Culture of Yorkshire#Traditions and stereotypes

File:Flat-cap.jpg

File:A True Yorkshireman.jpg Show.]]

Many Yorkshire people are immensely proud of both their county and their identity, embracing the popular nickname of God's Own Country, which appears on mugs and tea towels and was first used by the writer Nigel Farndale, himself a Yorkshireman, as a headline in a special Yorkshire edition of Country Life magazine in 1995.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/nigelfarndale/9468597/The-Olympics-are-just-what-we-need-to-bring-Yorkshiremen-together-as-a-nation.html|title=The Olympics are just what we need to bring Yorkshiremen together as a nation|work=The Telegraph|date=11 August 2012 |accessdate=13 February 2022}}{{cite news

| last = Taylor | first = G. P. | location = London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2006/jun/02/travelnews.shortbreaks.unitedkingdom |newspaper=The Guardian|title=God's own county|date=2 June 2006|access-date=30 November 2014}}{{cite news|url=http://www.yorkshirepride.co.uk/|publisher=YorkshirePride.co.uk|title=Yorkshire Pride|date=24 October 2007}}{{failed verification|date=November 2014}}

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 the Yorkshireman's Motto:

:{{'}}Ear all, see all, say nowt;

:Eyt all, sup all, pay nowt;

:And if ivver tha does owt fer nowt –

:Allus do it fer thissen.{{cite book|first=Arnold |last=Kellett|title= Yorkshire Dialect Classics|page= 15}}

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.army.mod.uk/yorkshire_regiment/regiment/history/battle_honours/yorkshire_day.htm|publisher=The Army |title=Regimental Day – Yorkshire Day|access-date=30 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006132049/http://www.army.mod.uk/yorkshire_regiment/regiment/history/battle_honours/yorkshire_day.htm|archive-date=6 October 2007}}{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,770819-1,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104080835/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,770819-1,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 November 2012 |newspaper=Time |title=Artist v. Factories|date=16 August 1937|access-date=30 November 2014}}{{subscription required}} Indeed, throughout the history of the area, this has been noted, dating from the Celt Brigantes{{citation needed|date=August 2011}}, Norse Viking settlement, through the Norman period, the Wars of the Roses, the Pilgrimage of Grace during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries, to the 1984 Miner's Strike; The region has seen a number of rebellions against non-Yorkshire or non-Northern rulers{{citation needed|date=August 2011}}.

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.{{cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/site/martinhickescom//home/yorkshire-lancashire|title=Yorkshire Lancashire – Martin Hickes|website=sites.google.com}}

File:Yorkshire Flag.png is often described as "God's own county/country" due to its beautiful landscape and unspoiled countryside]]

One social stereotype of a Yorkshireman had a tendency to include such accessories as a flat cap and a whippet; this alludes to rural life. While the stereotype might not always ring true, the county certainly has an illustrious rural history; many of the now prominent West Yorkshire cities grew thanks in part to the wool 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.{{cite news |url=http://www.blurtit.com/q782434.html|publisher=Blurtit.com|title=What does the saying "Where there's muck there's brass" mean?|newspaper=Blurtit |access-date=30 November 2014|date=21 December 2006|archive-date=14 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114000123/http://www.blurtit.com/q782434.html}}

Tyke or Yorkie is now a colloquialism used to identify the Yorkshire dialect, as well as the term some Yorkshiremen affectionately use to describe themselves, especially in the West 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,{{cite news|url=http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/archive/library2003/yorkshireday/dialect/

|publisher=The York Press|location = York |title=Yorkshire? Now you're talking!

|access-date=24 October 2007 |last = Titley | first = Chris |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080123125904/http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/archive/library2003/yorkshireday/dialect/ |archive-date = 23 January 2008}} but in defiance of the negative connotations it was adopted locally, taking on a new life.{{cite web |url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/tyke|work=Collins English Dictionary |title=Tyke|access-date=24 October 2007}}

File:26.12.15 Grenoside Sword Dancing 006 (23875767192).jpg Among Yorkshire's unique traditions is the Long Sword dance, a traditional dance not found elsewhere in England. The most famous song of Yorkshire is On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at ("On Ilkley Moor without a hat"); it is considered the unofficial anthem of the county.{{cite web|url=http://www.dksnakes.co.uk/national_anthem.htm|publisher=DKSnakes.co.uk|title=The National Anthem of Yorkshire 'God's own county'|access-date=24 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070912065527/http://www.dksnakes.co.uk/national_anthem.htm|archive-date=12 September 2007|url-status=dead}} 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 the Yorkshire Society.

