Chapter II: Part 2

"Presented by the Six-Feet Club, to the St. Ronan's
Border Club, to be awarded to the best Wrestler, at
their first Gymnastic Competition, at Innerleithen,
26th September, 1827."

And on the reverse side, the following quotation from Waller:--

"Great Julius, on the mountain bred,
A flock perchance or herd had led:
He who subdued the world had been
But the best Wrestler on the green."

Gained by GEORGE SCOUGAL, Innerleithen.

Thirty-two competitors.

Scougal carried off, also, the head prize for Wrestling, at the St. Ronan's Games, for the years 1828 and 1829. After performing these feats, he was "outlawed"--that is, he was excluded from contending again in the same arena, for the three years which followed. When past the prime of life, he was induced to enter the wrestling ring again, which he very unwillingly did, after much persuasion, and once more succeeded in bearing off first honours.

In his day, Scougal was looked upon as the champion wrestler on the Scottish side of the Borders. At the St. Ronan's Games, he gained six medals for wrestling and throwing the hammer; and, likewise, a considerable number of trophies at other local meetings. A stout massive built man, he stood five feet eleven inches high, and weighed from fifteen to sixteen stones. With little or no knowledge of scientific wrestling, he nevertheless proved more than a match for all comers, by the herculean amount of power he possessed in the shoulders and arms.

His usual mode of attack was to gather an opponent well to his breast, and then by sheer strength keep him there until a favourable opportunity presented itself to rush him upon his back. When excited or ruffled in temper, he gripped his man quickly and firmly, and then, in spite of all struggles or clicks, threw him over his hip. These movements were the nearest approach to science known to Scougal.

Scougal was a butcher by trade, and is thus referred to in the _Noctes Ambrosiana_, in the Shepherd's parlance: "Geordie Scougal slauchered a beast last market day at Innerleithen, and his meat's aye prime." On one occasion, he actually felled a bullock with a blow from his fist; and in the smithy, which adjoined his slaughter-house, he not unfrequently exhibited feats of surpassing strength, one of which was to lift a waggon axle and two wheels, with a heavy man seated at each end of the axle. His skill in throwing the hammer was well known, and during his early manhood he carried off most of the leading prizes. At several meetings, the Harpers came into competition with him, but never approached any nearer than second to the dual Border champion of wrestling and throwing the hammer. Old people, who remember Scougal's earliest efforts, describe him as a veritable Goliath of Gath in strength, but--unless unduly excited--as gentle as a woman in manner and bearing.

After Scougal's three years had elapsed, Robert Michie of Hawick, came to the fore as amateur wrestler. Michie took the belt at St. Ronan's, and kept it about two years. He was present at most of the gymnastic gatherings on the Borders, and carried off many prizes for wrestling and hammer throwing. At the Hawick Border Games in 1831, he threw Thomas Emmerson, from the neighbourhood of Carlisle,[6] after an exciting contest of some duration. His hammer throwing at St. Ronan's was inimitable, and has been described by the Ettrick Shepherd in the "Bridal of Polmood."

Michie is introduced anachronically into the "Royal Bridal," in Wilson's _Tales of the Borders_, after the following fashion:--

At a distance from the pavilion,... was a crowd
composed of some seven or eight hundred peasantry
engaged in and witnessing the athletic games of the
Borders. Among the competitors was one called Meikle
Robin, or Robin Meikle. He was strength personified.
His stature exceeded six feet; his shoulders were
broad, his chest round, his limbs well and strongly put
together. He was a man of prodigious bone and sinews.
At throwing the hammer, at putting the stone, no man
could stand before him. He distanced all who came
against him, and, while he did so, he seemed to put
forth not half his strength, while his skill appeared
equal to the power of his arm.

The following notice of the wrestling at Saint Ronan's, for 1831, is copied from the _Edinburgh Literary Journal_:--

Wrestling is not a Scotch game, as will be conceded by
every one who has been present at the Carlisle and
Saint Ronan's games. There is strength enough among our
peasantry, but it is the ore--it has never been moulded
for a practical purpose. Men came forward on this
occasion, who never would have dreamed of thrusting
their noses into an English ring; and they set to work
in a slovenly unhandsome way--some of them armed
_cap-à-piè_--hat, coat, and shoes. Still, amid the
motley crew you might recognise men who knew both how
to seize and to wield their antagonists. The art only
needs encouragement; and we trust next meeting will
witness a better turn-out.

There were other local athletes, who figured in the ring at Saint Ronan's, almost a match for Scougal. George Best of Yarrow, tailor, possessed far more science than the Innerleithen butcher, and was the holder of several prizes. Best, likewise, finds a niche in the _Noctes Ambrosiana_ of October, 1828, where the Shepherd is made to exclaim:--"Tibbie's married. The tailor carried her aff frae them a'--the flyin' tailor o' Ettrick, sir--him that can do fifteen yards, at hap-step-and-loup, back and forward on level grun'--stood second ae year in the ring at Carlisle--can put a stane within a foot o' Jedburgh Bell himsell, and fling the hammer neist best ower a' the border to Geordie Scougal o' Innerleithen."

