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On Ilkla Moor Baht Err... Well, How many verses do you know? (with video)
IT has been Yorkshire’s unofficial anthem since the Victorian times.
But school music teacher Gordon Eddison says that most young people have little clue about On Ilkla Moor Baht ’At, which for generations has been part and parcel of Yorkshire life.
He fears the song will die a lingering death unless the current trend is reversed. That is why Mr Eddison, also the musical director of Otley Brass Band, based just five miles from Ilkley Moor, has launched a crusade to save this piece of cultural heritage for future generations.
Tomorrow the band and a choir of 80 children will perform the folk song in a concert at Ilkley’s King’s Hall.
And plans are being drawn up for a county-wide campaign in 2012, designed to teach the song to the younger generation.
“I’m more Yorkshire than a piece of parkin so this has really got to me,” he said.
“If we don’t do something about it, the only way young people will get to know On Ilkla Moor Baht ’At is through a novelty tea towel.”
Mr Eddison, who teaches brass instruments at schools in Leeds and the Wharfe Valley, says the song is perfect for helping beginners master moving from one note to another.
But in recent years, he says he’s realised that young people have little, if any, knowledge of the song which originates from the middle of the 19th century.
“I’d say that only about 10 per cent of children have a clue when I ask them about the song and that’s very worrying,” he said.
Now Mr Eddison plans to teach the song to boys and girls throughout the county – starting with the concert at The King’s Hall.
For more information visit www.otleybrassband.co.uk.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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