of whom have won the title more than once, includingSheffield Wednesday,Leeds United,Huddersfield Town andSheffield United. Some players from Yorkshire have gone on to become some of the most highly regarded in the history of the game, includingWorld Cup-winning goalkeeperGordon Banks and two timeEuropean Footballer of the Year award winnerKevin Keegan.
Originally Yorkshire clubs formed part of theRugby Football Union which covered all of England under the same code. They took part in competitions such as theYorkshire Cup. The sport was popular amongst theworking class of the North, whilst in the South it was amiddle-class man's game. This was a problem in the pre-professional era for the Yorkshire clubs, as the working class were limited by the need to earn a wage and did not have as much recreational time; it was against the rules for clubs to pay players.
In 1895 therugby schism took place, creating the sport ofrugby league inHuddersfield,West Riding of Yorkshire. The association they founded is still based in the North and is known as theRugby Football League. Although some Yorkshire clubs now playrugby union, Rugby League is the main rugby focus for the county; of the 24 clubs who have competed in theSuper League, 11 are from Yorkshire.
The five most decorated Yorkshire clubs in terms of league titles areHuddersfield Giants,Hull FC,Bradford Bulls,Hull Kingston Rovers andLeeds Rhinos. In total, six Yorkshiremen have been inducted into theBritish Rugby League Hall of Fame:Harold Wagstaff,Jonty Parkin,Roger Millward,Neil Fox,Billy Batten andEllery Hanley.[38]
The origin of ferret legging is disputed. The sport seems to have become popular among coal miners inYorkshire, England, in the 1970s,[39][40] though some Scots claim it gained popularity in Scotland.[41] According to Marlene Blackburn of the Richmond Ferret Rescue League, ferret legging originated inpublic houses "where patrons would bet on who could keep a ferret in his pants the longest."[42] The sport may alternatively have originated during the time when only the relatively wealthy in England were allowed to keep ferrets used for hunting, forcing the animal poachers to hide their illicit ferrets in their trousers to avoid detection bygamekeepers.[43][44][45][46] This was also done by poachers and hunters to keep the animals warm in the cold weather.[41][44]
Retired miner Reg Mellor, fromBarnsley,[47] set the new world record time of five hours and twenty-six minutes on 5 July 1981 at the AnnualPennine Show atHolmfirth, Yorkshire.[42][48][49][50] He had practised the sport since his youth, but had received no recognition until he set the new world record.[45] Mellor, who had hunted with ferrets in the dales outside of Barnsley for many years, had grown accustomed to keeping them in his trousers to keep them warm and dry when out working in the rain.[51] Mellor's "trick" was to ensure that the ferrets were well-fed before they were inserted into his trousers.[42]
In 1986, Mellor attempted to break his own record before a crowd of 2,500 spectators, intending to beat the "magic six-hour mark—thefour-minute mile of ferret legging".[52] After five hours, most of the attendees had become bored and left; workmen arrived to dismantle the stage, despite Mellor's protests that he was on his way to a new record.[52] According to Adrian Tame of theSunday Herald Sun, Mellor retired after that experience, "disillusioned and broken-hearted", but with his dignity and manhood intact.[53] Mellor had hoped to organise an annual national competition held in his home town of Barnsley, and offered a prize of £100 to anyone who could beat him.[39]
In other sports, people from that county have also had success."Prince" Naseem Hamed from Sheffield, was one of the most famous boxers of the 1990s; he won world championships in theBantamweight (EBU) andFeatherweight (IBF,IBO,WBC andWBO) divisions.
Yorkshire has produced several noted athletes; 100-metre runnerDorothy Hyman won threegold medals in theCommonwealth Games and one in theEuropean Athletics Championships, middle-distance runnerPeter Elliott also won gold at the Commonwealth Games.Adrian Moorhouse was a gold medal-winningOlympian in swimming, earning victory at the1988 Summer Olympics, he also won gold at three European Championships and three Commonwealth Games.
