The only thing missing from the TV ads for Yorkshire is the Yorkshire motto. What? You're from Surrey and you don't know the Yorkshire motto? You'll be saying next that Freddie Trueman 's fiery spirit hasn't been the single greatest influence on your life...
Anyway, the Yorkshire motto, here it is: Hear all, see all, say nowt. Eat all, sup all, pay nowt. And if thy ever does owt for nowt, allus do it for thissen.
You don't understand it? That's hardly my problem... oops, just slipped into living by the Yorkshire motto there... I'm sure you can get the gist though, just look me in the eye and nod every now and then and we've got some sort of rapport going across the vast cultural divide that we are bridging through the power of the Internet.
So that's the Yorkshire motto, which is pretty miserable and not necessarily the ideal way to live your life, although you'll notice that as I was born and bred in Yorkshire I'm unable to disown it completely. It's our motto, for Fred's sake. But, I can to some extent understand why welcome to Yorkshire aren't using it in the TV advertising - although I can see an opening shot panning across some rain washed back to back houses to an old man in a flat cap waiting for a tram and grumbling 'Allus do it for thissen.' Although I might be thinking of Last of the Summer Wine.
But, breaking with tradition, I'm prepared to so something for everyone, selflessly - although if anyone does find the following useful then please feel free to send a contribution towards by curd tart habit. What I'm going to do is suggest a new Yorkshire motto that is unfailingly positive in it's usefulness. Here it is: What'll 'od a lot'll 'od a little, but what'll 'od a little'll not allus 'od a lot.
You see, it's even got 'allus' in it, which is allus the key to any good Yorkshire motto. In the unlikely event that this needs translating, here it is again: What will hold a lot will hold a little, but what will hold a little will not always hold a lot. It's better said with the original Yorkshire inflection as my father-in-law (Yorkshire through and through apart from a brief flirtation with Humberside) as I were lookin' for't little barra to tek muck up t' top field (actually I was looking for a Tuperware container to put some left-overs in - but the principle is the same).
So, Welcome to Yorkshire: What'll 'od a lot'll 'od a little, but what'll 'od a little'll not allus 'od a lot... and you know what, Yorkshire does 'od a lot.
Written in the fantastic Clock Cafe on Scarborough's South Cliff,
perfect when it's sunny, perfect for sheltering from the rain - and just a stone's throw (if thrown by Sir Fred) from Yorkshire's popular B&B The Waves.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Sandside,Scarborough,United Kingdom
