Let me know what county you're from if you live in England! Like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video 👍🏻 Follow me on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/sogal.yt/ Twitter: twitter.com/SoGal_YT
This is fair: I would have got several of the home counties mixed up. And if I were asked to identify all 50 US states, I know I would get a good number of the square-sided flyover states wrong.
@Weebo DX How common would that be in Britain nowadays? We travel a lot in the US and have had some amazing instances of how little many Americans have travelled. Of those that have travelled, many have only done it for work or they were in the services.
@Weebo DX That's amazing! When I lived in Wales, I travelled all over the country. both with my parents, went to France and Switzerland with the school, and also later with just friends on a couple of trips to Europe, Ireland and even a trip to the US. We were not wealthy and apart from my US trip, that was about normal for all the people I knew, It's hard to believe that people are travelling less now than 50years ago!
I met an American family who asked me, "Where are you from?". I answered, "Surrey". The father shouted, "WHERE ARE YOU FROM?". I am from Sussex but now living in Cumbria.
That was so funny you completely butchered the name 3 times and then said it perfectly when you said Worcestershire sauce 😆😆😆. That is where Worcestershire sauce comes from🙂.
@@SoGal_YT lol. But honestly you did really well I think you did better than I would do I couldn't place all the counties and I have little my life. Think I could maybe get 50%
The term Riding in East Riding of Yorkshire actually originates in the old divisions of the traditional county of Yorkshire. Riding is a contraction of Thriding which is old English for a third so Yorkshire was divided into three parts... the West, North and East Ridings. If there'd been a South part as well then there would have been four Farthings or fourths. Fans of Tolkein's Lord of the Rings will remember that the Shire was split into four Farthings. Incidentally, under this old tradition, the city of York, which gives its name to the shire, is not in any of the Ridings but stands as an enclave in its own right at the heart of the three Ridings. The heart shaped stained glass window on the west front of York minster (the cathedral) is considered the symbolic center of the county and is known as "The Heart of Yorkshire".
I think, correct me if I'm wrong, that this comes from the Viking influence, when they ruled this part of England. I should really know being from Sheffield, South Yorkshire (famous for its stainless steel cutlery), which originally would was in the West Riding of Yorkshire. I also always love that the Ridings are split up into areas called Wapentakes!!!
@@mattpotter8725 A bit of a mix actually. The word "Thriding" from which "Riding" is derived is certainly Norse in origin as is pretty much anything with a th consonant. The word "shire" though actually derives from old Anglo-Saxon English.... "scir". York is the modern rendering of the city name that has gone through several mutations over its history.... Eboracum in Roman Latin, Eoforic in Anglo-Saxon, Yorvik in Norse and finally York in modern English.
@@mattpotter8725 Did you think I didn't know that? Viking is a Norse word that is very over used. Viking means to raid for plunder and spoils and to go "viking" was the term used by Danish, Swedish and Norwegians of the 8th to 11th centuries AD to describe their looting raids to the west, south and east of their Norse homelands.To be strictly accurate the word should only be used in reference to these attacking raiders and not the Norse colonisers who began to settle in the British Isles from the middle of the 9th to the early years of the eleventh centuries. These latter were more often traders, farmers and artisans than the traditional view of the Viking raiding parties and it was their influence that shaped the language and culture of Northern England.
@@michaelafrancis1361 Do you think I don't know that? But the Norse that went raiding, the Vikings, became the Great Heathen Army which landed in East Anglia and then took over Northumbria before attacking Mercia, causing the king to flee to the continent, and then Wessex, where they were only defeated by Alfred the Great after his reforms creating fortifications called Burhs and a standing army to prevent the Viking attacks. After this they retreated back to East Anglia and Northumbria where the Danelaw became established and a treaty with Wessex was agreed, some went to the continent, namely Normandy where eventually they were given lands and became the Normans, hence the name, driving from the Norse Men. So in the end the raiders settled.
There’s actually a channel on here called the map men or jay foreman and they have a video on English names and why they are spelt the way they are could be quite a good reaction video for you
The word Sheriff comes from these Shires - it was originally Shire Reeve (like the Sheriff of Nottingham). A Reeve was an official that oversaw and managed the region essentially.
Curiously though, a REIVER ( phonetic Ree-Ver, sounds similar ) is a raider. Two opposites that have similar pronunciation, but are as far apart as can be regarding descriptor. 😊
I'm genuinely very impressed you managed to get over 80%, some actual Brits would struggle to score that high without practice. Definitely give yourself a pat on the back! I am from Cheshire originally, but live down in Bedfordshire these days. IMO the best thing thing about Cheshire was walking along Alderley Edge, its quite scenic and there are a lot of excellent local pubs. Best thing about Bedfordshire is how well connected it is to interesting places like London, Oxford and Cambridge. There is some nice countryside here too.
I spent two years as an onsite repair engineer whose area was, England, Scotland and wales so I guarantee I've been to almost all of them. I wouldn't get them all correct!
@@ChuckFickens1972 lol same, was a roadie and a busker for 20 years, seen this island inside out and STILL no chance, I reckon I could name 90/95% but placing them is a different story 😂
I was thinking that looking at it. The only one I could place is West Midlands and from there I could work out Staffordshire as the border is right next to Summerhill school where I used to go 😂
I’m from Staffordshire. You did really well. English county names ate generally very old. Firstly we don’t say ‘shire’ we say something between ‘sher’ and ‘sheer’. Staffordshire = Staffordsheer Secondly, lots of counties with an ‘e’ in the start of their name we say ‘ar’ so: Derbyshire = Darbysheer Berkshire = Barksher The counties including Chester, Cester etc come from the Roman name for a fort ‘Castrae’. We shorten the pronounciation so: Glocestershire = Glostersheer Worcestershire = Wustersheer Leicestershire = Lestersheer Hope this helps! Love your videos 🤗 A bit like people trying to pronounce Arkansas I expect!.
Hi Sogal, I come from Hertfordshire (I pronounce it Hart-ford-shear, although there are variations). I'm probably biased, but Herts is a beautiful county, with its rolling hills and winding rivers. We haven't really got a cultural identity like Yorkshire or Cornwall, but we do have shed loads of history! Towns founded by the Knights Templar, 3000 year old hill forts, and the ruins of villages abandoned during the plague years to name a few... One of my absolute favourite places here is the ruins of a Roman theatre at St Albans (our only city), where they still perform plays 1800 years after the place was built! I always wonder who stood where I stood circa 200 ad. Don't worry too much about getting things wrong, making mistakes is just part of learning, and 81% is probably better than what most of us could do! Love the channel, keep doing you!
"Our first one is Rutland..." Nobody in England knows where Rutland is - not even people from Rutland. BAM! Nails it. I'm impressed! I'm from West Yorkshire, by the way.
Currently on furlough, really enjoying your videos during lockdown. Id really like to see you watch a documentary on the Battle of Britain, you'll get thousands of views.
That was actually very impressive for someone who doesn't live in the UK! There are definitely plenty of people from the UK who would've done worse than you. I'd love to see you react to some more Welsh related content, we are often the overlooked and forgotten country in the UK
@Tomas Price it was fairly obvious from the comment on the I thought it was shaped like Lincoln’s face. Then all the D’s are down in this direction that there was a certain amount of prior research undertaken and I am pretty sure our country folk would do equally well given the same circumstances.
Re: what you said at the beginning - we say what county we're from in the same way you would say the state you're from. Like we'd start with town or city, and then if the other person didn't know it, you'd say what county it was in. 'I'm from Plymouth, down in Devon'
Difference between Ceremonial and Historical counties. The Historical counties are all pretty much Ceremonial counties, but in 1974 new Metropolitan counties were created often out of parts of the traditional counties. For example, parts of Northumberland and Durham were taken from those counties, to create Tyne and Wear, which is basically the cities of Newcastle and Sunderland and the surrounding towns and urban areas. In the North West, the urban areas of Lancashire and Cheshire around Liverpool formed Merseyside, while parts of the same two counties around Manchester formed Greater Manchester.
@Connor Ward at least they correctly brought back East Yorkshire from that Humbershire abomination. Unlike poor old Westmorland which been around for 100s of years and has now disappeared off the face of the earth.
4:04: 'Ferry 'cross the Mersey'. Gerry (Marsden) and the Pacemakers. Sadly, Gerry passed away on 3rd January this year. 11:28: Buckingham Palace is on the site of the earlier Buckingham House, the London home of the Dukes of Buckingham. 12:40: The historic county of Yorkshire was originally divided into three 'Ridings', North, West and East. The term 'riding' is derived from an Old Norse word meaning 'one third of a area', in this case one third of Yorkshire. I think 81% is pretty good. Well done!😊 I live in Greater London, but was born in Essex and lived part of my childhood in Hampshire.
