Turkey Rhubarb

AKA(As a dance tune it is aka Shoe the donkey)
First Published1867

Writer/composerRober CoombsRoudRN1073

Music Hall PerformersGeorge Leybourne
Folk performancesCollected from the singing of:
Scott, Harry; England: Bedfordshire; 1959
Modern performances
The Teacups, Jon Boden, Tim Hart and Maddy Prior
Chorus from sheet music cover (1867)
Turkey Rhubarb, Turkey Rhubarb, Turkey Rhubarb I sell
I came here from Turkey to make you all well
Perhaps you don't know me, but my name it is Dan
I am the celebrated Turkey Rhubarb man.

[Thus far I have not been able to look at the full original sheet music. The cover of the sheet music which includes the chorus is reproduced in Christopher Beeching’s book. I will amend this entry when/if I can access the original sheet music.]

The chorus and melody of this Music Hall song have passed into traditional singing and dancing in Ireland and Britain.

Turkey Rhubarb was a well-known medicinal plant in Victorian times, used amongst other things as a laxative. It was the subject of at least two songs – this one and The Turkey Rhubarb Man (Roud V2018). This particular song was famously performed by George Leybourne, it was written for him by Robert Coombs.

Christopher Beeching in his excellent biography of Leybourne describes how:

at some performances [he] followed Burgundy Ben with a contrasting character song, Turkey Rhubarb. To effect a speedy change of costume he would simply replace the pale jacket with a dark one … adding a white apron, a Fez and a black bushy beard, he would step out onto the stage as “Dan the celebrated Turkey Rhubarb man”. Dan has come from Turkey because he has heard that all the ladies were handsome and his ambition was to copy the Sultan and “marry a score”. He only manages to marry 10 before one of them becomes jealous and informs the police, with the consequence that he spends 10 years in jail.

Beeching goes on to describe how Leybourne drew comedy from the taboo subjects of bigamy and purgative effects of the plant.

Tim Hart and Maddy Prior sing it:

The music seems to have been adopted as a dance tune in Cornwall and Ireland. Its used for the varsovienne, a dance which includes elements of the polka waltz and mazurka. Here’s a Cornish version:

Sources:

Last Updated on November 8, 2023 by John Baxter | Published: November 30, 2022

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