In which year of grace, we wonder, did Best stand second in the Carlisle ring? Wilson's memory must have proved treacherous when he penned this sentence. At all events, if Best _did_ wrestle second, "ae year in the ring at Carlisle," it must have been for some minor prize, long since forgotten.

Abraham Clark of Calzie, farmer, a man of powerful frame, entered the ring after Scougal was "outlawed," and did some noteworthy feats.

Another man, also remembered as a prize taker in the ring at Saint Ronan's, was Walter Scott of Selkirk, carrier.

At Miles End, in Northumberland, athletic games were kept up until recently. Young men from both sides of the Borders entered keenly into these contests; and one noteworthy peculiarity of them was, that of keeping up the old national characteristic of Englishmen being pitted against Scotchmen, and Scotchmen against Englishmen. This mode of contesting was the means of producing many splendid feats of agility and prowess, but was apt to degenerate into mere exhibitions of warm blood, which too frequently ended in blows being exchanged by the rival combatants. Remnants of these contests may be witnessed to this day, at the annual fair at Stagshawbank, between the shepherds from the Reed, Liddle, Coquet, and Tyne, and those from the Slitrig, Jed, Oxmoor, Kail, and Teviot. Wrestling was always a leading sport at these gatherings; single-stick, tilting, leaping, and foot-racing, were also practised; and hence the devotion shown to these and similar athletic pastimes by the sturdy race of people living on both sides of the Cheviots.

IRISH WRESTLING.

The "collar and elbow" is the national style of wrestling in Ireland--that is, to take hold of an opponent's collar with one hand, and his elbow with the other. The fall is won if an opponent touches the ground with his hand, knee, back, or side, as in the Cumberland and Westmorland style.

A wrestling match was witnessed in Phoenix Park, Dublin, in the autumn of 1876, which may serve to illustrate to some extent the manner of proceeding. A ring was formed, around which seven or eight thousand people gathered, and two coats laid in the centre of the ring. Presently a wrestler enters, and dons one of the coats, which was a challenge for any man to take up the other coat. Another wrestler shortly after enters, and then, when due preliminaries are gone through, the tussle commenced in earnest. But how it proceeded, or how it ended--whether the struggle was an arduous one, or the victory an easy one--our informant could not tell.

At the termination of the Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling held at the British Lion, Redcross Street, London, on August 21st, 1844, one Kelly, an Irishman, challenged any native of either of the above counties, to wrestle for a sovereign, in the collar and elbow style, the gainer of the first three falls, out of five, to be the winner. This offer was accepted by Edward Stainton, a native of Westmorland. And after three-quarters of an hour's good play, Stainton had floored his man three times in succession. Kelly was second in the leaping match at the same sports.

* * * * *

[NOTE.--We regret exceedingly the great paucity of our
information on the subject of Irish Wrestling.
Enquiries were made in many and various ways, without
success. Any information respecting two or three of the
representative wrestlers of the Green Isle, addressed
to the _local_ publishers, will be very acceptable.]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Daiklès, the Messenian, was the first who had the honour of being crowned with the simple wreath woven from the sacred olive-tree near Olympia, for his victory in the Stadium.

[2] Hill's Essays.

[3] Strutt's Sports and Pastimes.

[4] Retrospective Review.

[5] Professor Wilson was anxious to get enrolled in the Six-Feet Club, but could not manage it. He was just half-an-inch too short.

[6] Emmerson was a powerful built man, a mason by trade, who wrestled for several years in the Carlisle and other rings, with moderate success. He won the head prize at Hawick in 1835.

CUMBERLAND AND WESTMORLAND WRESTLING.

Wrestlers of Cumberland,
Good fellows all;
Wrestlers of Westmorland,
Stout lads and tall:
Ye who are thrown to-day,
Rise more alert and gay,
Next year make the play,
Good fellows all.

_King Arthur's Round Table Ballad_, 1824.

Wrestling, as a matter of course, occupies a prominent position in our review of Northern Pastimes, more especially from the commencement to the end of the time to which our notices extend. Some of the other sports are now remembered only as illustrating the habits of a byegone period. In this last are to be classed Bull-baiting and Cock-fighting: condemned now as cruel and torturing by all classes, but deserving of record from their encouragement and popularity in times past. Others of a less objectionable type are extinct as well. That almost all were looked upon with disfavour by a considerable portion of the community, in the old Puritan times of Cromwell, the following curious extract will abundantly testify. It is quoted from THE AGREEMENT OF THE ASSOCIATED MINISTERS AND CHURCHES OF THE COUNTIES OF CUMBERLAND AND WESTMERLAND. _London: Printed by T. L. for Simon Waterson, and are sold at the sign of the Globe in Paul's Churchyard, and by Richard Scot, Bookseller in Carlisle, 1656._

"All scandalous persons hereafter mentioned are to be suspended from the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper: this is to say ... any person that shall upon the Lord's Day use any dancing, playing at dice, or cards, or any other game, masking, wakes, shooting, playing, playing at football, stool ball, _Wrestling_; or that shall make resort to any Playes, interludes, fencing, bull baiting, bear baiting; or that shall use hawking, hunting, or coursing, fishing or fowling; or that shall publikely expose any wares to sale otherwise than is provided by an Ordinance of Parliament of the sixth of April, 1649.... These Counties of Cumberland and Westmerland have been hitherto as a Proverb and a by-word in respect of ignorance and prophaneness; Men were ready to say of them as the Jews of Nazareth, Can any good thing come out of them?"

This intolerant anathema did not put a stop to the practice of Wrestling, on fine summer evenings, at nearly all the villages of Cumberland and Westmorland--a practice, we opine, less detrimental to the formation of a good rural peasantry than loitering about or brawling in village ale-houses. It was, however, upwards of a century and a half after, before back-hold wrestling assumed the importance it has attained. A passing notice of doings in the ring, in a long ago period, may nevertheless be interesting.

In King Edward the Sixth's time, somewhere between 1547 and 1553, a gigantic youth of great strength and in wrestling practice, resided at Troutbeck, near Windermere. His name was Gilpin, or Herd. His mother was driven away from Furness with child--generally asserted in the neighbourhood--to one of the monks of Furness Abbey. The mother afterwards led a tramping and begging sort of life, and drew to a house in Troutbeck belonging to the Crown. The house and some adjoining land were conferred by the king on a retainer, who on attempting to take possession, met with determined opposition from the desperate woman, and her wild son Gilpin, or, as he was familiarly called, the "Cork Lad of Kentmere." This led to the "Lad"--then about twenty years old--being summoned to London. He set off on foot, in a home-spun dress, and after many strange adventures and shifty expedients, reached the end of his long journey. Soon after arriving, the king held a meeting for athletic contests. The wild-looking northerner was present, and ascended the stage to contend with the champion wrestler. He easily won the first fall. In the second, he threw the champion clear off the stage. After astonishing the spectators by several other muscular performances, the king sent for him, and enquired who and what he was, and where he came from. He told the king he did not know his own name, but "folk commonly co' me the Cork Lad o' Kentmere!" The king desiring to know the sort of food he lived on at home, received this quaint reply, "Thick porridge an' milk that a mouse might walk on dry shod, to my breakfast; an' the sunny side of a wedder to my dinner, when I can get it." Being acknowledged champion, the king wished to confer some reward as a distinction, and asked him to state what he wished. He begged to have the house he lived in at Troutbeck, and land adjacent to get peat off, and wood from Troutbeck Park for fire. These were soon made over to him. He did not enjoy the generous gift for any lengthened period; for at the age of forty-two, he got so injured in attempting to pull up a tree by the roots, that he died from the effects. Leaving no children or will, the estate reverted to the Crown, and King Charles the First granted it to Huddleston Philipson of Calgarth.

It appears that Kentmere Hall in Kentmere--a secluded pastoral dale, some dozen miles north of Kendal, and running in another dozen miles up to the steep sides of Hill Bell, Nan Beild, and High Street--was built at the time the "Cork Lad" was in the valley. During the building, he performed a surprising feat of strength, by placing, without any assistance, a huge beam on the walls. On a Mr. Birkett being applied to by James Clarke, the author of the "Survey of the Lakes," for particulars respecting the well nigh incredible feat, he replied in the following sensible letter:--

"I have taken dimensions of the beam at Kentmere Hall, which is thirty feet in length and thirteen inches by twelve-and-a-half in thickness. There is no inscription on it, as you mentioned. I shall inform you what has been given by tradition, (and I had it from a man that was _one hundred and four years old_ when he died). When the Hall was building, and the workmen gone to dinner, this man, whose name was Herd, happened to be there, and while they were at dinner, laid it up himself. At that time the Scots made frequent incursions into England. He with his bow and arrows killed many of them in coming off the mountains, at a place which still retains the name of 'Scot's Rake,' which is about a mile from where he lived."

In the days of brave Queen Bess, lived Richard Mulcaster, whose father represented the city of Carlisle in Parliament. "By ancient parentage and lininal discent," Mulcaster was "an esquier borne; by the most famous Queen Elizabeth's prerogative gift," parson of Stanford Rivers church, in Essex. Being an earnest student, he became not only proficient in the Greek and Oriental languages, but also an expert archer, and thought it not unbecoming to his cloth to shoot by times, at "the targets for glory at Mile End Green." This good old clergyman loved athletic exercises so well, that among other learned treatises, he issued one in 1581 entitled "Positions; wherein those Primitive Circumstances be examined, which are necessarie for the training up of Children, either for Skill in their Booke, or Healthe in their Bodie," which was dedicated to his patron, Queen Elizabeth. In this quaint old quarto volume, the author discourses on the ancient art of "wrastling" as becometh one reared on Cumbrian soil. "Clemens Alexandrinus," says he, "which lived at Rome in Galenus' time, in the third book of his 'Pedagogue or Training Maister,' in the title of exercise, rejecting most kinds of wrastling, yet reserveth one as well beseemeing a civill trained man, whom both seemeliness for grace and profitableness for goode healthe do seeme to recommende. Then an exercise it is, and healthfully it may be used; if discretion overlook it, our countrey will allow it. Let us, therefore, use it as Clemens of Alexandria commendes it for, and make choice in our market. Wherefore not to deale with the catching pancratical kind of wrastling which used all kindes of hould to cast and overcome his adversarie, nor any other of that sorte which continuance hath rejected and custome hath refused, I have picked out two which be both civill for use, and in the using upright, without any great stouping. It is a friend to the head, bettereth the bulke, and strengtheneth the sinews. Thus much for wrastling, wherein, as in all other exercises, the training maister must be both cunning to judge of the thing, and himself present to prevente harme when the exercise is in hand."