@@mattpotter8725 no, different family branch. Did meet him and had a chat a long while back. He wrote a number of ballads, which was his strong point. Gerry and the Pacemakers were the main band amongst many on Merseyside in the period around the time the Beatles were in Hamburg and when they came back. First group to get their first 3 songs as 3 number 1's in the charts, I think it took until late 1990's to be done again and by selling less records.
Hiya. My County is Lincolnshire and I'm proud of it's association with the Royal Air Force (RAF), both past and present, especially Bomber Command. It's still known as 'Bomber County', even today. Stay safe. All the best to you.
I'm another Andy and, like Andy U, from Lincolnshire, and proud of my heritage as the Bomber County. I've lived in Cheshire for 40 years, but I still have my webbed feet from being born and bred in the Fens, so I'm a real Yellerbelly.
Nottinghamshire very much had something to do with Robin Hood, the legend is located there (although Yorkshire and Scotland have claimed him). Sherwood Forest is a real place too, but much smaller now.
Well originally he was based more in Barnesleydale forest in Yorkshire but the legend later relocated to Sherwood to be nearer Nottingham. I've come across interesting hybrid accounts that suggest he spent his winters in Barnesleydale forest and the rest of the year in Sherwood. Apparently it's a hotly contested issue (according to some Yorkshiremen).
@@raphaelperry8159 Also Sherwood Forest used to cover a large part of the North of England back in Norman times so Sherwood Forest wasn't just in Nottinghamshire, it also went into Yorkshire and probably other counties too.
@@mattpotter8725 Loxley always feels like a later addition in an attempt to gentrify the character in order to make him more respectable. It mostly pops up in the 1,800's and onwards.
Hi SoGal.... I came across your channel by accident whilst looking for Isle Of Man TT videos. Very entertaining, and informative. I was instantly hooked, and am now a susbscriber. To be honest you did a great job identifying the counties, far better than most UK born and bred could do I'm sure. The pronunciation of some of our counties defies logic for sure, but you gave it a go, so good for you. I see plenty of other folk have desribed the correct way to say them anyway. Luckily theres no trouble with where I live, Surrey, easy. Looking forward to seeing you explore more UK history and geography, and I also hope to learn more from your channel about world history too. Take care, Bob....
The city of London actually isn’t that circle ITS MUCH SMALLER (only 1 sq Mile) but they had to make it big so you can click on it. Also the city of itself is wierd and doesn’t contain Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham palace, kings cross station or any of those because it’s kinda offset to the side of central London Edit: yes it is a county, the full name is the corporation of the city and county of London
There actual status of the City of London, which is the square mile, the old Roman city that used to have a wall around it, is very interesting. I think CPG Grey did a video on it that is worth watching. It's really like a state within a state, which even the government don't seem have control over!!!
I'm from Lancashire, which has it's own cheese, as do many other counties. Perhaps your next could match the counties to their cheese? Love your vids btw!
Fun fact: England is the cheese capital of the world with over 700 different cheeses over 100 more than France. Cheddar Cheese was first made in the town of Cheddar, Somerset, England since 1170 and is aged in the caves in Cheddar Gorge and still is upto today. So Cheddar Cheese is 850 years old!!!
We have so many -shire endings because it’s from Anglo-Saxon times and I believe it means town or settlement. Originally there was Wessex, Sussex, Essex and Middlesex. Only sussex and Essex are left now seeing as they were around it the 9th century
Just binged a good few of your vids, loving the content! I reckon you did better on this than most of us Brits could. To be honest, even though I literally just watched the video, I probably still couldn't point out where Lincolnshire is! Few handy tips on pronunciation, the "shire" parts of the counties are pronounced as sheer, Gloucester is GLOSS-ter, Leicester is LESS-ter, Hertford is HEART-ford, Worcester is WOOS/WUSS-ter, and the "folk" part of Norfolk and Suffolk is pronounced like the F word! lol. Anyway, just wanted to say hi, and let you know you've got another new subscriber =)
Worcestershire sauce (/ˈwʊstərʃər/ WUUS-tər-shər) is a fermented liquid condiment created in the city of Worcester in Worcestershire, England during the first half of the 19th century. The creators were the chemists John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins, who went on to form the company Lea & Perrins. I live in Droitwich Spa Worcestershire England.
Re: East Riding of Yorkshire. Riding is from Viking and means a third. Yorkshire was, until the 1970s divided into the East, West and North Ridings. The Ridings were further divided into "Wapentakes", unlike most counties that were divided into hundreds.
Wapentakes were a survival from the Viking era, so in medieval documents you see those in the old Danelaw, anywhere north from a line between the Thames estuary and the Mersey estuary. South of that the old Saxon hundreds were the more common county subdivision.
I agree. Easy to criticise the pronunciation until you see a person from outside the UK grappling with those strange looking names. A good history project for SoGal would to read about the tension between Yorkshire (white rose) and Lancashire (red rose) going back to the War of the Roses and the eventual dominance of the House of Tudor (red/white rose). The rivalry between the two counties still persists. Reminds me of the Two Ronnies TV sketch about the two Yorkshire road diggers where one says to the other: "Are you going t'other side for your holidays." To which the shocked reply is "What, Blackpool!"
I'm from Bristol but live in Cornwall now. What I love about Bristol is it's very relaxed lots of culture lot of good music and great food. What I love about Cornwall is its quiet and has beautiful scenery and some amazing pubs. That little picture you can see is just down the road from me.
You did well. I'm impressed! I'm from Tyne & Wear (which was part of Northumberland until the metropolitan counties were established in the 1970s). I now live in South Bedfordshire which is only about 40 miles north of London. The distances are much smaller between counties here than in America. It's always quite funny listening to an American trying to pronounce our counties and getting tangled up in the middle - but some of your place names are weird too.
I’m from Wiltshire home of Stone Henge, Avebury, Silbury hill, White horse carvings and crop circles..... and been enjoying your channel since Christmas, just subscribed keep up the fantastic work 👍🏻
@@SoGal_YT Stone Henge is on a public accessable part of Salisbury Plain (a mass green area which is partially near the medieval city it's named after). A lot of Salisbury Plain is off limits due to being a military training area.
@@SoGal_YT Stonehenge is approximately an hours drive from me, I’m closer to Avebury in north Wiltshire approximately 30min drive. Avebury isn’t as famous globally or as visually impressive but is way bigger. The biggest Stone circle in Europe I’m led to believe. The inner circle is in the heart of the village and the outer circles surround the entire village. On the outskirts of the village/ circles is Silbury hill, a giant man made earthworks literally the size of a hill and the origins are unknown.....look it up if you got time....thanks for the replies 😀
That was incredible!!! apart from the pronunciation ;) I would have never have got that many!! The Isle Of Wight does have white cliffs.. they look a little like a Pola bear from where am in Dorset!! lol
Really impressed with your knowledge. I tried it with you and STRUGGLED! The East Riding of Yorkshire is a Lovely Place. Just happens to be where I'm from. Keep up the good work. Andy
A good rule of thumb is whenever their is a place name with 'cester' in it, imagine the c and e are silent, so just pronounce the 'ster'. Worster, Glouster, etc. :)
I was very impressed. I think you did a lot better than many Brits could do, probably including me. Well done. I live in Devon, just outside Plymouth, where the Pilgrim Fathers finally left the UK for America.
Well done that was very good. I liked how you used shapes to remember the counties. Robin Hood was based in Nottinghamshire. There is very little historical evidence of him but his exploits were sung in many ballads and he has been part of English folklore for over 800 years. I live in Cambridgeshire
You did really well at this! Well done! I love the way you remember them, the shapes of them! I'm in Dorset - pronounced Dor-sit, right next to Somerset, pronounced Somer-set. Set is 'set', not 'sit', but true to form, we Brits have to make things difficult don't we 🤣 Oh and by the way, I'm one of those who could do this with a US map and get them all right 😁 Anyway, well done again, and thank you for taking an interest in the UK!
I live in a house in West Sussex called The Needles. When they converted the hall of the house into a two-storey living room and bedroom they did it, so they say, by taking the inner deck of a Spanish Galleon from the Armada that had been wrecked off the Needles. Our bedroom floor definitely is the deck of a ship, but who knows if it came from a Spanish Galleon. The house was already several hundred years old at the time of the Armada.
