Uncle Tom Cobley

The phrase Uncle Tom Cobley and all is used in British English as a humorous or whimsical way of saying et cetera, often to express exasperation at the large number of items in the list. The phrase comes from a Devon folk song Widecombe Fair, collected by Sabine Baring-Gould. Its chorus ends with a long list of people – "For I want for to go to Widecombe Fair, With Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney, Peter Davy, Dan'l Whiddon, Harry Hawke, Old Uncle Tom Cobley and all."

Related Topics:
British English - Humorous - Et cetera - Devon - Folk song - Widecombe Fair - Sabine Baring-Gould - Chorus

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There have allegedly been instances of scientific papers – where multiple authorship is common – published with "Cobley, U. T." listed as one among a long list of authors. There are certainly some cases of papers listed with U. T. Cobley as an author in reference lists.

Related Topics:
Scientific paper - Reference lists

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A paper by Cross, Heyworth, Murrell, Bockamp, Dexter and Green, published in the journal Oncogene in 1994 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=8084606, is frequently listed with the authors cited as "Cross, M. A., Heyworth, C. M., Murrell, A. M., Bockamp, E.-O., Cobley, U. T., Dexter, T. M. & Green, A. R."

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Whether Tom Cobley, or the other characters from the song, ever existed is uncertain. Local historians have attempted to trace them in and around Dartmoor (for if they did ride to the fair at Widecombe, they may have travelled some distance).

Related Topics:
Dartmoor - Widecombe

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The strongest claim is held by the village of Spreyton, to the north of the moor, whose churchyard does indeed contain the grave of a Tom Cobley, buried 11 January 1844. The village has made the most of this, and now has a ?Tom Cobley Cottage? and a ?Tom Cobley Tavern?. There also appears to have been a Bill Brewer who lived in nearby Sticklepath, and a Pearse family who ran a local mill.

Related Topics:
Spreyton - Sticklepath

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However, there is a problem with this theory: the earliest recorded Widecombe Fair was held in 1850 - six years after this particular Tom Cobley's death!

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