{"id":928,"date":"2020-02-14T14:31:43","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T14:31:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=928"},"modified":"2026-07-17T07:03:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T07:03:41","slug":"the-cork-leg","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/the-cork-leg\/","title":{"rendered":"Cork leg, The"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Myheer Von Clam<\/td><\/tr>
First published<\/td>1832<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lyrics<\/strong><\/td>Thomas Hudson<\/td>Music<\/strong><\/td> Jonathan Blewitt <\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN4376<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Music Hall performers<\/strong><\/td>Thomas Hudson 1830s
Sam Cowell 1840s<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Tom Kines 1950s, 60s<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
As written by Thomas Hudson<\/strong>\n A tale I'll tell you without any flam, \n In Holland there dwelt Mynheer Von Clam \n Who every morning said, 'I am  \n The richest merchant in Rotterdam.' \n Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. \n \n One day he'd stuffed as full as an egg \n When a poor relation came to beg \n But he kicked him out without broaching a keg \n And in kicking him out he broke his own leg \n Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. \n \n A surgeon, the first in his vocation \n Came and made a long oration \n He wanted a limb for anatomization \n So he finished the job by amputation \n Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. \n \n Said Mynheer, when he had done his work \n 'By your knife I lose one fork \n But upon crutches I'll never stalk \n For I'll have a beautiful leg of cork.' \n Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. \n \n An artist in Rotterdam, 'twould seem \n Had made cork legs his study and theme \n Each joint was as strong as an iron beam \n The works a compound of clockwork and steam \n Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. \n \n The leg was made and fitted right \n Inspection the artist did invite \n The fine shape gave Mynheer delight \n And he fixed it on and screwed it tight \n Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. \n \n He walked through squares and past each shop \n Of speed he went at the very top \n Each step he took with a bound and a hop \n Till he found his leg he couldn't stop \n Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. \n \n Horror and fright were in his face \n The neighbours thought he was running a race \n He clung to a post to stay his pace \n But the leg remorselessly kept up the pace \n Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. \n \n He called to some men with all his might \n 'Oh stop me, or I'm murdered quite.' \n But though they heard him aid invite \n He, in less than a minute was out of sight \n Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. \n \n He ran o'er hill, and dale, and plain \n To ease his weary bones he fain \n Did throw himself down but all in vain\n The leg got up, and was off again \n Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. \n \n He walked for days and nights a score \n Of Europe he had made a tour \n He died, but though he was no more \n The leg walked on the same as before \n Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. \n \n In Holland sometimes he comes in sight \n A skeleton on a cork leg tight \n No cash did the artist's skill requite \n He never was paid and it served him right \n Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la. \n \n My tale I've told both plain and free \n Of the richest merchant that could be \n Who never was buried, though dead , ye see \n And I've been singing his L.E.G. (elegy) \n Ri too ral loo ral loo ral loo ral ri too roo ral la<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
 The original lyrics were written by Thomas Hudson<\/a>, 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:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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[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.<\/p>\nHarold Scott: The Early Doors<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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<\/em>, The Dogs Meat Man<\/em> and Walker the Twopenny Postman<\/em>. Hudson published collections of his songs annually between 1818 and 1831<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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  • Michael Cleary 1956, Ontario by Edith Fowke<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Willie Matheson, 1952, Aberdeenshire, by Hamish Henderson<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  •  John Strachan, 1952, Aberdeenshire, by Hamish Henderson <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Its a well-known song in Irish and Irish-North American traditional music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    AS sung by Canadian singer Tom Kines:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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