Very entertaining video. As an English gal the pronunciation was hilarious, especially Worcestershire where you said the sauce correctly but not the place it comes from! It's obvious when it's pointed out though! You got my county right: Wiltshire. It's mostly famous for Stonehenge and Avebury Stone circles. It's city is Salisbury and is famous for it's cathedral which holds a copy of the Magna Carta and the Russian poisoning a few years back. My village and others near by played hosts to the 101 'Band of Brothers' division during WWII. The name 'shire' dates back to the Anglo Saxon period 1000+ years ago and first appeared in the southern Kingdom of Wessex, pre the formation of England. I think it means something like a region under a certain administration/overlord but I'm not certain of that. Buckingham Palace gets it's name from the the Duke of Buckingham. That house he built there is still a part of the current building. You did incredibly well on the quiz
Worcestershire? Kinda sounds like that sauce we have over here. Hmmm I wonder why 😂 but seriously though no one can blame you for messing up that pronunciation
I'm from devon, and live in somerset, both great westcountry counties - famous things from the westcountry include: Sir Francis Drake, Cider, Pasties, Pirates, Cream Teas
Gerry and the Pacemakers are the most famous for singing Ferry Cross the Mersey (and Liverpool Football anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone”). Henry the 8th was Herman’s Hermits - who are from rival Manchester - but you’re absolutely right they were part of the British Invasion. They had some great songs.
@@RichWoods23 Should never have happened, they underestimated local identities, but we got our East Yorkshire back again...like a phoenix from the ashes. If only the police, fire service, various sat navs and the local BBC for old folk would update their names!
Nicely done, you know your counties well! As a pronunciation guide - all the "shire" endings are usually pronounced "sheer" or "shur" here depending on your dialect/accent. Worcestershire is the same as the sauce (Wuss-ter-shur), Gloucestershire is simpler than it looks with the "cester" being "stur" (Gloh-stur-shur) and Leicestershire is similar ("Les-stur-shur"). Derby is actually a trick one ("Darby") as is Herefordshire where the r isn't silent ("Heh-re-ford-shire"). The joys of having multiple invaders with their own languages that have over time made a mashup of weird names! And yes, Buckingham Palace is in London itself, but there is a town of Buckingham in the county. Much like you pointed out - most of the counties ending in "shire" will have a town or city with part or all of the county name (eg: Lincoln in Lincolnshire, Lancaster in Lancashire, Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, Gloucester in Gloucestershire, Chester in Cheshire etc ) .
@@AbrahamLincoln4 There's a big North-South divide between British English pronunciation, and then within each of those at least a dozen distinctive accents and associated collections of dialect words. You shouldn't be surprised to find English people who can identify the location of another English person's place of birth (or at least their early life) to within 50 miles based on just two minutes of conversation.
Worcestershire Sauce is English. First made in Worcestershire, England by Lea And Perrins. Its actually made from anchovies which are salt dried and fermented for 2 years. Onions and garlic are softened in vinegar both are fermented for 2 years before its all pureed and sweetened with sugar and enhanced with secret spices of which only 6 people know about. The England factory supplies the world while a separate factory was opened in the USA just to supply America. The English bottle has an orange label while the American bottle has a brown label with a brown paper cover. Anybody outside the US wouldn't know about the brown label and vice versa, but the original label is orange. The English factory supplies Australia, Asia Africa, basically everywhere except America and these people will only be familiar with the orange label. It's great with cheese on toast!!
SoGal, once travel’s back to normal, why don’t you come over? There’s places here that interest you, and there’s reading about something and another experiencing it. ✈️
"Shire" is a tricky one, when a word in itself it's pretty much as you would expect, eg. "shy-err", but when part of a longer name such as Yorkshire it's pronounced "shuh" or "shur".
Your pronunciations are hilarious! You did pretty well, though. I always get slightly confused with the counties north and west of London, and have to think hard. Born in Rutland, then lived in Lancashire (these days Greater Manchester), then Lincolnshire, went to university in Nottinghamshire, postgrad in West Midlands, and have lived in West Yorkshire for over 30 years. West Yorkshire is a great place to live. Although it’s a fairly densely populated area, and there are lots of cities, towns and other settlements, there are green fields and moors between these. So I can walk from home and get good views and scenery.
My home county is Dorset, pronounceed 'Daah-set'. I first lived in a seaside town called Swanage on the Isle of Purbeck, which is a peninsular(?). Swanage was the site of the first naval battle in which we beat the Vikings. The Isle of Purbeck is also famous for Purbeck stone, from which most of London is built from.
Riding is a Norse term, giving to us by the Vikings. They use to rule Yorkshire (they called it Jorvik), and divided it up into 'Thretthingr', literally 'thirds' (sounds a bit similar even), as there were 3 of them. That word over time evolved into Riding.
I am from and live in West Midlands. Birmingham to be more specific. One of the most famous things about the county is Cadbury chocolate. It was founded there in the Birmingham suburb of Bournville and between the ages of 5 and 25 I could smell the faint scent of chocolate in the air (if the wind was blowing in the right direction) as I lived half to three quarters of a mile away from the factory.
@Weebo DX well it’s the correct way to say it in my mind since that’s the way people say it in the place which is what people in the comments are saying, “these pronunciations lol”. That’s a good point that I forgot, Cornwall would say “ferd”, was giving an English example of how to say it and forgot about Cornwall Edit: also didn’t say it’s the correct way to say it
@Weebo DX In the case of an American pronouncing English names, it should be easier, since the American in this video is making a video dedicated to England it would be better if they knew how to pronounce so my comment was a way for English speaking Americans interested in England to say the pronunciations in a way that would look good to the British people watching this video. In this case, it’s so oddly specific that it would be useful
@@TobuscusGameing I say Cheshear and Lincolnshear. Now that I really think about it I pronouce all the -ire endings as -ear, not -ur. I guess I'm in the minority. I should think the single word shire is generally pronounced to rhyme with hire.
Funny story, there was a game we played in geography back in school where we had to name all 50 US States the fastest. It's probably easier for us in the UK to know the States because of the exposure we have to US geography on TV and movies. Also, we have more of a County identity than US counties because our counties by and large have bigger populations than US counties. The UK has nearly 70 million people living in a country the size of Oaklahoma.
Hi SoGal, I live in Dorset and my favourite thing about is is the beautiful Jurassic Coast, where you can find fossil ammonites and, if you’re lucky, fossils of plesiosaurs and even dinosaurs. It’s a very rural county, outside of the Bournemouth and Poole area, with many delightful villages with nice pubs serving good food. It must be one of England’s best places to live, because the cost of living compared to the average wage is one of the highest in the land!
@@alistairdimarco8064 not much happend here I don't think I have live in Wales my whole life Wrexham 5 years but I'm not sure what happened here it's a large town btw but you probably knew that
@@alistairdimarco8064 sorry I just remembered Clwyd no longer exists and Wrexham is in the Wrexham County but I live in Denbighshire / Llangollen near Wrexham so sorry
You did so well that I've finally caved and subscribed, lol. I find it really funny how you know that some counties have 'shire' pronounced as 'shur', but then you revert back to using 'shire' for other counties that you dont know. I cant think of a single county ending in 'shire' that isnt pronounced as 'shur', so just stick with 'shur' for all of them :-)
@@SoGal_YT You'll be ok if you try Scottish Counties. We generally say 'Shire' as it is spelt. And be warned, naming Welsh counties will be a test (but will be funny). Good job on this one. Better than most British would do.
Greetngs from Staffordshire. You did better than some natives would. BTW, with English counties, the cester is pronounced /ster/ and the shire is pronounced /sher/. Hert is pronounced /❤/, /Derby/ is /Darby/ and folk is pronounced /fuc/. Robin Hood was active in what is now Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire. Loxley (as in Robin of Loxley) is in Staffordshire, though a poem has him born in Tutbury Castle (also in Staffordshire) and Maid Marian has connections with the village of Abbots Bromley, just a few miles from my home and also in Staffordshire. Robin Hood was it seems, a Staffordshire man who, despite eating a lot of venison, obtained immortality via his beef with the Sheriff of Nottingham. What is now known as the Midlands is sometimes referred to as Mercia, after the ancient Kingdom, which once comprised most of England, including London. The west Midlands county is the newest, AFAIK, essentially being cannibalised from its neighbours in the 1970s.
The Isle of Wight is a really lovely place to visit, and you are right there are lots of rocky cliffs and a lighthouse on the southernmost point, looking out to sea. I’m not from there though, I’m from Sussex just a bit further along.
Most Robin Hood stories are about Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. However, Walter Scott's novels place Robin in South Yorkshire. Everyone agrees that he lived in Sherwood Forest, which these days is in Nottinghamshire but it used to be much bigger and covered North Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire.
