Cork leg, The

AKA Myheer Von Clam
First published 1832
Lyrics Thomas Hudson Music Jonathan Blewitt Roud RN4376

Music Hall performers Thomas Hudson 1830s
Sam Cowell 1840s
Folk performances Tom Kines 1950s, 60s 

As written by Thomas Hudson
 A tale I'll tell you without any flam, 
 In Holland there dwelt Mynheer Von Clam 
 Who every morning said, 'I am  
 The richest merchant in Rotterdam.' 
 Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. 
 
 One day he'd stuffed as full as an egg 
 When a poor relation came to beg 
 But he kicked him out without broaching a keg 
 And in kicking him out he broke his own leg 
 Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. 
 
 A surgeon, the first in his vocation 
 Came and made a long oration 
 He wanted a limb for anatomization 
 So he finished the job by amputation 
 Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. 
 
 Said Mynheer, when he had done his work 
 'By your knife I lose one fork 
 But upon crutches I'll never stalk 
 For I'll have a beautiful leg of cork.' 
 Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. 
 
 An artist in Rotterdam, 'twould seem 
 Had made cork legs his study and theme 
 Each joint was as strong as an iron beam 
 The works a compound of clockwork and steam 
 Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. 
 
 The leg was made and fitted right 
 Inspection the artist did invite 
 The fine shape gave Mynheer delight 
 And he fixed it on and screwed it tight 
 Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. 
 
 He walked through squares and past each shop 
 Of speed he went at the very top 
 Each step he took with a bound and a hop 
 Till he found his leg he couldn't stop 
 Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. 
 
 Horror and fright were in his face 
 The neighbours thought he was running a race 
 He clung to a post to stay his pace 
 But the leg remorselessly kept up the pace 
 Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. 
 
 He called to some men with all his might 
 'Oh stop me, or I'm murdered quite.' 
 But though they heard him aid invite 
 He, in less than a minute was out of sight 
 Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. 
 
 He ran o'er hill, and dale, and plain 
 To ease his weary bones he fain 
 Did throw himself down but all in vain
 The leg got up, and was off again 
 Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. 
 
 He walked for days and nights a score 
 Of Europe he had made a tour 
 He died, but though he was no more 
 The leg walked on the same as before 
 Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. 
 
 In Holland sometimes he comes in sight 
 A skeleton on a cork leg tight 
 No cash did the artist's skill requite 
 He never was paid and it served him right 
 Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. 
 
 My tale I've told both plain and free 
 Of the richest merchant that could be 
 Who never was buried, though dead , ye see 
 And I've been singing his L.E.G. (elegy) 
 Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la

This song is thought to date from the early or mid 1830s, and to have been written initially for performance in Tavern singing rooms and pleasure gardens. The original tune was written by Jonathan Blewitt (1782-1853) organist and composer of light opera comic songs.

The original lyrics were written by Thomas Hudson, who also performed it. Hudson (1791-1844) started his working life as a grocer but became a prodigious writer, performer and publisher of songs. He managed the famous “OP and PS” theatrical Tavern in Covent Garden, and frequently appeared at the Cyder Cellars. Harold Scott, historian of the early Halls, sees Hudson as a transitional figure, writing songs which still bears traces of highfalutin hedonistic 18th-century style, but pointing towards later Music Hall:

[there are] certain links with [Pleasure] garden songs, there being a considerable trace of the Bacchanalian note of the 18th century, but added to these characteristics may be perceived the signs of change. These consist of development was a purely domestic source of humour – a reliance on the commonplace and intimate occurrences of everyday life.

Harold Scott: The Early Doors

I am not sure that these developments are particularly visible in this song, but they may be more prominent in his other songs like Petticoat and Breaches, The Dogs Meat Man and Walker the Twopenny Postman. Hudson published collections of his songs annually between 1818 and 1831

In the last 70 years of the 19th century the song was extremely widely printed in books and broadsides in the British Isles, North America and Ireland. It has only rarely been collected from source singers, in the later 20th century, from singing of:

  • Michael Cleary 1956, Ontario by Edith Fowke
  • Willie Matheson, 1952, Aberdeenshire, by Hamish Henderson
  • John Strachan, 1952, Aberdeenshire, by Hamish Henderson

Its a well-known song in Irish and Irish-North American traditional music.

AS sung by Canadian singer Tom Kines:

Sources: