Hymn singing is a group activity. Oh, I'm not saying you can't do it alone, of course you can. I do it all the time, it's a family tradition. I come from a long line of people who sing and hum favourite songs while working, walking, or just sitting around. We've always been indiscriminate: we'll sing anything from hymns to folk songs to pop music. However, we don't do the karaoke-style stuff. We seldom try to match those overproduced modern records. Which might explain that one of my favourite modern pop composers is Five for Fighting. I think Superman is a great song because it doesn't need backup vocals.

However, most people tend to sing in groups. It's more fun that way, and you can cover each other's mistakes. In church, there's congregational singing. There are also, alas, choirs. You may frequent the sort of high-toned church that sports a Paid Choir, or a choir with Paid Members, such as one soprano, one alto, one tenor, one bass. More power to them. But the genuine choir consists of enthusiastic volunteers. A typical choir will include the lady who believes her coloratura trumps everything else, and who warbles loudly on the high notes. There will also be a bass section with cheerful 'rum, tum, tums', and an aged gent who needs to be pointed in the direction of the choir loft exit. There will be a small group of wisecracking tenors, and some modest altos who can actually read music. . . You get the idea.

One reason choir members are willing to put in the practice time is that they enjoy each other's company. Which leads to choir pranks of all sorts. We've mentioned singing Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening to the tune of Hernando's Hideaway. That's a school choir prank. But one of the more famous songs in Merry Old England comes from a choir prank.

We refer, of course, to On Ilkley Moor Baht 'At.

The Choir That Made 'Istory

There's a town in Yorkshire called Halifax. Who knew? I thought that was in Nova Scotia. Anyway, they had a church choir, somewhere in the mid-19th Century. And that choir went on an excursion. Nothing wrong with that, good clean fun. They went up to Ilkley Moor. Why? Maybe for the view, I don't know, quit interrupting or I'll never finish. And a couple of young choir members disappeared behind a rock, probably courting, you see, and had to be rounded up by their elders. Choirs being choirs, they memorialised the event in the way of musicians everywhere: they made up a song about it on the way home on the bus. The rest is history: that silly song is the 'unofficial anthem' of Yorkshire, which is a funny place to begin with. I know, because the Prof tells me so, and I've watched The Last of the Summer Wine.

Typical choir. They took the tune to While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night. Not any of the tunes I know, but this one composed in 1805. It's a rousing version. I'm used to a more contemplative one, but I can see how much fun this would be to sing in parts.

After picking the tune to desecrate, the choir started telling a teasing story about Mary Jane and her bf. Where had he been? Why wasn't he wearing his hat? Didn't he know he'd catch his death of cold? And then they'd have to bury him. And the worms would eat his corpse, and the ducks would eat the worms, and then the choir would eat the ducks, and they'd be cannibals, oh my. . .

The Yorkshire imagination certainly beats the ordinary run of levity around here, I'll give them that. And it's all in dialect, you see, which makes it a lot funnier. . .

Tha's been a cooartin' Mary Jane

On Ilkla Mooar baht 'at. . .

It's a rousing number. Enjoy this version, and even sing along. It will do you good, and it's far more respectable than that version of the Hallelujah Chorus Bluebottle says is too naughty for h2g2.