Y

yan, tan, tethera an ancient counting system, said to be Celtic in origin, and used until recently by shepherds in the north of England. It can be found in such songs as "Old Molly Metcalfe" and "A Lincolnshire Shepherd".

The words for the numbers from one to ten are: yan, tan, tethera, pethera, pimp, sethera, methera, hovera, covera, dik. These terms, or at least a likeness of them, turn up in children's skipping songs. You can hear the echo of a thousand years or more.

Yankee Doodle Lomax, Alan wrote, "British redcoats first sang `Yankee Doodle' as a satire upon the bumpkin American militia they defeated in early battles of the American Revolutionary War. Later on, as one British soldier wrote, `After the affair at Bunker's Hill, Americans glory in it.' ... Despite much research, the origin of the melody has never been precisely determined."

The "macaroni" of the lyrics refers to an 18th century British craze for all things European, with the word a somewhat disparaging reference to anything sophisticated or trendy.

yin (Scot., also "yen") one.

Young, Izzie (1928- ) Israel Young ran the Folklore Center in NYC during the folk revival, using it as a focal point for the folk community and featuring weekly concerts there. He was involved in the editorial and financial side of Sing Out! and wrote a column for it, "Frets and Frails". In 1961, he arranged Bob Dylan's first concert. He left for Stockholm, Sweden, in 1973, where he opened a store similar to the Folklore Center.

Young, Neil (1945- ) Toronto singer/songwriter/guitarist who moved to California; he was a member of Buffalo Springfield, and then Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. He then went solo for a while in the early 70s before joining Crazy Horse. In 1985, he made an album called "Old Ways" in which he acknowledged folk roots. He had a hit with "Four Strong Winds" by Tyson, Ian.

Young Tradition important singing group from England who recorded powerful, up-tempo versions of many traditional English songs. A lot of their songs were taken from the repertoire of the Copper Family. They did a great deal to expose the richness of English folksong. Peter Bellamy's vibrato dominated their a cappella sound (see Bellamy, Peter). The other members were Royston Wood and Heather Wood (no relation).

yowes (UK) ewes.


Introduction  -   A  -   B  -   C  -   D  -   E  -   F  -   G  -   H  -   I  -   J  -   K  -   L  -   M  -   N
O  -   P  -   Q  -   R  -   S  -   T  -   U  -   V  -   W  -   X  -   Y  -   Z  -   Appendix  -   [Appendix B]  -   Search


URL: http://folklib.net/folkfile/y.shtml
Created by Bill Markwick (1945-2017)

[Additions/corrections]
The Folk File: A Folkie's Dictionary Copyright © 1993-2009 Bill Markwick, All Rights Reserved.