All my eye (and Betty Martin)

'All my eye and Betty Martin' is a quaint British expression that dates from the late 18th century, and was a standard retort to anyone who was talking rubbish or nonsense, similar to hogwash. Who Betty Martin is or was, remains a mystery. It was soon shortened to ‘all my eye’ or simply ‘my eye’ by the late 18th/early 19th century, the latter being the preferred American version. Thereafter there were variations like 'all my eye and my grandmother', 'all my eye and elbow', 'all my eye and Tommy' etc.