Leaving this loyal old parson to demonstrate still further his "Positions" to the boys of the Merchant Tailors' and St. Paul's, of both of which schools he was head master, we come across another worthy, Robert Dodd, commonly called "Miller Robin," who lived some years at Brough in Westmorland. He was possessed of such bodily strength as to be able to take a bushel of wheat, (a Carlisle bushel of ninety-six quarts,) between his teeth, and toss it over his shoulder. He would also lie down, and with six bushels of wheat placed on his back, weighing something like nine hundred and fifty pounds, rise up with apparently little exertion. He was also an expert wrestler, and very few who knew the man would contend with him for the annual prize belts. The following Epitaph on a Wrestler, from Miscellaneous Poems, by Ewan Clark of Standing Stone, near Wigton, 1779, is applicable to "Miller Robin."

Here lies the man beneath this stone,
Who often threw, but ne'er was thrown:
Before him his antagonists fell,
As many a broken bone can tell;
Death cry'd, "I'll try this man of strength!"
And laid him here at his full length.

Soon after Robin had succumbed, there came out a Herculean wrestler, named John Woodall, a small statesman, and a native of Gosforth in West Cumberland. At Egremont sports, he came against one Carr, a shoemaker. Carr gained the fall, and at the King's Arms in the evening, began chaffing Woodall, who in a fit of momentary excitement, caught hold of his antagonist, and held him up to the ceiling of the room; and, by the waistband of his breeches, hung him dangling and struggling to a strong crook. We have alluded elsewhere to a wonderful feat of bodily strength, by Robert Atkinson, the Sleagill giant, in carrying a conveyance called a "carr" out of a dyke-back, on to the turnpike road, near Kendal. This unlucky vehicle had defied the efforts of three or four persons to drag it out, by tugging at the shafts and wheels. Very big men, since Atkinson's time, have somehow ceased to be wrestlers.

Two stalwart Cumbrians will, however, be brought under the notice of our readers in the following description of Ancient Sports upon Stone Carr, near Greystoke. This particular, and, at the time, highly popular meeting, is introduced to show the description of sports that prevailed in numerous villages throughout the two Northern Counties at the latter part of last and the beginning of the present century. No doubt, the reader will be struck with the wide difference in the value of the prizes, as compared with those given in the present day, when the two Pooleys would get over forty pounds in money and cups, at the Burgh Barony Races of 1877. Stone Carr Sports had been held for many years previous to 1787, and a similar list of prizes given annually to these enumerated; and they seemed to give entire satisfaction to the crowds who assembled from Penrith, Keswick, and all the neighbouring villages.

For the Horses--1st, a Bridle, value £1 6s. Do. do.--2nd, a pair of Spurs 0 6s. For the Wrestlers A Leathern Belt For the Leapers A pair of Gloves For the Foot Racers A Handkerchief For the Dog Coursers A Pewter Quart Pot

Many other small prizes were given, and they brought out a strong determined spirit of contention amongst the competitors. The one who had finally--after many sturdy contests--the belt placed over his shoulders, was regarded as quite a distinguished individual. If there were a dance in the evening, it of course made him a personage of no small account. Old and young regarded wrestling science, wrestling distinction and strength, with keen relish. The Sunday following victory, the champion might be seen marching to church, decorated with the belt, and on the Sunday following showing off at another neighbouring church. And this was not the only distinction: the lasses, one and all, looked on him favourably. He had no difficulty in getting a sweetheart, and matrimonial engagements frequently followed the prize winning; for amongst rustics, as well as in the higher classes, distinction is invariably looked on as a pretty good passport to a lady's favour.

Sometimes disputes would arise--for northern blood at sports and fairs is soon up--and then probably a punishing fight ensues. This, however, rarely happens. When it does take place, it is a fair stand up fisty-cuff fight. A very severe contest occurred at the Stone Carr meeting, which from the amazing stature and strength of the combatants, is deserving of record. Mr. Andrew Huddleston--an enthusiastic admirer of rustic sports--threw up the belt as a competitor. The country people for miles round about his own neighbourhood gave him the _sobriquet_ of "Girt Andrew," from his giant-like stature and great strength. He came against one Thomas Harrison of Blencow, another Titanic specimen of humanity. Probably no two of like Herculean proportions ever stood together to take hold. "Girt Andrew" got grassed with a tremendous thud, and directly offered to fight his opponent. Harrison, no ways backward, accepted the challenge, and both prepared for a set-to. An unexpected interference occurred. A Presbyterian preacher, then stationed at Penruddock, persuaded them to desist, and apparently seemed to have got the burly combatants to depart home peaceably without a resort to blows. The feud, however, proved to be glossed over, and not healed, for even after jointly partaking of a friendly glass, Mr. Huddleston again threw down the gauntlet, and again it was taken up. The fight was obstinate and terrific, both receiving fearful punishment. In the end Harrison triumphed. In after years they continued good neighbours, without any manifestation of ill feeling.

Thomas Harrison had a brother named Launcelot, residing at Penruddock, who followed the occupation of a blacksmith. This man also possessed amazing strength, and was of gigantic stature. When dead, his remains were taken to Greystoke, and buried there. Some years after, the grave digger, in making another grave, dug into Launcelot's. He took out the jaw bone, and it proved to be half as big again as the sexton's, who was a stout six feet man.[7]

Another Penruddock champion died in 1791, at the age of four score and six years, who was styled at that date, "the last of the northern giants." This was Matthias Nicholson, who, through a lengthened period, stood unrivalled at all the wrestlings and other athletic exercises and manly sports, which took place in the neighbourhood. His height was six feet two inches, and his bulk in proportion.

The top of High Street, a mountain near Haweswater, in Westmorland, seems a strange situation for holding Wrestlings, Jumpings, Horse Races, and other sports. This mountain is 2,700 feet above the level of the sea--a breezy elevation, forsooth, for such pastimes. Nevertheless, they were held annually on the 10th of July for many years, and long continued to be a flourishing institution. The primary object of the gathering was this:--On the heaves or pastures of mountain sheep farms, stray sheep are kept and cared for. The shepherds, on the day appointed, drive them to the place of meeting, and give them up to the rightful owners, who identify them by certain marks. After this important business has been gone through, a dinner is set out, and washed down with libations of ale or spirits, and, by the time keen appetites are satisfied, numerous additions have increased the assemblage, and then commence the wrestling, &c. It forcibly illustrates the deep hold these pastimes have in the minds of the rural population, when they are indulged in at such meetings and in such situations. From information which has been gathered from an aged native of Kentmere, it appears that the High Street gatherings fell into neglect, and were discontinued about sixty years since. They have been supplemented by similar ones--minus the races and wrestlings--held annually in November at the little road side hostelry on Kirkstone, and at the "Dun Bull" in Mardale, where sports and wrestlings are held annually on Whit-Monday. Mardale is at other times a lonely, little frequented dale, at the head of Haweswater. On one occasion the landlady of the "Dun Bull," on being remonstrated with for supplying sour porter in June, excused herself by saying: "Why, that's varra queer! It _was_ freysh enuff last grouse time!"

Other places--situate advantageously for holding them--have now their shepherd's gatherings. At the High Street meetings a fox hunt was mostly an important part of the day's proceedings. The following fearful incident happened during a hot chase. Blea Water Cragg is doubtless well known to many summer tourists. It has a sheer fall of about three hundred yards, and the rock in many places appears to jut out even with the bottom. A man named Dixon, from Kentmere, was following a hard run fox, when he slipped and fell from the top of the rocks to the bottom. He was carried home, with no broken bones, but bruised and battered in a shocking manner; nearly all the skin and hair of his head cut off by the sharp-edged rocks--scalped, in fact. In falling, he struck against the rocks many times, and yet, strange to say, by his own account, he did not feel the shocks from first falling over to finally landing at the bottom of the perilous descent. Dizzy, stunned, and unable to stand, he had the chase uppermost in his mind, shouting as well as he was able to the first that got to him: "Lads! lads! t' fox is gane oot at t' hee end! Lig t' dogs on, an' I'll cum seun!" Insensibility soon followed this exhortation, and he was carried home, but recovered ultimately. The rocks have since been known by the name of "Dixon's three jumps."

Wrestling on High Street seems strange, but stranger still is wrestling on the frozen surface of Windermere lake. The one we have to record happened in 1785, during an excessively severe frost. When the ice had attained great thickness, a project was started for roasting a large ox on it. All preparations being made, "Rawlinson's Nab" was fixed upon as the locality for carrying on operations. The eventful day arrived without any break in the frost, and a vast concourse from all parts of the surrounding country assembled to enjoy the unusual sight. Creature comforts, in the shape of eatables and lots of beer, were not wanting. The enlivening strains of a band of music from Kendal, too, gave animation to the scene. The wrestling was in clogs, such as country people at that time generally wore. These primitive coverings for the feet, though well adapted for sliding on the ice, were clumsy to wrestle in; nevertheless, the falls were eagerly contested, and delighted the throng of spectators. The final victor received a belt.

From the interesting autobiography of Thomas Bewick, the celebrated wood engraver, who visited an uncle at Ainstable about the year 1776, we learn the following particulars respecting the feats of one of his cousins in the wrestling ring:--"I remained at Ainstable about a week, during which time I rambled about the neighbourhood, visited my friends at Kirkoswald and elsewhere, and spent what time I could spare in fishing for trout in the Croglin.... I began to think of moving abroad; and my cousin having occasion to go to Carlisle, I went with him there, where we parted.... At Langholm, my landlord who was a Cumberland man and knew my relatives there, was very kind to me; and among other matters concerning them, told me that my cousin who had accompanied me to Carlisle had won nine belts in his wrestling matches in that county."

We next come to a curious, remarkable, and noteworthy old custom at which, towards the latter end of the eighteenth century, and the early part of the nineteenth, wrestlings, and a variety of other sports, were much patronised. The celebration of BRIDEWAINS or BIDDEN WEDDINGS were extremely popular in Cumberland. All the people of the country side were invited. For the amusement of the spectators assembled, prizes were given for sports of various kinds, as will be found described in the graphic dialect poem of John Stagg, the blind bard.

Some for a par o' mittens loup't,
Some wrustl'd for a belt;
Some play'd at pennice-steans for brass;
And some amaist gat fell't.
Hitch-step-an'-loup some tried for spwort,
Wi' mony a sair exertion;
Others for bits o' 'bacca gurn'd,
An' sec like daft devarshon
Put owre that day.

If any reader wishes for a full description of the various incidents and details connected with this old wedding custom, he is recommended to consult Stagg's poem of _The Bridewain_, from which the preceding lines are quoted.

The people of the district were generally invited to these weddings by public advertisement, specimens of which still exist in the files of one or two of the earliest local newspapers. The following is given as a curiosity in its way from the _Cumberland Pacquet_.

BIDDEN WEDDINGS.

Suspend for one Day all your cares and your labours,
And come to this Wedding, kind friends and good Neighbours.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, That the Marriage of Isaac
Pearson with Frances Atkinson, will be solemnized in
due form in the Parish Church of Lamplugh, on Monday
next, the 30th of May, instant--immediately after which
the Bride and Bridegroom, with their attendants, will
proceed to Lonefoot, in the said Parish, where the
Nuptials will be celebrated by a variety of Rural
entertainments.

Then come one and all,
At Hymen's soft call,
From Whitehaven, Workington, Harrington, Dean,
Haile, Ponsonby, Blaing, and all places between;
From Egremont, Cockermouth, Parton, Saint Bees,
Dint, Kinneyside, Calder, and parts joining these;
And the country at large may flock if they please.
Such sports there will be as have seldom been seen--
Such Wrestling, and Fencing, and Dancing between;
And Races for Prizes, and Frolic and Fun,
By Horses, by Asses, and Dogs will be run:--
And you'll all go home happy--as sure as a gun.
In a word--such a Wedding can ne'er fail to please,
For the Sports of Olympus were trifles to these.
_Nota Bene_--You'll please to observe that the Day
Of this grand Bridal Pomp is the thirtieth of May;
When 'tis hop'd that the sun to enliven the sight,
Like the Flambeau of Hymen, will deign to burn bright.

Lamplugh, May 20th, 1786.

The next one which we shall quote, contents itself with a plain prose description of the various attractions.

Richard and Ann Allason present their compliments to
their Friends and the Public in general, and beg leave
to inform them that they intend to have a BRIDEWAIN at
Southwaite, in the Parish of Brigham, on Thursday, the
25th day of May, instant. There will be the following
Sports--such as Horse Races, Dog Races, Wrestling,
Jumping, and Foot Races, &c., &c., &c., and various
other amusements too tedious to mention, to entertain
them; and they will think themselves happy with their
attendance.

Southwaite, 1st May, 1809.

The last Bridewain notice we shall give celebrates the marriage of Henry and Sarah Robinson of High Lorton, near Cockermouth, on June 6th, 1811. This advertisement flows into sprightly verse as follows:--

'Tis Love, immortal Power! gives birth
To healthful Sports and Sprightliest Mirth.
Awhile your Drudgery and Pains
Forego, ye jocund Nymphs and Swains.
We think it only Right to acquaint ye,
That each sort may get Sweethearts plenty!
For those who Pastime love and Fun,
We've Horses, Dogs, and Men to Run;
Athletic Sports we'll set before ye,
And Heats renown'd in Ancient Story;--
Leaping and Wrestling for the Strong,
Enough to please you--_Come Along!_

Professor Wilson--himself a proficient in the noble pastime, and whose great literary attainments assisted materially to elevate _Blackwood's Magazine_ to the proud eminence it attained in his time,--pays in its pages the following eloquent tribute to Wrestling, which was, in his younger days, the principal athletic exercise in the North of England.