Yorkshire hosted thegrand depart of the2014 Tour de France. The county has produced many successful racing cyclists over the years. Notable male cyclists includeBrian Robinson, the first British rider to finish and to win stages of the Tour de France,Barry Hoban, winner of eight Tour de France stages and two stages of theVuelta a España,Malcolm Elliott, winner of the points classification at the1989 Vuelta a España,Ed Clancy, a double Olympic and five time World Championship gold medallist on the track andBen Swift, also a track cycling World Champion. Successful female cyclists includeBeryl Burton, a double road cycling and five time track cycling World Champion, former individual pursuit World ChampionYvonne McGregor and World Championship track gold medallist and Olympic road racing silver medallistLizzie Armitstead.
There are several instances of the county providing an important role in literature. Perhaps the most famous literacy association is that betweenWhitby in North Yorkshire andBram Stoker'sDracula. When Stoker wrote the novel, he lived in Whitby, and parts of the novel are set there. It includes several stories of Whitby folklore such as the beaching of the Russian shipDmitri, which became the basis ofDemeter in the book.[54] Today there is a Dracula Museum in the town, celebrating the association.[55] In terms of poetry, one of the best known from Yorkshire isAndrew Marvell fromWinestead-in-Holderness, he was noted for writingmetaphysical poetry during the 1600s, and his association with several other noted British poets from the era.[56][57]
Then music, the mosaic of the air,
Did of all these a solemn noise prepare;
With which she gain'd the empire of the ear,
Including all between the earth and sphere.
— Andrew Marvell, "Music's Empire"
TheBrontë sisters –Anne,Charlotte andEmily—were all Yorkshirewomen born inThornton and raised inHaworth, West Yorkshire.[58] Their novels, written in the mid-1800s, caused a sensation when they were first published and were subsequently accepted into the canon of great English literature. Amongst the most noted novels credited to the sisters are Anne'sThe Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Charlotte'sJane Eyre and Emily'sWuthering Heights.[58]
Ted Hughes wrote two collections that show his love for Yorkshire:Remains ofElmet (1979) andElmet (1994), in which the ghost of Emily Brontë still haunts the moor.
In the present day, the most prominent Yorkshire presences in English literature are the playwright, author, actor, screenwriter and commentatorAlan Bennett, born 1934 in Leeds, where much of his work is set, and the poet, playwright and screenwriter Tony Harrison, born three years later in the same city.
Yorkshire has a rich heritage of folk music and folk dance including particularlyLong Sword dance.[59] Folk songs were collected in the region from the 19th century, and it probably had more attention than other northern counties, but its rich heritage of northern and industrial folk song was relatively neglected.[60] It was not until the second folk revival in the 1950s that Nigel and Mary Hudleston began to attempt to redress the balance, collecting a large number of Yorkshire songs between 1958 and 1978.[61]
Yorkshire folk music traditions lacked the unique instrumental features of the music in other areas, likeNorthumbria, and was chiefly distinguished by the use of dialect, particularly in the West Riding and exemplified by the songOn Ilkla Moor Baht 'at, probably written in the later 19th century and using a Kent folk tune (almost certainly borrowed via aMethodisthymnal), but often seen as an unofficial Yorkshire anthem.[62] Most Yorkshire folk songs were not unique and tended to be adapted to fit local geography and dialect, as with probably the most commercially successful Yorkshire song,Scarborough Fair. One unusual piece of music is the unique choral folk song, probably derived from an 18th-century ballad, known as theHolmfirth Anthem orPratty Flowers.[63]
The most eminent folk performers from the county are theWatersons fromHull, who began recording Yorkshire versions of folk songs from 1965, and members of which are still performing today.[64] Also famous is theLeeds-born musicianJake Thackray, who became famous in the 1970s for singing witty, often bawdy songs, many of which related to rural Yorkshire life, in a style derived from the Frenchchansonnier tradition. His work led him to be described by some as the "NorthernNoel Coward". Other Yorkshire folk musicians include Heather Wood (b. 1945) of theYoung Tradition, the short-lived electric folk groupMr Fox (1970–2),The Deighton Family,Julie Matthews,Kathryn Roberts, and theMercury Prize nominatedKate Rusby.[65]
Yorkshire has a flourishing folk music culture, with over fortyfolk clubs and thirty annualfolk music festivals.[66] In 2007 the Yorkshire Garland Group was formed to make Yorkshire folk songs accessible online and in schools.[67]
Yorkshire has played a significant part in popular music, starting with the unconventionalArthur Brown in the 1960s. During the following decadeDavid Bowie, himself of a father fromTadcaster inNorth Yorkshire,[68] hired three musicians fromHull in the form ofMick Ronson,Trevor Bolder andMick Woodmansey; together they recordedZiggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, an album that went on to become highly regarded.[69]
Perhaps the most significant time for Yorkshire music in the modern era was the localpost-punk scene of the 1980s, where the county produced several significant bands who went on to achieve success, includingthe Sisters of Mercy,the Cult,Gang of Four,the Human League,Def Leppard,Heaven 17,New Model Army,Soft Cell,Chumbawamba,the Wedding Present,the Mission,the Housemartins,[70]the Beautiful South andthe Comsat Angels.
