Where did the Black Country phrase Yam Yam come from?

Over the past few months we've been inviting our readers to ask us to investigate the subjects in which they are interested.

Shaun Harrison asked us where the phrase "Yam Yam" came from "referring to people from the Black Country".

The Urban Dictionary website said it derived from the Black Country dialect for "you are" - "yam".

Terry Price, a historian born in Great Bridge in West Bromwich, said the pronunciation in dialect was nearer to "y'owm" or "yo am" instead of "you are".

"I'd never heard of that expression in my youth," said 78-year-old Mr Price. "I think it's a relatively recent thing."

Birmingham historian Carl Chinn said he believed the phrase may have been introduced in the 1970s or 1980s but said he had not researched it so could not say so with certainty.

This editor of the Black Country Society's magazine The Blackcountryman, Michael Pearson, said when he worked in the police in the 1980s they used the phrase to distinguish Black Country folk from Brummies, who they called Lardi's (as in la-di-dah).

He said it came from a take on the Black Country accent in phrases like "y'am alright".