The cuisine of Yorkshire and that of Northern England in general is known for its rich ingredients, especially in sweet dishes. Below is a list of foods which either originated from Yorkshire or are strongly associated with it.

File:Traditional.Sunday.Roast-01.jpgs, served as part of a traditional Sunday roast.]]

• Yorkshire pudding – far and away the best known element of Yorkshire food, it is commonly served with roast beef, vegetables and potatoes, to form part of the standard Sunday roast, which itself grew from the county. It is created from batter and, in most cases, the dish includes gravy.

In its traditional form, it is easily large enough to fill the plate. It is eaten before 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|date=August 2019}}

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|date=August 2019}}

• Yorkshire curd tart – a curd tart recipe which has been around since at least the 1750s, unique because of its use of rosewater.{{cite web|url=http://www.blunham.demon.co.uk/Yorksgen/Recipes/CakesandPastries/Curd%20Cheesecakes.html|publisher=Yorksgen Recipes|title=Curd Cheesecakes|access-date=25 October 2007|archive-date=15 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715220012/http://www.blunham.demon.co.uk/Yorksgen/Recipes/CakesandPastries/Curd%20Cheesecakes.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/yorkshire_curd_tart_63644|publisher=BBC|title=Yorkshire curd tart |access-date=23 October 2014}}
• Parkin – a sweet ginger cake which is different from standard ginger cakes in that it includes oatmeal and treacle as part of the traditional recipe.{{cite web |url=http://www.aboutfood.co.uk/places/yorkshire_guide.html |publisher=About Food |title=Yorkshire Parkin |date=25 September 2000 |last=Wilson |first=Carol |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607194557/http://www.aboutfood.co.uk/places/yorkshire_guide.html |archive-date=7 June 2007}}
• Gingerbread, one unusual form of gingerbread from Yorkshire has a layer of crystallised ginger in the middle, rather than an essence of ginger or ginger shavings.
• Liquorice sweet – the plant was thought to have been brought over to Yorkshire by returning Crusaders or Dominican friars in the 14th century. It became synonymous with Pontefract in Yorkshire, as local man George Dunhill in the 1760s thought to mix it with sugar, creating what was known locally as "Pomfret cakes", but is now well known as "liquorice". As liquorice requires deep soil to grow, it was mainly grown in Pontefract. Although it is no longer grown in the area, Pontefract has two large confectionery factories as a legacy.{{cite web

|url=http://www.wakefield.gov.uk/CultureAndLeisure/HistoricWakefield/PontefractCakes/default.htm

|publisher=Wakefield Council

|title=Pomfret Cakes (The story of Pontefract & Liquorice)

|access-date=12 October 2009

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091117090057/http://www.wakefield.gov.uk/CultureAndLeisure/HistoricWakefield/PontefractCakes/default.htm

|archive-date=17 November 2009

}}

• Wensleydale cheese – a cheese associated with Wensleydale in North Yorkshire; the local pastures give the cheese the unique flavour for which it is renowned{{citation needed|date=September 2013}}
• Ginger beer – a beverage flavoured with ginger, it has existed since the mid-1700s.{{cite web|url=http://www.wensleydale.org/pick-of-the-dales/selected.asp?ID=6|publisher=Wensleydale.org|title=Yorkshire Recipes: Ginger Beer|access-date=25 October 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009023533/http://www.wensleydale.org/pick-of-the-dales/selected.asp?ID=6|archive-date=9 October 2007}}
• Rhubarb: The Yorkshire Rhubarb Triangle is a {{convert|9|sqmi|km2|adj=on}} triangle in West Yorkshire, between Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell, famous for producing early forced rhubarb which is harvested by candlelight.{{cite news|last1=Cumming|first1=Ed|title=Mysteries of the Rhubarb Triangle, revealed by Martin Parr|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global/2016/jan/31/mysteries-of-the-rhubarb-triangle|access-date=31 January 2018|work=The Guardian|date=31 January 2016}} In February 2010, Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb was awarded Protected Designation of Origin status under the European Commission's Protected Food Name scheme after being recommended by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (Defra).{{cite news |title=EU name status |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bradford/8536833.stm|publisher=BBC News|access-date=25 February 2010 | date=25 February 2010}}

From the 1700s onwards, Yorkshire, and in particular the city of York, saw the growth of several chocolate factories or companies, forming an important part of the confectionery industry and now with globally known products.{{cite news |url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/localnews/Safeguard-for-chocolate-heritage-.3217104.jp |newspaper=Yorkshire Post | location = Leeds |title=Safeguard for chocolate heritage

| last = Hemmings | first = Julie |date= 20 September 2007}}{{cite web |url=http://www.visityork.org/media/factsheets/Chocolate-history.aspx |title=Chocolate history |access-date=12 October 2009 |publisher=Visit York |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524144416/http://www.visityork.org/media/factsheets/Chocolate-history.aspx |archive-date=24 May 2010 |url-status=dead }} These include:

• Rowntree's (York) – produced Kit Kat, Smarties, Aero, Fruit Pastilles, Black Magic and Polo.
• Terry's (York) – produced Terry's Chocolate Orange, York Fruits, Neapolitans and Terry's All Gold.
• Thorntons (Sheffield) – involved in the field of luxury chocolate such as chocolate truffles.
• Bassett's (Sheffield) – who accidentally invented liquorice allsorts in 1899 and still retain their factory in Hillsborough.
• Mackintosh's (Halifax) – produced Quality Street and toffee.
• A.L. Simpkin & Co. Ltd (Sheffield) – Manufactures the world's first Airtight Glucose Travel Tin Sweets.

Yorkshire is also a historic centre for the brewing of beer, with breweries such as Tetley's, John Smith's, Sam Smith's, Black Sheep, Wards Brewing Company, Stones Theakston, Timothy Taylor and Copper Dragon.{{cite web |url=http://www.line-studio.co.uk/yorkshire-ale/46-reasons.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20020606091609/http://www.line-studio.co.uk/yorkshire-ale/46-reasons.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 June 2002 |publisher=Line Studio |title=Fifty six good reasons for taking a beer break in Yorkshire |access-date=25 October 2007 }}

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 are football, cricket and rugby league.

In the London 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/the-northerner/2012/aug/13/yorkshire-olympic-medals-gold-tourism-leeds-york-dales-sheffield-hull |title=Yorkshire finishes twelfth in medals table at Olympics |access-date=14 August 2012|date=13 August 2012|work=The Guardian}}

File:HerbertSutcliffe.jpg, batsman.]]

Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county at first-class cricket. It competes in the County Championship against 17 others, playing at their home ground of Headingley, Leeds.{{cite web |url=http://www.napit.co.uk/viewus/infobank/cricket/yorkshire.php|publisher=Napit.co.uk |title=Yorkshire County Cricket Club|access-date=25 October 2007}} and occasionally North 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 is Surrey, who have won it 19 times (outright). They participate in a derby with Lancashire County Cricket Club known as the Roses Match, named after the Wars of the Roses.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/4998298.stm |publisher=BBC Sport Online |title=Yorkshire bat out Roses stalemate|date=19 May 2006}}

The first cricket club in Yorkshire is thought to have been Sheffield Cricket Club, founded in 1751. Some players from Yorkshire have been highly acclaimed in the general history of the sport, including Herbert Sutcliffe, Sir Leonard Hutton, Wilfred Rhodes, George Herbert Hirst, Fred Trueman and Geoffrey Boycott.{{cite news |url=http://www.dalesview.fsnet.co.uk/cricket/ |publisher=Dalesview.co.uk|title=Yorkshire Win County Championship|date=24 August 2001

| last = Rigg | first = John |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020721200945/http://www.dalesview.fsnet.co.uk/cricket/ |archive-date = 21 July 2002}} Aside from the county club and its achievements, Yorkshiremen have also made a distinct mark on cricket in general: Thomas Lord founded Lord's Cricket Ground in London. As for umpires, the man regarded as the most famous and a figure synonymous with cricket, Dickie Bird, is from Barnsley.{{cite web |url=http://content-www.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/9098.html |publisher=ESPN Cricinfo |title=Dickie Bird | last = Dobell | first = George |access-date=12 October 2009}}

{{Main|Football in Yorkshire}}

File:PeleSheffield.jpg (left) in Sheffield in November 2017, marking the 150th anniversary of the world's oldest football club, Sheffield F.C.{{cite news|title=Pelé joins Sheffield celebrations|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7081034.stm|agency=BBC|date=25 June 2015}}]]

Yorkshire is officially recognised by FIFA as the birthplace of club football, as Sheffield F.C. who were founded in 1857 are certified as the oldest association football club in the world.{{cite web|url=http://www.sheffieldfc.com/famous_sons.htm|publisher=Sheffield FC|title=Famous sons and daughters|access-date=25 October 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927210342/http://www.sheffieldfc.com/famous_sons.htm|archive-date=27 September 2007}} South Yorkshire hosted the first ever inter-club match and the first ever local derby on 26 December 1860; between Sheffield FC and Hallam FC.{{cite book

| last = Harvey

| first =Adrian

| title =Football, the First Hundred Years: The Untold Story of the People's Game

| publisher =Routledge

| date = January 2005

| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=TxoZ0S-GC7MC&q=26+december+1860+sheffield+hallam&pg=PA102

| isbn = 0-415-35018-2}} South Yorkshire is also home to what is recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the Oldest Ground in the World, Sandygate Road.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/southyorkshire/students/a_z/index.shtml |work=BBC South Yorkshire |title=The Ultimate A-Z of Sheffield|date= September 2003 |first=Rob |last = Power |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040408083806/http://www.bbc.co.uk/southyorkshire/students/a_z/index.shtml |archive-date = 8 April 2004}} The Sheffield rules code was highly influential to the development of the FA's Laws of the Game, which is now the worldwide standard code for the game and happened to be drafted by Ebenezer Cobb Morley from Hull.

In 1961 Rotherham United played in the first League Cup Final, when they lost 3–2 to Aston Villa in two legs, they won the first 2–0, but lost the second 3–0.{{cite web|url=http://www.carlingcup.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Records/0,,11995,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100111024409/http://www.carlingcup.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Records/0%2C%2C11995%2C00.html|archive-date=11 January 2010|year=2007|publisher=Coors Brewers|title=The complete guide to the history of the League Cup: Roll of Honour|url-status=dead}} Yorkshire clubs compete in the English 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, including Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds United, Huddersfield Town and Sheffield United. Some players from Yorkshire have gone on to become some of the most highly regarded in the history of the game, including World Cup-winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks and two time European Footballer of the Year award winner Kevin Keegan.

{{Main|History of rugby league}}

File:HaroldWagstaff.jpg – Prince of the Centres.]]

Originally Yorkshire clubs formed part of the Rugby Football Union which covered all of England under the same code. They took part in competitions such as the Yorkshire Cup. The sport was popular amongst the working class of the North, whilst in the South it was a middle-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 the rugby schism took place, creating the sport of rugby league in Huddersfield, West Riding of Yorkshire. The association they founded is still based in the North and is known as the Rugby Football League. Although some Yorkshire clubs now play rugby union, Rugby League is the main rugby focus for the county; of the 24 clubs who have competed in the Super League, 11 are from Yorkshire.

The five most decorated Yorkshire clubs in terms of league titles are Huddersfield Giants, Hull FC, Bradford Bulls, Hull Kingston Rovers and Leeds Rhinos. In total, six Yorkshiremen have been inducted into the British Rugby League Hall of Fame: Harold Wagstaff, Jonty Parkin, Roger Millward, Neil Fox, Billy Batten and Ellery Hanley.{{cite web |url=http://www.rlhalloffame.org.uk/hall.htm |publisher=RLHallofFame.org.uk |title=Rugby League Hall of Fame |access-date=25 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011022141/http://www.rlhalloffame.org.uk/hall.htm |archive-date=11 October 2007}}