Influenced by the local post punk scene, but also by international extreme metal acts such asCeltic Frost,Candlemass, andKreator, Yorkshire-based bandsParadise Lost andMy Dying Bride laid the foundations of what would become theGothic Metal genre in the early to mid-1990s.[71][72]
Pulp from Sheffield had a massive hit in the form of "Common People" during 1995, a song focusing onworking-class northern England life.[73] The 2000s saw popularity forindie rock andpost-punk revival bands from the area with theKaiser Chiefs and theArctic Monkeys, the latter holding the record for the fastest-selling debut album in British music history withWhatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not.[74]
Yorkshire has also contributed heavily to the emergence of the electronic music industry from the 1990s until the present day. The nightclubs of Leeds and Sheffield helped to build the foundations for record labels such asWarp Records. The region has also been influential in the development ofbassline, producing a huge hit withT2's "Heartbroken" in 2007, and has produced grime crews such as Scumfam. Music in these and related genres has been championed byToddla T, a Sheffield-born DJ formerly on BBC radio.
Particularly notable international artists from Yorkshire includedHenry Moore (sculptor) andDavid Hockney (painter).In 1925, theFylingdales Group of Artists was founded at Denton Hawley's studio inRobin Hood's Bay.[75]See also alist of artists and sculptors from Yorkshire.
Three prominent British television shows filmed in (and based around) Yorkshire aresitcomLast of the Summer Wine, drama seriesHeartbeat andEmmerdale, the latter two of which were produced byYorkshire Television before it was absorbed intoITV plc.All Creatures Great and Small, based on books byJames Herriot, was set in Yorkshire and exterior shots were filmed there. The television dramaDownton Abbey, although set in Yorkshire, is actually filmed inBerkshire and atEaling Studios, London.Last of the Summer Wine, in particular, is noted for holding the record of longest-running comedy series in the world, from 1973 until 2010.[76]Open All Hours and its continuationStill Open All Hours are set and filmed inDoncaster.
Several noted films are set in Yorkshire, includingKes,Four Lions,This Sporting Life,Calendar Girls,God's Own Country andRoom at the Top. A comedy film set in Sheffield namedThe Full Monty, won anAcademy Award and was voted the second best British film of all time in a 2007 poll byRadio Times.[77][78]Threads, a docu-drama about nuclear winter, was set and filmed in Sheffield. The county is also referenced inMonty Python's The Meaning of Life during a segment on birth where title card read, "The Miracle of Birth, Part II – TheThird World". The scene then opened into a mill town street, subtitled "Yorkshire".[79] Monty Python were also known to perform the "Four Yorkshiremen sketch" live, which first featured onAt Last the 1948 Show.[80]
He's a shrewd, straight-talking Yorkshireman – not English, mind you, Yorkshire
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link);Forshaw, C. (1892).Holyrod's Collection of Yorkshire Ballads. London.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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