Ray Black: My Yorkshire

Ray, 61, plays classical guitar, lute, mandolin and bouzouki (“though not all at the same time”) and is currently learning the penny whistle. He plays for a dance team and a pub band, and is currently re-editing and re-setting a book on Songs of the Riding. He is music editor of Yorkshire Garland, dedicated to keeping alive traditional songs, and is also the author of a classical guitar tutor book.

What’s your first Yorkshire memory?

Walking to my infants’ school, in York, I would pass the cattle market and hear the men speaking in what sounded to my young ear to be almost a different language. It was a particularly strong Yorkshire dialect. I was born in York, and my sister and I (she was a little older) used to be allowed to go to school by ourselves, and without mum or dad being with us – this as the early Fifties, so there’d be a lot less traffic, and maybe the world was, indeed, a “safer place”

What’s your favourite part of the county – and why?

The northern area of the county, around and beyond such places as Hawes and Hardraw. I just love the wild, rugged scenery and the small market towns and villages. Their noticeboards give an impression of much involvement in local activities, suggesting a real sense of community. You may think me self-delusionary, but if, on closer examination of the information on display, this turned out to be less so than it seemed, I would be happier to pass on the examination. Part of being a Yorkshireman is being positive; if things appear good we don’t feel the need go looking for poorer alternatives. I like to look at things as face value.

What’s your idea of a perfect day, or a perfect weekend, out in Yorkshire?

I’m afraid these are too many and varied for me to choose. I’ll cop out slightly and just describe one of so many good ones I have had: Many years ago, my then wife and I booked in for one of the Interludes Hotel’s theatre break weekends in Scarborough, for our anniversary. These consist of excellent accommodation, a taxi to and from the theatre, plus tickets for the Saturday evening’s performance at the theatre. It was a wonderful weekend, it was back in the early Eighties, and the hotel was run by two charming, gay men, one of whom did all the “front of house” things, and the other was a wonderful cook. I think that they were called Rob and Ian, and they bought a sense of style and of occasion to it all – even in the early Eighties, being out and gay wasn’t easy, and we admired their commitment to their guests.

Do you have a favourite walk – or view?

There are so many good walks that I love, and they are just the ones I know about. The best may be yet to come! As for views, one that still gives me the same rush of excitement as when I first saw it is that first glimpse of Whitby Abbey and the sea as you come over the moors.

Which Yorkshire sportsman, past or present, would you like to take for lunch?

SportsMAN? I’m sorry but this is a discriminatory question. I’d happily take any attractive female tennis player, whomsoever she may be… I am unashamed to say that there are some lovely young ladies on the courts today.

Which Yorkshire stage or screen star, or past or present, would you like to take for dinner?

Dame Judi Dench, because she is a great actress but there is more to it than that. Judi and I go back a long way: as a child, I lived close to her parents’ house and she once caught a friend and I scrumping apples in their garden. She was so nice about it; I have loved her ever since. The funny thing about scrumping your neighbour’s fruit was that it always tasted so much better that that from the trees in your own garden. The guilty pleasure was also in the getting away with doing it. I wonder if Dame Judi has any recollection of that encounter in the orchard?

If you had to name your Yorkshire ‘hidden gem’, what would it be?

It’s a folk opera waiting to be written. Let me explain. I have always been fascinated by the story of Blind Jack of Knaresborough (he was really called John Metcalf) and I’ve long believed that it would make a fascinating stage show. Many people know about his road-making skills but there was so much more to him. I think that it would make a terrific performance piece.

What do you think gives Yorkshire its unique identity?

However bad things become, we have a way of laughing them off eventually. This may be helped, in part, by our ability to not take ourselves too seriously. Much of our humour demonstrates this. Did you hear about the two Yorkshiremen in a working men’s’club? They were watching a comic, and one of them turned to the other at the end of the act and said ,“Well, Sid, that were reet funny”, and the other one said drily: “Aye, happen. If tha’s likes laughing”. That just about sums up the Yorkshire attitude.

Do you follow sport in the county, and if so, what?

Not unless you count the motor racing I have to do to make up for the fact that I am always running late for appointments.

Do you have a favourite restaurant, or pub?

I love real-ale pubs with no background music. As a serious music lover, I find the very concept of background music an insult to the music. I invariably find I am the only one in a crowd who hears it and I am the only one who is trying not to. A good example of a well-run, good ale and no music venue would be The Old Bell Tavern, down by the Valley Gardens, in Harrogate. People in there actually talk to each other.

Do you have a favourite food shop?

I love shopping in Booths, in Ripon. It’s only a small chain, but they feel like a “family” operation. It’s a friendly store – and they also sell some very fine bottled beers at sensible prices. That would get them my vote every time.

How do you think that Yorkshire has changed, for better or for worse, in the time that you’ve known it?

For better in that the media no longer discriminate against Yorkshire accents, witness Radio 3 literary programmes presented by Ian McMillan in his strong Barnsley accent. But for worse in that we’ve seen the gradual slipping out of use, and swift decline of, our many dialects. This is bad enough, but in common with the rest of Britain, our native language is being swamped by ungrammatical Americanisms. I’m so old-fashioned I still think the word “invite” is a verb, and I can’t stand the way that the word “like” is peppered into every sentence, like. As is “literally”. Awful – and pointless.

Who is the Yorkshire person that you most admire?

Blind Jack of Knaresborough. He was an accomplished fiddle player and also a guide. Imagine a blind man as your guide from York to Harrogate in the days before proper roads. He had no problem attracting women and even became a soldier for a time with the Jacobite army. There was more, so much more. At nine years old, he would dive into the Nidd to fish lost items for money where no one else would risk it. He was a very able horse rider, and a serious and respected huntsman and traded successfully in horses and contraband. He also started the first ever public service with a four-wheeled chaise and a one-horse chair. What’s not to admire about a man like that?

Has Yorkshire influenced your work?

Absolutely. My work with Yorkshire Garland is the culmination of a lifetime’s fascination with the songs of our county. I also have an interest in our local dance tunes. People who think jigs and reels must mean Irish or Scottish music would be very surprised to discover tunes with names like Trip to Harrogate and Skipton Lasses or the Kirkgate Hornpipe from Leeds.