{{Main|Ferret legging}}

The origin of ferret legging is disputed. The sport seems to have become popular among coal miners in Yorkshire, England, in the 1970s,{{cite news |last=Kershaw |first=Ronald |title=Mr Mellor sets scene for a Yorkshire test of the ferret-legging custom |newspaper=The Times |url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/209/533/69508013w16/purl=rc1_TTDA_0_CS35620767&dyn=3!xrn_1_0_CS35620767&hst_1?sw_aep=mclib |url-access=subscription |date=31 December 1980

|page=2

|access-date=12 August 2009}}{{cite news |title=Feeling Bowled Over? I Have A Cure – Sort Of |last=Greene |first=Jerry |date=31 December 1995 |newspaper=Orlando Sentinel |page=C1 }} though some Scots claim it gained popularity in Scotland.{{cite news |url=http://www.fordhamobserver.com/ferret-legging-not-just-for-brits-anymore-1.912802 |title=Ferret Legging: Not Just for Brits Anymore |last=Nycz |first=Brent |date=19 November 2008 |work=Fordham Observer |access-date=14 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100515021045/http://www.fordhamobserver.com/ferret-legging-not-just-for-brits-anymore-1.912802 |archive-date=15 May 2010}} According to Marlene Blackburn of the Richmond Ferret Rescue League, ferret legging originated in public houses "where patrons would bet on who could keep a ferret in his pants the longest." 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 by gamekeepers.{{cite news |title=Countryside day may be annual event |date=4 January 2005 |newspaper=Northern Echo |url=http://archive.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/2005/01/04/27436.html |access-date=12 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090910033647/http://archive.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/2005/01/04/27436.html |archive-date=10 September 2009}}{{cite news |title=They've been companions to royalty and poachers, prized for their hunting skills and even used to lay underground cables. Now ferrets are being cast in a new role – as pets. And they're surprisingly good at that. |last=George |first=Isabel |date=9 February 2002 |newspaper=The Guardian |page=F3 }}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/a-fesnyng-of-ferrets-not-only-poachers-love-the-ferret-lynn-eaton-calls-in-on-the-capitals-oneman-rescue-service-1440692.html|title= A fesnyng of ferrets: Not only poachers love the ferret. Lynn Eaton calls in on the capital's one-man rescue service |last=Eaton|first=Lynn|date=4 October 1994|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=14 August 2009 | location=London}} This was also done by poachers and hunters to keep the animals warm in the cold weather.

Retired miner Reg Mellor, from Barnsley,{{cite news |last=Hattenstone |first=Simon|title=In Praise of the North|newspaper=The Guardian|date=14 August 2008}} set the new world record time of five hours and twenty-six minutes on 5 July 1981 at the Annual Pennine Show at Holmfirth, Yorkshire.{{cite news |title=Intimate sport of ferret legging / At annual Highland event, contestants put animal down their pants, then wait, pray |newspaper=Richmond Times-Dispatch |first=Bill |last=Wasson |date=29 October 2006 |page=B.1}}{{cite book |last1=Gould |first1=Philip J. |last2=Laue |first2=Ralf |title=Book of Alternative Records |publisher=Metro Publishing |year=2004 |isbn=1-84358-126-4 }}{{cite news |title=A 'sport' unlikely to draw spectators |last=Gordon |first=Jim |date=16 July 2002 |newspaper=Post-Tribune |page=A2 }}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NFkLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-VIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4186,3759181&dq=ferret+pants+sport|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120721180946/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NFkLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-VIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4186,3759181&dq=ferret+pants+sport|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 July 2012|title=Ned Creighton eyes the lawmakers|date=4 April 1983|newspaper=Kingman Daily Miner|page=2|access-date=4 September 2009}} He had practised the sport since his youth, but had received no recognition until he set the new world record.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dvgSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MfsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5791,3042201&dq=ferret-legging|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130125015752/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dvgSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MfsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5791,3042201&dq=ferret-legging|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 January 2013|title=Recognition by squirming is his goal|date=8 September 1981|newspaper=The Ledger|page=5C|access-date=13 August 2009}} 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.{{Harvnb|Katz|2001|p=6}} Mellor's "trick" was to ensure that the ferrets were well-fed before they were inserted into his trousers.

In 1986, Mellor attempted to break his own record before a crowd of 2,500 spectators, intending to beat the "magic six-hour mark—the four-minute mile of ferret legging".{{Harvnb|Katz|2001|p=9}} 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. According to Adrian Tame of the Sunday Herald Sun, Mellor retired after that experience, "disillusioned and broken-hearted", but with his dignity and manhood intact.{{cite news |title=Ferreting out my hero |last=Tame |first=Adrian |date=19 January 2003 |newspaper=Herald Sun|page=75 }} 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.

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 the Bantamweight (EBU) and Featherweight (IBF, IBO, WBC and WBO) divisions.

Yorkshire has produced several noted athletes; 100-metre runner Dorothy Hyman won three gold medals in the Commonwealth Games and one in the European Athletics Championships, middle-distance runner Peter Elliott also won gold at the Commonwealth Games. Adrian Moorhouse was a gold medal-winning Olympian in swimming, earning victory at the 1988 Summer Olympics, he also won gold at three European Championships and three Commonwealth Games.

Yorkshire hosted the grand depart of the 2014 Tour de France. The county has produced many successful racing cyclists over the years. Notable male cyclists include Brian 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 the Vuelta a España, Malcolm Elliott, winner of the points classification at the 1989 Vuelta a España, Ed Clancy, a double Olympic and five time World Championship gold medallist on the track and Ben Swift, also a track cycling World Champion. Successful female cyclists include Beryl Burton, a double road cycling and five time track cycling World Champion, former individual pursuit World Champion Yvonne McGregor and World Championship track gold medallist and Olympic road racing silver medallist Lizzie Armitstead.

There are several instances of the county providing an important role in literature. Perhaps the most famous literacy association is that between Whitby in North Yorkshire and Bram Stoker's Dracula. 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 ship Dmitri, which became the basis of Demeter in the book.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/content/articles/2005/07/21/coast05walks_stagesix.shtml |publisher=BBC North Yorkshire |title=Coast: Point 6 – Stoker|date=29 September 2006}} Today there is a Dracula Museum in the town, celebrating the association.{{cite web

|url=http://www.dracula-in-whitby.com/whitby-museum.html

|publisher=Dracula-In-Whitby.com

|title=Whitby Museum

|access-date=25 October 2007

|url-status=usurped

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071115142253/http://www.dracula-in-whitby.com/whitby-museum.html

|archive-date=15 November 2007

}} In terms of poetry, one of the best known from Yorkshire is Andrew Marvell from Winestead-in-Holderness, he was noted for writing metaphysical poetry during the 1600s, and his association with several other noted British poets from the era.{{cite web |url=http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/marvell/marvbio.htm|publisher=Luminarium.org

|title=The Life of Andrew Marvell (1621–1678)|access-date=25 October 2007}}{{cite news |url=http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/marvel05.html|publisher=TheOtherPages.org

|title=Poets' Corner – Andrew Marvell – Selected Works IV|access-date=25 October 2007}}

File:Сёстры Бронте.jpg

{{cquote|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.|20px|20px|Andrew Marvell, "Music's Empire"}}

The Brontë sisters – Anne, Charlotte and Emily—were all Yorkshirewomen born in Thornton and raised in Haworth, West Yorkshire.{{cite web |url=http://www.brontefamily.org/history.html |publisher=BronteFamily.org |title=Biography of Family|access-date=25 October 2007}} 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's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Charlotte's Jane Eyre and Emily's Wuthering Heights.

Ted Hughes wrote two collections that show his love for Yorkshire: Remains of Elmet (1979) and Elmet (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 commentator Alan 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 particularly Long Sword dance.{{cite book|first=C. J. |last=Sharp|title=Sword Dances of Northern England Together with the Horn Dance of Abbots Bromley|publisher= Kessinger|year= 2003}} 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.{{cite book|first1=S. |last1=Broughton|first2= M. |last2=Ellingham|first3= R. |last3=Trillo|first4= O. |last4=Duane|first5= V. |last5=Dowell|title=World Music: The Rough Guide|url=https://archive.org/details/roughguidetoworl00simo |url-access=registration |publisher=Rough Guides|year= 1999|page= [https://archive.org/details/roughguidetoworl00simo/page/67 67]|isbn=9781858286358 }}; {{cite book|first=C.J.D. |last=Ingledew|title=Ballads and Songs of Yorkshire|url=https://archive.org/details/balladsandsongs00inglgoog |location=London|year= 1860}}; {{cite book|first=C. |last=Forshaw|title= Holyrod's Collection of Yorkshire Ballads|location=London|year= 1892}} 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.{{cite book|first1=N. |last1=Hudleston |first2=M. |last2=Hudleston|title=Songs of the Ridings: The Yorkshire Musical Museum|editor-first=M. |editor-last=Gordon |editor2-first=R. |editor2-last=Adams |publisher=G. A. Pindar and Son|year= 2001}} and {{cite book|editor-first=P. |editor-last=Davenport|title=The South Riding Songbook: Songs from South Yorkshire and the North Midlands|publisher=South Riding Folk Network|year= 1998}}