I'm seriously impressed with how many you got right - I don't think many English, or British people would get nearly as many. 😱 I'm from Suffolk, on the border of Essex and Cambridgeshire. We pronounce it Suff- (a bit like stuff, without the t) -ook (like the end of rook or cook). The name originates from South Folk, as opposed to those in Norfolk - the North Folk. 😉 Great video though - I'm so glad to have found your channel! Keep up the great work! 😁
The administrative counties are those focussed around the larger cities such as bristol, West Midlands, Greater London, greater Manchester. The home counties around London have simple names that were influenced by the Saxons, those further out tend to have ‘shire’ and influenced by the normans and represented feudal areas, whilst those in the far north have names more related to when the Danes controlled the land. Similarly the west of England was controlled by the Saxons (Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset). Fun fact is Yorkshire was originally split into three (I.e. riding) so there only ever was North riding, East Riding and west riding (Viking derivation).. I am impressed at your attempt, hope you had fun.
To answer your question about Buckingham Palace, it's so called because it was originally a house built by the Duke of Buckingham before George III bought it. Peerage titles are named for towns or counties but that doesn't always mean the person is from there - for example the Dukes of Devonshire live in Derbyshire!
I'm from Hampshire, but it's quite a big county. I identify more with the sub-region, the New Forest, which my hometown is on the edge of. Ceremonial counties are the old divisions, modern subdivisions are a bit different. For example, Greater London used to split between counties. Those being Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey. Middlesex (North London) was completely subsumed, the others still exist. Also other boundaries have changed. Bournemouth used to be Hampshire, but is now in Dorset.
10:08 you got my county right! :D I'm so happy! lol. TBH you did a great job finding the counties, and not just 'for an American' either, this was pretty impressive!
as for Wiltshire, not sure what to say other than Salisbury Plain you might have heard of, the war film '1917' was filmed entirely there. I'm from Swindon which is in the NE of the county and is famous for its railway works. Other than that i'm not sure what to say about Wiltshire without looking things up!
On a related but slightly different topic, whichever English county that you are in you are further north than anywhere in the United States except Alaska, and you are further north than almost all Canadian cities. Lands End, on the southern tip of Cornwall, is at a latitude of 50 degrees North. The border between the US and Canada is usually at 48 degrees North and most Canadians live within 100 miles of the border.
There's an interesting card game called Mapominoes (Dominoes but with maps), where you connect cards according to their borders, with hints to ensure the less knowledgeable can play and learn (it's supposed to be educational after all!). The UK version connects counties. There are also a US states version as well as various continental countries versions (Africa, Asia/Oceania, Europe and North/Central/South Americas editions). You could play using all the continent editions as a mega global game, but may need a village hall to play it in...
You did really well. I doubt many Brits would get as high a score as that. Fancy an American knowing where Rutland is. Amazing. Quick lesson on pronunciation, though. Gloucestershire - Glosster'sha Leicestershire - Lesster'sha Worcestershire - Wusster'sha' The 'cester' component indicates an early Roman settlement, and can be found all over Britain in names like Bicester (pron. Bissta) and Rocester (pron. Roaster.) Chester, Winchester etc come from the same root.
The "Shire" comes from when the British Isles were a group of Anglo Saxon kingdoms, and the word Shire comes from a word used then to define districts of local governors. The ancient counties tended to be much larger, and the town for which they were named was the governing seat, so York was the 'capital' of the District (shire) of York, Derby was the 'capital' of the district (Shire) of Derby etc etc. From what I know, the US states are set up in a similar way to this, ie each state has a state capital where that states government resides. Also, I love the ultra-American-ism of "Dagummit" Definitely chuckled at that and the perfect pronouncement of Worcestershire when you were talking about the sauce. Pretty good result as well.
Let me know what county you're from if you live in England! Like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video 👍🏻 Follow me on social media:
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I am from Nottinghamshire,and it is Robin hood county. Sherwood forsedt still exists although obviously its much smaller now.
Derbyshire
hertfordshire
Buckinghamshire just out of interest are most of your audience British ?
East Yorkshire
Had to laugh at the pronunciations but you did really well with the locations. Better than most Brits would do anyway.
This is fair: I would have got several of the home counties mixed up. And if I were asked to identify all 50 US states, I know I would get a good number of the square-sided flyover states wrong.
@Weebo DX You sound like an American!
@Weebo DX How common would that be in Britain nowadays? We travel a lot in the US and have had some amazing instances of how little many Americans have travelled. Of those that have travelled, many have only done it for work or they were in the services.
@Weebo DX No I was asking how common that would be in Britain. To be like yourself and have rarely left your immediate surroundings?
@Weebo DX That's amazing! When I lived in Wales, I travelled all over the country. both with my parents, went to France and Switzerland with the school, and also later with just friends on a couple of trips to Europe, Ireland and even a trip to the US. We were not wealthy and apart from my US trip, that was about normal for all the people I knew, It's hard to believe that people are travelling less now than 50years ago!
Worcestershire sauce that you have "over here" is literally from Worcestershire
Only if it is Lea & Perrins
@@allenwilliams1306 no all Worcestershire sauce is, that's why it's called Worcestershire
@@leemoore5212 it's pronounced wuh-stuh-shuh. 3 syllables
did you say my name?
@@worcestershiresauce6377 no, what gave you that impression?
I met an American family who asked me, "Where are you from?". I answered, "Surrey". The father shouted, "WHERE ARE YOU FROM?". I am from Sussex but now living in Cumbria.
What part of Sussex
🤣🤣🤣
I grew up in Surrey ..
Woo ster sher
Rhymes with new hampshire
With a Fringe On Top ?
That was so funny you completely butchered the name 3 times and then said it perfectly when you said Worcestershire sauce 😆😆😆. That is where Worcestershire sauce comes from🙂.
Lol, I had no idea they were the same thing. 🤦🏻♀️
@@SoGal_YT lol. But honestly you did really well I think you did better than I would do I couldn't place all the counties and I have little my life. Think I could maybe get 50%
It's really a Indian thing. Lord Worcester served in the British army in India. Then started selling it here.
@@SoGal_YT yup made in the city of Worcester. I drive past the place everyday and in summer its all you can smell in that area 😆😆
@@neilgayleard3842 It’s originally British
The term Riding in East Riding of Yorkshire actually originates in the old divisions of the traditional county of Yorkshire. Riding is a contraction of Thriding which is old English for a third so Yorkshire was divided into three parts... the West, North and East Ridings. If there'd been a South part as well then there would have been four Farthings or fourths. Fans of Tolkein's Lord of the Rings will remember that the Shire was split into four Farthings. Incidentally, under this old tradition, the city of York, which gives its name to the shire, is not in any of the Ridings but stands as an enclave in its own right at the heart of the three Ridings. The heart shaped stained glass window on the west front of York minster (the cathedral) is considered the symbolic center of the county and is known as "The Heart of Yorkshire".
I think, correct me if I'm wrong, that this comes from the Viking influence, when they ruled this part of England. I should really know being from Sheffield, South Yorkshire (famous for its stainless steel cutlery), which originally would was in the West Riding of Yorkshire. I also always love that the Ridings are split up into areas called Wapentakes!!!
@@mattpotter8725 A bit of a mix actually. The word "Thriding" from which "Riding" is derived is certainly Norse in origin as is pretty much anything with a th consonant. The word "shire" though actually derives from old Anglo-Saxon English.... "scir". York is the modern rendering of the city name that has gone through several mutations over its history.... Eboracum in Roman Latin, Eoforic in Anglo-Saxon, Yorvik in Norse and finally York in modern English.
@@michaelafrancis1361 The Vikings were Norse, many of them anyway!!!
@@mattpotter8725 Did you think I didn't know that? Viking is a Norse word that is very over used. Viking means to raid for plunder and spoils and to go "viking" was the term used by Danish, Swedish and Norwegians of the 8th to 11th centuries AD to describe their looting raids to the west, south and east of their Norse homelands.To be strictly accurate the word should only be used in reference to these attacking raiders and not the Norse colonisers who began to settle in the British Isles from the middle of the 9th to the early years of the eleventh centuries. These latter were more often traders, farmers and artisans than the traditional view of the Viking raiding parties and it was their influence that shaped the language and culture of Northern England.
@@michaelafrancis1361 Do you think I don't know that? But the Norse that went raiding, the Vikings, became the Great Heathen Army which landed in East Anglia and then took over Northumbria before attacking Mercia, causing the king to flee to the continent, and then Wessex, where they were only defeated by Alfred the Great after his reforms creating fortifications called Burhs and a standing army to prevent the Viking attacks. After this they retreated back to East Anglia and Northumbria where the Danelaw became established and a treaty with Wessex was agreed, some went to the continent, namely Normandy where eventually they were given lands and became the Normans, hence the name, driving from the Norse Men. So in the end the raiders settled.
For someone who lives in the states that was a dam good effort! English county names are notoriously hard to pronounce as well
for Americans 😜
There’s actually a channel on here called the map men or jay foreman and they have a video on English names and why they are spelt the way they are could be quite a good reaction video for you
@@lmak7285 yeah, I recommended that video to her under her comment
and she got nearly all of them wrong! Mainly due to shire being pronounced "-sher" tho but otherwise it was funny-painful
She done great did better than me and I'm English proof Americans ain't stupid 😊
The word Sheriff comes from these Shires - it was originally Shire Reeve (like the Sheriff of Nottingham). A Reeve was an official that oversaw and managed the region essentially.
Curiously though, a REIVER ( phonetic Ree-Ver, sounds similar ) is a raider. Two opposites that have similar pronunciation, but are as far apart as can be regarding descriptor.
😊
The pronunciations are killing me! 😂
She pronounced it right for the sauce but wrong for the county
A gift which keeps giving. Loving it.
To be fair some of them words are outrageous.
I'm trying to think of similar examples from America. Only Arkansas springs to mind, at the moment.
@@zarabada6125 Yeah Arkansas is tricky in the same way that a lot of our names are, that's a good way of explaining it.
I'm genuinely very impressed you managed to get over 80%, some actual Brits would struggle to score that high without practice. Definitely give yourself a pat on the back!
I am from Cheshire originally, but live down in Bedfordshire these days. IMO the best thing thing about Cheshire was walking along Alderley Edge, its quite
scenic and there are a lot of excellent local pubs. Best thing about Bedfordshire is how well connected it is to interesting places like London, Oxford and Cambridge. There is some nice countryside here too.
To be fair I imagine there's a lot of English people who can't place them
I spent two years as an onsite repair engineer whose area was, England, Scotland and wales so I guarantee I've been to almost all of them.
I wouldn't get them all correct!
@@ChuckFickens1972 lol same, was a roadie and a busker for 20 years, seen this island inside out and STILL no chance, I reckon I could name 90/95% but placing them is a different story 😂
I was thinking that looking at it. The only one I could place is West Midlands and from there I could work out Staffordshire as the border is right next to Summerhill school where I used to go 😂
Genuinely struggled to find my own county...
only idiots
I’m from Staffordshire. You did really well. English county names ate generally very old.
Firstly we don’t say ‘shire’ we say something between ‘sher’ and ‘sheer’.
Staffordshire = Staffordsheer
Secondly, lots of counties with an ‘e’ in the start of their name we say ‘ar’ so:
Derbyshire = Darbysheer
Berkshire = Barksher
The counties including Chester, Cester etc come from the Roman name for a fort ‘Castrae’. We shorten the pronounciation so:
Glocestershire = Glostersheer
Worcestershire = Wustersheer
Leicestershire = Lestersheer
Hope this helps!
Love your videos 🤗
A bit like people trying to pronounce Arkansas I expect!.
Even then the pronunciation depends on which part of the county you originate from for me (North Staffs) it's Staffy-cher
Thanks!
There is a British youtuber that does vids of the uk and London his name is Jay foreman
He’s very good
Welcome to Map Men. We’re the men and here’s the map
Hes great!
Map men map men map map map men men
Hi Sogal, I come from Hertfordshire (I pronounce it Hart-ford-shear, although there are variations). I'm probably biased, but Herts is a beautiful county, with its rolling hills and winding rivers. We haven't really got a cultural identity like Yorkshire or Cornwall, but we do have shed loads of history! Towns founded by the Knights Templar, 3000 year old hill forts, and the ruins of villages abandoned during the plague years to name a few...
One of my absolute favourite places here is the ruins of a Roman theatre at St Albans (our only city), where they still perform plays 1800 years after the place was built! I always wonder who stood where I stood circa 200 ad.
Don't worry too much about getting things wrong, making mistakes is just part of learning, and 81% is probably better than what most of us could do! Love the channel, keep doing you!
"Our first one is Rutland..." Nobody in England knows where Rutland is - not even people from Rutland.
BAM! Nails it. I'm impressed!
I'm from West Yorkshire, by the way.
Helps if you know it is/was the smallest County :)
It was, ironically, one of the ones I did get lol, only cos I know its about the same size as the Isle of Wight tho 🙂
Currently on furlough, really enjoying your videos during lockdown.
Id really like to see you watch a documentary on the Battle of Britain, you'll get thousands of views.
That was actually very impressive for someone who doesn't live in the UK! There are definitely plenty of people from the UK who would've done worse than you. I'd love to see you react to some more Welsh related content, we are often the overlooked and forgotten country in the UK
@Tomas Price it was fairly obvious from the comment on the I thought it was shaped like Lincoln’s face. Then all the D’s are down in this direction that there was a certain amount of prior research undertaken and I am pretty sure our country folk would do equally well given the same circumstances.
I can't understand why. Wales is beautiful
Re: what you said at the beginning - we say what county we're from in the same way you would say the state you're from. Like we'd start with town or city, and then if the other person didn't know it, you'd say what county it was in.
'I'm from Plymouth, down in Devon'
I’m also from Plymouth! A fellow janner!
@@KellyIsShort Love seeing janners on the Internet - we're a rare breed of people!!
@@themoneylebowski660 we most certainly are! People who don’t know our kind are missing out!
Difference between Ceremonial and Historical counties. The Historical counties are all pretty much Ceremonial counties, but in 1974 new Metropolitan counties were created often out of parts of the traditional counties. For example, parts of Northumberland and Durham were taken from those counties, to create Tyne and Wear, which is basically the cities of Newcastle and Sunderland and the surrounding towns and urban areas. In the North West, the urban areas of Lancashire and Cheshire around Liverpool formed Merseyside, while parts of the same two counties around Manchester formed Greater Manchester.
And made a mess of Yorkshire
@Connor Ward at least they correctly brought back East Yorkshire from that Humbershire abomination. Unlike poor old Westmorland which been around for 100s of years and has now disappeared off the face of the earth.
And Middlesex was murdered
Yorkshire as a whole is a historic county but it got split into 4 administrative and ceremonial counties because it’s so bloody big
This video is just a role-play of William the Conqueror trying to figure out which counties to give to his vassals after the invasion
4:04: 'Ferry 'cross the Mersey'. Gerry (Marsden) and the Pacemakers. Sadly, Gerry passed away on 3rd January this year.
11:28: Buckingham Palace is on the site of the earlier Buckingham House, the London home of the Dukes of Buckingham.
12:40: The historic county of Yorkshire was originally divided into three 'Ridings', North, West and East. The term 'riding' is derived from an Old Norse word meaning 'one third of a area', in this case one third of Yorkshire.
I think 81% is pretty good. Well done!😊 I live in Greater London, but was born in Essex and lived part of my childhood in Hampshire.
Ah yes, I really like their music.
Gerry and the Pacemakers sang "Ferry Across the Mersey". It was Herman's Hermits that sang "I'm Henry the eighth I am".
@@davidmarsden9800 Your name is familiar. I net someone with your name about 20 years ago...
@@davidmarsden9800 Are you related to Gerry? RIP Gerry!!!
@@mattpotter8725 no, different family branch. Did meet him and had a chat a long while back. He wrote a number of ballads, which was his strong point. Gerry and the Pacemakers were the main band amongst many on Merseyside in the period around the time the Beatles were in Hamburg and when they came back.
First group to get their first 3 songs as 3 number 1's in the charts, I think it took until late 1990's to be done again and by selling less records.
Hiya. My County is Lincolnshire and I'm proud of it's association with the Royal Air Force (RAF), both past and present, especially Bomber Command. It's still known as 'Bomber County', even today. Stay safe. All the best to you.
I'm another Andy and, like Andy U, from Lincolnshire, and proud of my heritage as the Bomber County. I've lived in Cheshire for 40 years, but I still have my webbed feet from being born and bred in the Fens, so I'm a real Yellerbelly.
Nottinghamshire very much had something to do with Robin Hood, the legend is located there (although Yorkshire and Scotland have claimed him). Sherwood Forest is a real place too, but much smaller now.
Well originally he was based more in Barnesleydale forest in Yorkshire but the legend later relocated to Sherwood to be nearer Nottingham. I've come across interesting hybrid accounts that suggest he spent his winters in Barnesleydale forest and the rest of the year in Sherwood. Apparently it's a hotly contested issue (according to some Yorkshiremen).
@Raphael Perry And if he's actually, as was portrayed in a number of films, Robin of Loxley then the Loxley Valley is just outside of Sheffield.
@@raphaelperry8159 Also Sherwood Forest used to cover a large part of the North of England back in Norman times so Sherwood Forest wasn't just in Nottinghamshire, it also went into Yorkshire and probably other counties too.
