Yorkshire Day: Why Leeds library’s vintage song books from God's own county are just champion

A reet good selection of traditional Yorkshire melodies has been unearthed by librarians in Leeds on Yorkshire Day.

Vintage 19th century county classics including Settin Off, To Th’ Swallow and Tother Day are taken from Yorkshire Lyrics, a book penned in 1898 by Yorkshire writer John Hartley.

Featuring a selection of songs written in local dialect, the book is part of the vast collection at Leeds Central Library and has been revisited in celebration of The White Rose County today.

Poet Hartley, from Halifax, wrote a huge collection of prose and poetry during a long career, much of it in dialect and often dealing with poverty of the district.

Hartley’s work is joined in the collection by an early 20th century version of Yorkshire anthem On Ilker Moor B’Aht ‘At which features in Local Notes and Queries, written in 1915.

Considered the unofficial anthem of Yorkshire, many different version of the song exist today. However, the original tune is believed have been composed by Thomas Clark in 1805 while the lyrics were allegedly written many years later by members of a local church choir.

The song relates the story of a lovelorn Yorkshire lad courting the object of his affections on Ilkley Moor, where he has foolishly ventured without his hat (baht 'at).

Members of the public can view items from Leeds Central Library’s special collection on request and can get in touch by emailing: [email protected]

More details on the library including opening hours can be found at: Central Library | Leeds Library