Yorkshire folk music traditions lacked the unique instrumental features of the music in other areas, like Northumbria, and was chiefly distinguished by the use of dialect, particularly in the West Riding and exemplified by the song On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at, probably written in the later 19th century and using a Kent folk tune (almost certainly borrowed via a Methodist hymnal), but often seen as an unofficial Yorkshire anthem.{{cite book|first=A. |last=Kellett|title=On Ilkla Mooar baht 'at: the Story of the Song|publisher=Smith Settle|year= 1988}} 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 the Holmfirth Anthem or Pratty Flowers.{{cite journal|title=The Holmfirth Anthem or Pratty Flowers|journal= Journal of the Folk Song Society|volume=VI |year=1922|page= 9}}

The most eminent folk performers from the county are the Watersons from Hull, who began recording Yorkshire versions of folk songs from 1965, and members of which are still performing today.{{cite book|first=R. |last=Nidel|title=World Music: The Basics|url=https://archive.org/details/worldmusic00rich_0 |url-access=registration |publisher=Routledge|year= 2005| page= [https://archive.org/details/worldmusic00rich_0/page/90 90]}} Also famous is the Leeds-born musician Jake 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 French chansonnier tradition. His work led him to be described by some as the "Northern Noel Coward". Other Yorkshire folk musicians include Heather Wood (b. 1945) of the Young Tradition, the short-lived electric folk group Mr Fox (1970–2), The Deighton Family, Julie Matthews, Kathryn Roberts, and the Mercury Prize nominated Kate Rusby.{{cite book|first=R. |last=Nidel|title=World Music: The Basics|url=https://archive.org/details/worldmusic00rich_0 |url-access=registration |publisher= Routledge|year= 2005| pages= [https://archive.org/details/worldmusic00rich_0/page/90 90–1]}}

Yorkshire has a flourishing folk music culture, with over forty folk clubs and thirty annual folk music festivals.{{cite web|url=http://www.folkandroots.co.uk/Venues_Yorkshire.html |title=Folk and Roots| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130209201537/http://www.folkandroots.co.uk/Venues_Yorkshire.html |archive-date=9 February 2013 |access-date=12 October 2009}} In 2007 the Yorkshire Garland Group was formed to make Yorkshire folk songs accessible online and in schools.{{cite news|last=Murphy|first= Lizzie |date=31 August 2007|url= http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/video/Folk-songs-of-traditional-Yorkshire.3166419.jp |title=Folk songs of traditional Yorkshire to be celebrated on group's heritage website |newspaper=Yorkshire Post|location=Leeds}}

File:Jarvis Cocker Webster Hall.jpg, singer for Pulp]]

Yorkshire has played a significant part in popular music, starting with the unconventional Arthur Brown in the 1960s. During the following decade David Bowie, himself of a father from Tadcaster in North Yorkshire,[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0670006/ "Episode for 29 November 2003"]. Parkinson (TV series). hired three musicians from Hull in the form of Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey; together they recorded Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, an album that went on to become highly regarded.{{cite news |last1=Tyrangiel |first1=Josh |last2=Light |first2=Alan |url=http://www.time.com/time/2006/100albums/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061201085911/http://www.time.com/time/2006/100albums/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 December 2006 |newspaper=Time

|location=New York |title=The All-Time 100 Albums |date=13 November 2006}}

Perhaps the most significant time for Yorkshire music in the modern era was the local post-punk scene of the 1980s, where the county produced several significant bands who went on to achieve success, including the 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,{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/music/raw_talent/gods/2004.shtml |publisher=BBC Leeds |title=Will the gods come from Leeds? |access-date=25 October 2007}} the Beautiful South and the Comsat Angels.