@@mattpotter8725 Loxley always feels like a later addition in an attempt to gentrify the character in order to make him more respectable. It mostly pops up in the 1,800's and onwards.
I’m from in Notts, have lived in Yorkshire and half my family is from Yorkshire originally so I’m claiming Robin Hood either way
Hi SoGal.... I came across your channel by accident whilst looking for Isle Of Man TT videos. Very entertaining, and informative. I was instantly hooked, and am now a susbscriber. To be honest you did a great job identifying the counties, far better than most UK born and bred could do I'm sure. The pronunciation of some of our counties defies logic for sure, but you gave it a go, so good for you. I see plenty of other folk have desribed the correct way to say them anyway. Luckily theres no trouble with where I live, Surrey, easy. Looking forward to seeing you explore more UK history and geography, and I also hope to learn more from your channel about world history too. Take care, Bob....
Bloody well done! The bit that sticks out at the bottom left is cape cornwall, our only cape.
The city of London actually isn’t that circle ITS MUCH SMALLER (only 1 sq Mile) but they had to make it big so you can click on it. Also the city of itself is wierd and doesn’t contain Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham palace, kings cross station or any of those because it’s kinda offset to the side of central London
Edit: yes it is a county, the full name is the corporation of the city and county of London
Also, the City of London is a ceremonial county. In many ways separate from the rest of London, with it’s own Lord Mayor and police force.
There actual status of the City of London, which is the square mile, the old Roman city that used to have a wall around it, is very interesting. I think CPG Grey did a video on it that is worth watching. It's really like a state within a state, which even the government don't seem have control over!!!
Very true
I'm from Lancashire, which has it's own cheese, as do many other counties. Perhaps your next could match the counties to their cheese? Love your vids btw!
Great idea!
Fun fact: England is the cheese capital of the world with over 700 different cheeses over 100 more than France.
Cheddar Cheese was first made in the town of Cheddar, Somerset, England since 1170 and is aged in the caves in Cheddar Gorge and still is upto today. So Cheddar Cheese is 850 years old!!!
The counties have their own cheese? 😆
@@SoGal_YT why is that funny?
@@SoGal_YT In Europe a lot of regions are defined by traditional foodstuff.
We have so many -shire endings because it’s from Anglo-Saxon times and I believe it means town or settlement. Originally there was Wessex, Sussex, Essex and Middlesex. Only sussex and Essex are left now seeing as they were around it the 9th century
You did extremely well. You should be proud of that score.
When you pronounce Worcestershire.... think of the character Bertie Wooster .. Woostershire!
good one
@@deeingalaplike “Wuss” ....you’re right 😀
It's the same name as the sauce as that's where it comes from.
I didn't know that and apparently pronounced it right when I mentioned the sauce. 🤦🏻♀️
Similarly, think of Gloucestershire as Glostershire, like the biplane the Gloster Gladiator !!
All the counties with shire in the name are pronounced as shur not shire.
Depends on the accent i think, i hear people say both sometimes
@@ADUUM_ no they don't
People from down south say "sheer" but everywhere else it is "shur"
@@alfiebradshaw6271 we say sheer in Leicester
I realized that I kept switching back and forth how I would pronounce it depending on the name. Had no idea I was even doing that. 😆
As someone from Nottinghamshire, I can tell you that Robin Hood is the richest part of our county’s history
Tis but a shame he was from Yorkshire 😂
@@antonycharnock2993 Defo!
@@antonycharnock2993 Nottingham
Nah. Robin of Locksley was actually from Huntingdonshire. *ducks*
@@iankirkpatrick1875 Sheffield, actually, he was Robin of Loxley
Just binged a good few of your vids, loving the content! I reckon you did better on this than most of us Brits could. To be honest, even though I literally just watched the video, I probably still couldn't point out where Lincolnshire is! Few handy tips on pronunciation, the "shire" parts of the counties are pronounced as sheer, Gloucester is GLOSS-ter, Leicester is LESS-ter, Hertford is HEART-ford, Worcester is WOOS/WUSS-ter, and the "folk" part of Norfolk and Suffolk is pronounced like the F word! lol. Anyway, just wanted to say hi, and let you know you've got another new subscriber =)
WOW You nearly killed it! I am from the UK (Kent) and I would NOT have done nearly as well as you did (How sad am I). Well done.....
Worcestershire sauce (/ˈwʊstərʃər/ WUUS-tər-shər) is a fermented liquid condiment created in the city of Worcester in Worcestershire, England during the first half of the 19th century. The creators were the chemists John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins, who went on to form the company Lea & Perrins. I live in Droitwich Spa Worcestershire England.
You did very well - better than me - but then I've only lived in England for 76 years!
You mean Gerry and the pacemakers. Gerry Marsden was the lead singer. He died a few weeks back 😥
Am from Liverpool xx
The song "Henry the Eighth" was by Herman's Hermits.
Ferry criss the Mersey. Great song. The S is pronounced like a Z so people say Merzy. Except those who live there. Their accent renders it as Mairzy
@@nicolarushton4451 Liverpool, best team in the world and surrounding planets!
Shire on the end of a place-name is pronounced ‘sher’.
Or sheer but not shy-er
Or shur depending on accent ig
Funnily enough, we have Shires here in Australia, which we pronounce "Shy-er".
@@tobiusgregory2805 that’s because you’re geographically close to New Zealand where they have the Shire where the hobbits live! 😜
It's sha in Derbyshire, Darbysha.
Re: East Riding of Yorkshire. Riding is from Viking and means a third. Yorkshire was, until the 1970s divided into the East, West and North Ridings. The Ridings were further divided into "Wapentakes", unlike most counties that were divided into hundreds.
Wapentakes were a survival from the Viking era, so in medieval documents you see those in the old Danelaw, anywhere north from a line between the Thames estuary and the Mersey estuary. South of that the old Saxon hundreds were the more common county subdivision.
I'm from Blackpool in Lancashire and I have to say I'm impressed, you actually did better than me.
And me .Blackpool
I agree. Easy to criticise the pronunciation until you see a person from outside the UK grappling with those strange looking names. A good history project for SoGal would to read about the tension between Yorkshire (white rose) and Lancashire (red rose) going back to the War of the Roses and the eventual dominance of the House of Tudor (red/white rose). The rivalry between the two counties still persists. Reminds me of the Two Ronnies TV sketch about the two Yorkshire road diggers where one says to the other: "Are you going t'other side for your holidays." To which the shocked reply is "What, Blackpool!"
I’ll look into it!
Really enjoy your posts, the enthusiasm is infective
I'm from Bristol but live in Cornwall now. What I love about Bristol is it's very relaxed lots of culture lot of good music and great food. What I love about Cornwall is its quiet and has beautiful scenery and some amazing pubs. That little picture you can see is just down the road from me.
That band from Merseyside were Gerry & the pacemakers, Henry the viii was sung by Herman's Hermits who were from Manchester 🏴
Worcestershire Sauce was made originally in the UK by Lea and Perrin. Still you did well though overall. Oh I'm from Suffolk.
Oh hey, me too! West, Mid or East? 😁
@@DitDotDan Norfolk border
You did well. I'm impressed!
I'm from Tyne & Wear (which was part of Northumberland until the metropolitan counties were established in the 1970s). I now live in South Bedfordshire which is only about 40 miles north of London. The distances are much smaller between counties here than in America.
It's always quite funny listening to an American trying to pronounce our counties and getting tangled up in the middle - but some of your place names are weird too.
shire is never pronounced shire as a suffix, its normally pronounced shur.. shire is only pronounced as spelt when its by itself.
I’m from Wiltshire home of Stone Henge, Avebury, Silbury hill, White horse carvings and crop circles..... and been enjoying your channel since Christmas, just subscribed keep up the fantastic work 👍🏻
Wow, didn't know that's where Stone Henge is.
@@SoGal_YT Stone Henge is on a public accessable part of Salisbury Plain (a mass green area which is partially near the medieval city it's named after). A lot of Salisbury Plain is off limits due to being a military training area.
@@SoGal_YT Stonehenge is approximately an hours drive from me, I’m closer to Avebury in north Wiltshire approximately 30min drive. Avebury isn’t as famous globally or as visually impressive but is way bigger. The biggest Stone circle in Europe I’m led to believe. The inner circle is in the heart of the village and the outer circles surround the entire village. On the outskirts of the village/ circles is Silbury hill, a giant man made earthworks literally the size of a hill and the origins are unknown.....look it up if you got time....thanks for the replies 😀
That was incredible!!! apart from the pronunciation ;) I would have never have got that many!! The Isle Of Wight does have white cliffs.. they look a little like a Pola bear from where am in Dorset!! lol
Nice!
