A cruel, hard-hearted man. Turkish treatment; barbarous usage. Turkish shore; Lambeth, Southwark, and Rotherhithe side of the Thames.
Definition taken from The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.
turf * turkey merchantNathan Bailey's 1721 Dictionary of canting and thieving slang
John S. Farmer's collection of canting songs and slang rhymes