Pulp from Sheffield had a massive hit in the form of "Common People" during 1995, a song focusing on working-class northern England life.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/commonpeople.shtml|publisher=BBC.co.uk |title=Common People|access-date=25 October 2007}} The 2000s saw popularity for indie rock and post-punk revival bands from the area with the Kaiser Chiefs and the Arctic Monkeys, the latter holding the record for the fastest-selling debut album in British music history with Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not.{{cite news |publisher=BBC News Online | location = London |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5315452.stm |title=Arctic Monkeys win Mercury Prize |date=5 September 2006}}

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 as Warp Records. The region has also been influential in the development of bassline, producing a huge hit with T2's "Heartbroken" in 2007, and has produced grime crews such as Scumfam. Music in these and related genres has been championed by Toddla T, a Sheffield-born DJ formerly on BBC radio.

Particularly notable international artists from Yorkshire included Henry Moore (sculptor) and David Hockney (painter).

In 1925, the Fylingdales Group of Artists was founded at Denton Hawley's studio in Robin Hood's Bay.{{cite web| url=https://www.artbiogs.co.uk/2/societies/fylingdales-group | title=Fylingdales Group | work=Artist Biographies – British and Irish Artists of the 20th Century | location=UK | access-date=10 July 2020 }}

See also a list of artists and sculptors from Yorkshire.

File:Sean Bean TIFF 2015.jpg's Yorkshire accent is highly recognised and is utilised on many of his castings including Game of Thrones Stark accent.]]

Three prominent British television shows filmed in (and based around) Yorkshire are sitcom Last of the Summer Wine, drama series Heartbeat and Emmerdale, the latter two of which were produced by Yorkshire Television before it was absorbed into ITV plc. All Creatures Great and Small, based on books by James Herriot, was set in Yorkshire and exterior shots were filmed there. The television drama Downton Abbey, although set in Yorkshire, is actually filmed in Berkshire and at Ealing 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.summer-wine.com/summer-wine/story.htm |publisher=Summer-Wine.com |title=Summer Wine – The Story|access-date=25 October 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070704022035/http://www.summer-wine.com/summer-wine/story.htm |archive-date = 4 July 2007}} Open All Hours and its continuation Still Open All Hours are set and filmed in Doncaster.

Several noted films are set in Yorkshire, including Kes, Four Lions, This Sporting Life, Calendar Girls, God's Own Country and Room at the Top. A comedy film set in Sheffield named The Full Monty, won an Academy Award and was voted the second best British film of all time in a 2007 poll by Radio Times.{{cite news|url=http://in.news.yahoo.com/070724/139/6iho5.html |work=Yahoo.com |title=Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' tops Best British Movie list |date=24 July 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080105090427/http://in.news.yahoo.com/070724/139/6iho5.html |archive-date=5 January 2008}}{{cite web|url=https://metro.co.uk/2007/07/23/life-of-brian-is-top-british-film-560519/|title=Life of Brian is top British film|work=Metro|date=23 July 2007|access-date=23 August 2018}} Threads, a docu-drama about nuclear winter, was set and filmed in Sheffield. The county is also referenced in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life during a segment on birth where title card read, "The Miracle of Birth, Part II – The Third World". The scene then opened into a mill town street, subtitled "Yorkshire".{{cite news|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F03E4D7123BF932A05750C0A965948260 |newspaper=The New York Times |title=Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) |access-date=25 October 2007 |first=Vincent |last=Canby |date=31 March 1983 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519194528/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F03E4D7123BF932A05750C0A965948260 |archive-date=19 May 2011 }} Monty Python were also known to perform the "Four Yorkshiremen sketch" live, which first featured on At Last the 1948 Show.{{cite web|url=http://www.ayup.co.uk/laugh/laugh0.html|publisher=Ayup! Online Magazine|title=The 'Four Yorkshiremen' Sketch|access-date=25 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013063842/http://www.ayup.co.uk/laugh/laugh0.html|archive-date=13 October 2007|url-status=dead}}

• List of people from Yorkshire

;Notes

{{Reflist|30em}}

;Bibliography;

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite book |last=Katz |first=Donald |title=King of the Ferret Leggers and Other True Stories |year=2001 |orig-year=1987 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=0-8129-9152-4}}

{{Refend}}

{{commons category}}

• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20020927005637/http://www.digyorkshire.com/ digyorkshire – cultural guide for Yorkshire]}}
• Richard Blakeborough (1898), [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62999 Wit, Character, Folklore & Customs of the North Riding of Yorkshire] With a Glossary of over 4,000 Words and Idioms Now in Use.

{{Yorkshire}}