Really impressed with your knowledge. I tried it with you and STRUGGLED! The East Riding of Yorkshire is a Lovely Place. Just happens to be where I'm from. Keep up the good work. Andy
A good rule of thumb is whenever their is a place name with 'cester' in it, imagine the c and e are silent, so just pronounce the 'ster'. Worster, Glouster, etc. :)
Gloucester works better if you pronounce it as Glos :)
I was very impressed. I think you did a lot better than many Brits could do, probably including me. Well done. I live in Devon, just outside Plymouth, where the Pilgrim Fathers finally left the UK for America.
You are amazing most British people couldn't name most of the counties of England.
Well done that was very good. I liked how you used shapes to remember the counties. Robin Hood was based in Nottinghamshire. There is very little historical evidence of him but his exploits were sung in many ballads and he has been part of English folklore for over 800 years. I live in Cambridgeshire
Good job, a greater challenge is to know the London boroughs. I’m originally from Enfield but now live in Kingston upon Thames. Both London boroughs.
But until 1965 in Middlesex and Surrey respectively.
You did really well at this! Well done! I love the way you remember them, the shapes of them!
I'm in Dorset - pronounced Dor-sit, right next to Somerset, pronounced Somer-set.
Set is 'set', not 'sit', but true to form, we Brits have to make things difficult don't we 🤣
Oh and by the way, I'm one of those who could do this with a US map and get them all right 😁
Anyway, well done again, and thank you for taking an interest in the UK!
Isle of Wight, is mainly CHALK, famous for ''The Needles'' google it.
I live in a house in West Sussex called The Needles. When they converted the hall of the house into a two-storey living room and bedroom they did it, so they say, by taking the inner deck of a Spanish Galleon from the Armada that had been wrecked off the Needles.
Our bedroom floor definitely is the deck of a ship, but who knows if it came from a Spanish Galleon. The house was already several hundred years old at the time of the Armada.
Used to be a very popular holiday destination for teachers until the invention of the white board!
@@OblivionGate It still is very popular for teachers, day trips to see the dinosaur fossils with the children. And a trip on the ferry.
Very entertaining video. As an English gal the pronunciation was hilarious, especially Worcestershire where you said the sauce correctly but not the place it comes from! It's obvious when it's pointed out though! You got my county right: Wiltshire. It's mostly famous for Stonehenge and Avebury Stone circles. It's city is Salisbury and is famous for it's cathedral which holds a copy of the Magna Carta and the Russian poisoning a few years back. My village and others near by played hosts to the 101 'Band of Brothers' division during WWII.
The name 'shire' dates back to the Anglo Saxon period 1000+ years ago and first appeared in the southern Kingdom of Wessex, pre the formation of England. I think it means something like a region under a certain administration/overlord but I'm not certain of that.
Buckingham Palace gets it's name from the the Duke of Buckingham. That house he built there is still a part of the current building.
You did incredibly well on the quiz
Worcestershire? Kinda sounds like that sauce we have over here.
Hmmm I wonder why 😂 but seriously though no one can blame you for messing up that pronunciation
I'm from devon, and live in somerset, both great westcountry counties - famous things from the westcountry include: Sir Francis Drake, Cider, Pasties, Pirates, Cream Teas
I think when the Covid virus beats a retreat, you need to visit the UK. You will then complete your education!
Gerry and the Pacemakers are the most famous for singing Ferry Cross the Mersey (and Liverpool Football anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone”). Henry the 8th was Herman’s Hermits - who are from rival Manchester - but you’re absolutely right they were part of the British Invasion. They had some great songs.
She should re-do it with the traditional counties and react to how they changed😯
I lived through 1974 and I still don't get it!
@@RichWoods23 Should never have happened, they underestimated local identities, but we got our East Yorkshire back again...like a phoenix from the ashes. If only the police, fire service, various sat navs and the local BBC for old folk would update their names!
Nicely done, you know your counties well!
As a pronunciation guide - all the "shire" endings are usually pronounced "sheer" or "shur" here depending on your dialect/accent.
Worcestershire is the same as the sauce (Wuss-ter-shur), Gloucestershire is simpler than it looks with the "cester" being "stur" (Gloh-stur-shur) and Leicestershire is similar ("Les-stur-shur"). Derby is actually a trick one ("Darby") as is Herefordshire where the r isn't silent ("Heh-re-ford-shire"). The joys of having multiple invaders with their own languages that have over time made a mashup of weird names!
And yes, Buckingham Palace is in London itself, but there is a town of Buckingham in the county. Much like you pointed out - most of the counties ending in "shire" will have a town or city with part or all of the county name (eg: Lincoln in Lincolnshire, Lancaster in Lancashire, Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, Gloucester in Gloucestershire, Chester in Cheshire etc ) .
Worcestershire is pronounced,"woostershur" or "woostershere" depending where you are from.
Oh and leicestershire is pronounced Lester shur or lestershere
@@jensm4026 And i thought the English language was easy for a native speaker.
Wuster**
We pronounce it as Wustershur, up north.
@@AbrahamLincoln4 There's a big North-South divide between British English pronunciation, and then within each of those at least a dozen distinctive accents and associated collections of dialect words. You shouldn't be surprised to find English people who can identify the location of another English person's place of birth (or at least their early life) to within 50 miles based on just two minutes of conversation.
Worcestershire Sauce is English. First made in Worcestershire, England by Lea And Perrins. Its actually made from anchovies which are salt dried and fermented for 2 years. Onions and garlic are softened in vinegar both are fermented for 2 years before its all pureed and sweetened with sugar and enhanced with secret spices of which only 6 people know about. The England factory supplies the world while a separate factory was opened in the USA just to supply America. The English bottle has an orange label while the American bottle has a brown label with a brown paper cover. Anybody outside the US wouldn't know about the brown label and vice versa, but the original label is orange. The English factory supplies Australia, Asia Africa, basically everywhere except America and these people will only be familiar with the orange label.
It's great with cheese on toast!!
12:04 quote of the year
SoGal, once travel’s back to normal, why don’t you come over? There’s places here that interest you, and there’s reading about something and another experiencing it. ✈️
"Shire" is a tricky one, when a word in itself it's pretty much as you would expect, eg. "shy-err", but when part of a longer name such as Yorkshire it's pronounced "shuh" or "shur".
I never understand why this trips Americans up. They have no problem pronouncing New Hampshire!
@@FullMonterey Always puzzled me too! I was just going to mention this,
Sher or sheer
That depends on accent of course. In some they're all pronounced "sheer".
@@FullMonterey Lord of the Rings maybe lol
I live in England and there’s a historical reson there’s a lot of shires and shire were medical for a smaller region they were lower down then earldom
Your pronunciations are hilarious! You did pretty well, though. I always get slightly confused with the counties north and west of London, and have to think hard.
Born in Rutland, then lived in Lancashire (these days Greater Manchester), then Lincolnshire, went to university in Nottinghamshire, postgrad in West Midlands, and have lived in West Yorkshire for over 30 years.
West Yorkshire is a great place to live. Although it’s a fairly densely populated area, and there are lots of cities, towns and other settlements, there are green fields and moors between these. So I can walk from home and get good views and scenery.
13:04 Is that a compliment or an insult
You're one of my favorite presidents.
@@SoGal_YT :3
My home county is Dorset, pronounceed 'Daah-set'. I first lived in a seaside town called Swanage on the Isle of Purbeck, which is a peninsular(?). Swanage was the site of the first naval battle in which we beat the Vikings. The Isle of Purbeck is also famous for Purbeck stone, from which most of London is built from.
Which is where we really confuse people because the Isle of Purbeck isn't an island, although you can take a ferry to get there.
@@deanstuart8012 Agreed! 😂
I'm from Durham, the home of the Pink Panther.
😂😂😂
I had to read that out loud to get that 😂
Riding is a Norse term, giving to us by the Vikings. They use to rule Yorkshire (they called it Jorvik), and divided it up into 'Thretthingr', literally 'thirds' (sounds a bit similar even), as there were 3 of them. That word over time evolved into Riding.
Derbyshire and Berkshire. Pronounce the first “e” as an “a”.
I am from and live in West Midlands. Birmingham to be more specific. One of the most famous things about the county is Cadbury chocolate. It was founded there in the Birmingham suburb of Bournville and between the ages of 5 and 25 I could smell the faint scent of chocolate in the air (if the wind was blowing in the right direction) as I lived half to three quarters of a mile away from the factory.
Nice! That's the kind of factory you want to live nearby :)
I know that felling living in Maidstone Kent. We had trebor sharpes until the scum from nestle bought them out and closed the factory.
“Shire” how its wrote, “Shur-“ how its spoken. Oxfordshire, “Ox-fud-shur-“ confused? I understand why, it makes no sense
and yet Cheshire is not usually pronounced Che-shur
@@peterwimsey1
I say Cheshire as Cheshur, what else is said?
@Weebo DX well it’s the correct way to say it in my mind since that’s the way people say it in the place which is what people in the comments are saying, “these pronunciations lol”. That’s a good point that I forgot, Cornwall would say “ferd”, was giving an English example of how to say it and forgot about Cornwall
Edit: also didn’t say it’s the correct way to say it
@Weebo DX
In the case of an American pronouncing English names, it should be easier, since the American in this video is making a video dedicated to England it would be better if they knew how to pronounce so my comment was a way for English speaking Americans interested in England to say the pronunciations in a way that would look good to the British people watching this video. In this case, it’s so oddly specific that it would be useful
@@TobuscusGameing I say Cheshear and Lincolnshear. Now that I really think about it I pronouce all the -ire endings as -ear, not -ur. I guess I'm in the minority. I should think the single word shire is generally pronounced to rhyme with hire.
Funny story, there was a game we played in geography back in school where we had to name all 50 US States the fastest.
It's probably easier for us in the UK to know the States because of the exposure we have to US geography on TV and movies.
Also, we have more of a County identity than US counties because our counties by and large have bigger populations than US counties. The UK has nearly 70 million people living in a country the size of Oaklahoma.
To be honest, some Brits would struggle with of them (me included)
Hi SoGal, I live in Dorset and my favourite thing about is is the beautiful Jurassic Coast, where you can find fossil ammonites and, if you’re lucky, fossils of plesiosaurs and even dinosaurs. It’s a very rural county, outside of the Bournemouth and Poole area, with many delightful villages with nice pubs serving good food. It must be one of England’s best places to live, because the cost of living compared to the average wage is one of the highest in the land!
Well done from Wrexham in Denbighshire
Help me out here, I always knew of Wrexham being in Clwyd, so what happened there? I'm from London so haven't got local knowledge
@@alistairdimarco8064 not much happend here I don't think I have live in Wales my whole life Wrexham 5 years but I'm not sure what happened here it's a large town btw but you probably knew that
@@gwynedd4023 so is Denbighshire or Clwyd the official county?
@@alistairdimarco8064 I have never thought it was the latter but I think so
@@alistairdimarco8064 sorry I just remembered Clwyd no longer exists and Wrexham is in the Wrexham County but I live in Denbighshire / Llangollen near Wrexham so sorry
You did so well that I've finally caved and subscribed, lol. I find it really funny how you know that some counties have 'shire' pronounced as 'shur', but then you revert back to using 'shire' for other counties that you dont know. I cant think of a single county ending in 'shire' that isnt pronounced as 'shur', so just stick with 'shur' for all of them :-)
Yeah, didn’t even realize I was doing that 😆
@@SoGal_YT You'll be ok if you try Scottish Counties. We generally say 'Shire' as it is spelt. And be warned, naming Welsh counties will be a test (but will be funny). Good job on this one. Better than most British would do.
The cool thing about the City of London is that the boundaries are marked by dragons holding shields.
Greetngs from Staffordshire.
You did better than some natives would. BTW, with English counties, the cester is pronounced /ster/ and the shire is pronounced /sher/. Hert is pronounced /❤/, /Derby/ is /Darby/ and folk is pronounced /fuc/.
Robin Hood was active in what is now Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire. Loxley (as in Robin of Loxley) is in Staffordshire, though a poem has him born in Tutbury Castle (also in Staffordshire) and Maid Marian has connections with the village of Abbots Bromley, just a few miles from my home and also in Staffordshire. Robin Hood was it seems, a Staffordshire man who, despite eating a lot of venison, obtained immortality via his beef with the Sheriff of Nottingham.
What is now known as the Midlands is sometimes referred to as Mercia, after the ancient Kingdom, which once comprised most of England, including London. The west Midlands county is the newest, AFAIK, essentially being cannibalised from its neighbours in the 1970s.
Pronounce Shire "Sher" also good effort. I live in England and would struggle with some of them. Ham is also pronounced "Hem".
I'd say ham as 'um'. And cester is usually 'ster'
@@Emmet_Moore yes your right it's more um then hem. Thank you!
The Isle of Wight is a really lovely place to visit, and you are right there are lots of rocky cliffs and a lighthouse on the southernmost point, looking out to sea. I’m not from there though, I’m from Sussex just a bit further along.
Most Robin Hood stories are about Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. However, Walter Scott's novels place Robin in South Yorkshire. Everyone agrees that he lived in Sherwood Forest, which these days is in Nottinghamshire but it used to be much bigger and covered North Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire.
Nice vid! Btw yes Nottinghamshire is to do with Robin Hood, Sherwood Forest is there!
I want to see what Sherwood Forest looks like : )
You can see it from the motorway. It's smaller because the trees were removed to build ships and created more farmland.
I'm seriously impressed with how many you got right - I don't think many English, or British people would get nearly as many. 😱
I'm from Suffolk, on the border of Essex and Cambridgeshire. We pronounce it Suff- (a bit like stuff, without the t) -ook (like the end of rook or cook). The name originates from South Folk, as opposed to those in Norfolk - the North Folk. 😉
Great video though - I'm so glad to have found your channel! Keep up the great work! 😁
The administrative counties are those focussed around the larger cities such as bristol, West Midlands, Greater London, greater Manchester. The home counties around London have simple names that were influenced by the Saxons, those further out tend to have ‘shire’ and influenced by the normans and represented feudal areas, whilst those in the far north have names more related to when the Danes controlled the land. Similarly the west of England was controlled by the Saxons (Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset). Fun fact is Yorkshire was originally split into three (I.e. riding) so there only ever was North riding, East Riding and west riding (Viking derivation).. I am impressed at your attempt, hope you had fun.
To answer your question about Buckingham Palace, it's so called because it was originally a house built by the Duke of Buckingham before George III bought it. Peerage titles are named for towns or counties but that doesn't always mean the person is from there - for example the Dukes of Devonshire live in Derbyshire!
I'm from Hampshire, but it's quite a big county. I identify more with the sub-region, the New Forest, which my hometown is on the edge of.
Ceremonial counties are the old divisions, modern subdivisions are a bit different. For example, Greater London used to split between counties. Those being Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey. Middlesex (North London) was completely subsumed, the others still exist. Also other boundaries have changed. Bournemouth used to be Hampshire, but is now in Dorset.
10:08 you got my county right! :D I'm so happy! lol. TBH you did a great job finding the counties, and not just 'for an American' either, this was pretty impressive!
as for Wiltshire, not sure what to say other than Salisbury Plain you might have heard of, the war film '1917' was filmed entirely there. I'm from Swindon which is in the NE of the county and is famous for its railway works. Other than that i'm not sure what to say about Wiltshire without looking things up!
On a related but slightly different topic, whichever English county that you are in you are further north than anywhere in the United States except Alaska, and you are further north than almost all Canadian cities.
Lands End, on the southern tip of Cornwall, is at a latitude of 50 degrees North. The border between the US and Canada is usually at 48 degrees North and most Canadians live within 100 miles of the border.
There's an interesting card game called Mapominoes (Dominoes but with maps), where you connect cards according to their borders, with hints to ensure the less knowledgeable can play and learn (it's supposed to be educational after all!). The UK version connects counties.
There are also a US states version as well as various continental countries versions (Africa, Asia/Oceania, Europe and North/Central/South Americas editions). You could play using all the continent editions as a mega global game, but may need a village hall to play it in...
You did really well. I doubt many Brits would get as high a score as that. Fancy an American knowing where Rutland is. Amazing. Quick lesson on pronunciation, though.
Gloucestershire - Glosster'sha
Leicestershire - Lesster'sha
Worcestershire - Wusster'sha'
The 'cester' component indicates an early Roman settlement, and can be found all over Britain in names like Bicester (pron. Bissta) and Rocester (pron. Roaster.) Chester, Winchester etc come from the same root.
You done a lot better then what most UK folk would do. I'm from the West Midlands which is famous for being industrial and the spaghetti junction.
The "Shire" comes from when the British Isles were a group of Anglo Saxon kingdoms, and the word Shire comes from a word used then to define districts of local governors. The ancient counties tended to be much larger, and the town for which they were named was the governing seat, so York was the 'capital' of the District (shire) of York, Derby was the 'capital' of the district (Shire) of Derby etc etc. From what I know, the US states are set up in a similar way to this, ie each state has a state capital where that states government resides.
Also, I love the ultra-American-ism of "Dagummit" Definitely chuckled at that and the perfect pronouncement of Worcestershire when you were talking about the sauce.
Pretty good result as well.