Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
'The Vly be on the Turmut' (i.e. The Fly is on the Turnip') (Roud 1376), also called 'The Turmut Hoer' or 'Turmut Hoeing' is an English folk song, and is the unofficial song of the English county of Wiltshire, sung in the Wiltshire dialect.
The song is one of the regimental marching songs of the Wiltshire Regiment. According to a long-established Salisbury tradition, the city's Member of Parliament sings the song from the balcony of the White Hart Hotel in St John's Street after winning each Parliamentary election.
The song also appears with variations in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. The BBC's Music Library contains seven editions of the versions from the three counties.
Performed by the Yetties.
Images:
'Turnip Singlers – A Hard Taskmaster' by William Darling McKay.
'The Mayor of Casterbridge, by Thomas Hardy. The turnip hoer, 1886' by the illustrator Robert Barnes.
'Ploughing with Oxen' by Léon-Augustin Lhermitte.
'Turnip Field' by Robert Hills.
'The Vly be on the Turmut' (i.e. The Fly is on the Turnip') (Roud 1376), also called 'The Turmut Hoer' or 'Turmut Hoeing' is an English folk song, and is the unofficial song of the English county of Wiltshire, sung in the Wiltshire dialect.
The song is one of the regimental marching songs of the Wiltshire Regiment. According to a long-established Salisbury tradition, the city's Member of Parliament sings the song from the balcony of the White Hart Hotel in St John's Street after winning each Parliamentary election.
The song also appears with variations in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. The BBC's Music Library contains seven editions of the versions from the three counties.
Performed by the Yetties.
Images:
'Turnip Singlers – A Hard Taskmaster' by William Darling McKay.
'The Mayor of Casterbridge, by Thomas Hardy. The turnip hoer, 1886' by the illustrator Robert Barnes.
'Ploughing with Oxen' by Léon-Augustin Lhermitte.
'Turnip Field' by Robert Hills.