It is impossible to conceive the intense and passionate
interest taken by the whole northern population in this
most rural and muscular amusement. For weeks before the
great Carlisle annual contest, nothing else is talked
of on road, field, flood, foot or horseback; we fear it
is thought of even in church, which we regret and
condemn; and in every little comfortable public within
a circle of thirty miles diameter, the home-brewed
quivers in the glasses on the oaken tables to knuckles
smiting the boards in corroboration of the claims to
the championship of Grahame, a Cass, a Laughlin, Solid
Yak, a Wilson, or a Weightman. A political friend of
ours--a staunch fellow--in passing through the lakes
last autumn, heard of nothing but the contest for the
county, which he had understood would be between Lord
Lowther (the sitting member) and Mr. Brougham. But to
his sore perplexity, he heard the claims of new
candidates, to him hitherto unknown; and on meeting us
at that best of inns, the White Lion, Bowness, he told
us with a downcast and serious countenance that Lord
Lowther would be ousted, for that the struggle, as far
as he could learn, would ultimately be between Thomas
Ford of Egremont, and William Richardson of Caldbeck,
men of no landed property, and probably Radicals.... It
is, in our opinion, and according to our taste, not
easy, to the most poetical and picturesque imagination,
to create for itself a more beautiful sight than the
ring at Carlisle.... Fifteen thousand people, perhaps,
are there, all gazing anxiously on the candidates for
the county. Down goes Cass, Weightman is the standing
member; and the agitation of a thousand passions, a
suppressed shudder and an under-growl, moves the mighty
multitude like an earthquake. No savage anger, no
boiling rage of ruined blacklegs, no leering laughter
of mercenary swells--sights and sounds which we must
confess do sicken the sense at Newmarket and
Moulsey--but the visible and audible movements of calm,
strong, temperate English hearts, free from all fear of
ferocity, and swayed for a few moments of sublime
pathos by the power of nature working in victory or
defeat.

We may be allowed to supplement the foregoing with a remark, that there are two things which natives of the Lake Country, and the rural parts of Cumberland and Westmorland, who have migrated southwards, often in their absence sigh for. The one is "a good stiff clim' amang t' fells;" and the other, "a snug seat aroond some russlin' ring."

FOOTNOTES:

[7] Clarke's Survey.

MELMERBY ROUNDS.

Melmerby is one of the finest types of a fell-side rural village left in Cumberland, with its cheerful dwellings scattered here and there--single or in groups,--its old manor hall and miniature church, and its spacious green spreading over fully fourteen acres of land. The village nestles close under Hartside, one of the Crossfell range of mountains, on the direct road from Penrith to Alston, over which the pack-horse bell continued to tinkle, clear and loud, to a much more recent period than it did on the great highways of commerce. This interesting fact has not been overlooked by Miss Powley, in her _Echoes of Old Cumberland_.

When the staunch pack-horse gang of yore
The Fell's unbroken rigours faced,
With stores for miners 'mid the moor,
The Dane's stronghold at ten miles passed;
Then up the steeps their burden bore,
For trackless, treeless, ten miles more.

*....*....*....*

When the staunch troop, with travel sore,
Passed up within the Helm-cloud's veil,
And 'scaped the blast--yet heard it roar
Below in many a western dale;--
When they, to crown the march severe,
Defiled through summits bleak and brown;
With sudden speed, and louder cheer,
Came clattering down to Alston town,
Round which the wide fells darkly peer,
And grasping winter cheats the year.

The Melmerby folk to this day are pastoral in occupation, intercourse, and habits. Their conversation, running for the most part on rural topics, is plentifully interlarded with such expressions as "Fetchin' t' kye heàm," "Fodderin' t' sheep," and "Takin' t' nag to t' smiddy." Occasionally, the blood runs warmer with excitement and curiosity, when a shrill cry like the following rings through the village streets, "Run wid t' rèapes, lad! A coo's i' t' mire!"

At the Gale, within a mile of the village, where the land rests principally on a limestone bottom, the produce of cream is not of that dubious quality known to pent-up city dames, but so rich and thick that a spoon will almost stand upright in it. The cream of this dairy has frequently been tested with one of the old copper pennies of George the Third coinage, which formidable weight it always bore triumphantly on the top.

For fully a century, and probably a much longer period, Melmerby has been known as a noted place for upholding the manly back-hold wrestling of the North. On Old Midsummer Day--that is, on the 5th of July of each year--this village commenced its annual two-days' sports, which consisted of prizes for wrestling, leaping, foot-racing, dog-trailing, etc. The wrestling took place on that part of the green known as the cock-pit, where many a doughty champion has been sent sprawling at full length on his back. Although the amount given in prizes was small,[8] the entry of names was always large, from sixty to seventy being the average number; while more than four-score men have contended at various times. By being held at the season of the year when the days were longest, and when they wore their sunniest aspect, Melmerby Rounds were invariably attended by vast concourses of spectators. The Alstonians used to muster remarkably strong; the miners and others coming over Hartside in considerable droves from that town, and the neighbouring villages of Nenthead and Garrigill-gates. So great became the celebrity of the Melmerby ring, that first-rate wrestlers have frequently travelled as far as thirty and forty miles to throw and be thrown upon its village green. Buying and selling was a thing unknown. One friend might give way to another sometimes; but, as a rule, it was purely the honour of becoming victor, for the time being, that emulated most of the competitors.

A veritable giant in height and strength, who was in his prime about 1805, being ambitious to excel as an athlete, attended these sports for several years, but never succeeded in carrying off a single prize. This was Teasdale Thompson of High Rotherup, near Alston, whose height exceeded six feet two inches, and whose weight was in proportion to his height. Among well-known men who attended these meetings, but failed to achieve success, may be mentioned Robinson of Renwick, and William Earl of Cumwhitton, the former of whom figured several times.

About a quarter of a century ago, the squire of Melmerby Hall interested himself a good deal in establishing spring and "back-end" fairs in the village, for the sale of cattle, sheep, &c.; and on this account it was thought better to abolish the annual Rounds. Accordingly this ancient gathering came to a sudden and unexpected collapse, about the year 1850, after having existed in an unbroken link for fully a century.

The following is as complete a list of the winners of the wrestling at Melmerby Rounds, as we have been able to collect. The local newspapers were carefully ransacked for intelligence, but being found singularly barren in this respect, our information had to be gathered in almost every instance from aged fell-side chroniclers, who had either been frequent or occasional attenders at these meetings, the principal of whom was Mr. John Dodd of Broadmeadows, Melmerby.

About 1788 Adam Dodd of Langwathby Mill, won _several_ years.

About 1798, James Fawcett, miner, Nenthead.

" 1799, " " "

" 1800, " " "

" 1801, " " "

" 1802, " " "

" 1803, " " "

" 1804, " " "

" 1809, Thomas Golightly, miner, Alston.

This wrestler afterwards removed to the West Cumberland mining district; and in February, 1819, was killed by the fall of part of a roof in one of the Whitehaven coal pits.

About 1810, Robert Rowantree, shepherd, Kingwater.

About 1815, Andrew Armstrong, farmer, Sowerby Hall.

About 1816, Thomas Peat, farmer's son, Blencow.

" 1817, John Dobson, Cliburn.

" 1818, John Robley, Scarrowmannock.

" 1819, " "

Robley emigrated to America several years after this date.

About 1820, Isaac Maughan, Alston.

" 1821, " "

Maughan settled in Newcastle-on-Tyne, where he died during the cholera of 1832.

About 1823, J. Spottiswoode, miner, Alston.

" 1825, John Weightman, husbandman, Hayton.

About 1826, John Weightman, husbandman, Hayton.

Weightman won two years, and received a guinea and the belt each time, these being the usual awards to the victor at that date.

1828, Thomas Armstrong, Carlisle; Elliot (perhaps of Cumrew) wrestled second. Bowman, of the Gale, won the second day's wrestling.

About 1830, Joseph Graham, Dufton Wood, Appleby.

About 1833, Jonathan Woodmas, Alston.

1838, Thomas Morton, farmer, The Gale, 1st; Isaac Farlam, Bowness-on-Solway, 2nd.

About 1839, Thomas Morton, farmer, The Gale.

On one occasion Morton wrestled through the ring without taking his coat off.

About 1841, John Salkeld, land-surveyor, Huddlesceugh.

1844, _First day_: Joseph Elliot, Croglin, 1st; Thomas Teasdale, Ousby, 2nd. (Sixty-five names entered, including John Buck, John Milburn, and Joseph Morton.) _Second day_: John Nixon, Langwathby, 1st; John Slee, Blencow, 2nd.

About 1845, Joseph Shepherd, Crewgarth, Melmerby.

1847, Joseph Morton, farmer, The Gale, 1st; John Milburn, Weardale, 2nd.

Joseph Morton also won once or twice on the second day. John Milburn stopped at Melmerby on his way home from the Carlisle meeting, at which latter place he carried off the head prize the two following years.

About 1850, Joseph Morton, farmer, The Gale.

Morton threw Halliwell of Penrith, and, we believe, Anthony Mc.Donald of Appleby wrestled up with him. This was the last Round held at Melmerby.

FOOTNOTES:

[8] "Melmerby Annual Sports will take place on Monday, the 6th day of July, 1846, when the following Prizes will be given to contend for:--£2 to Wrestle for; £2 for a Hound Race; and handsome prizes for Running, Leaping, and other amusements, as usual."--[_Advertisement._]

LANGWATHBY ROUNDS.

Langwathby, like its twin-sister Melmerby, is strictly a rural village, made up of snug homesteads, dropped here and there in picturesque confusion. Crossing the bridge from the Penrith side, and coming in sight of its modest church and spacious green, the most familiar sounds which formerly fell upon the ear were the lowing of cattle, the bleating of sheep, and the barking of dogs. The pastoral stillness which once prevailed, however, is now abruptly broken by the shrill whistle of the passing train, the snorting and screeching of engines, and the heavy thuds which resound from the "shunting" and reloading of railway waggons immediately above.

This old-world village, with few chances and changes to record, has found a native bard to plead feelingly for the obscurity which the dim past has wrapped around its history.

O! spot of all the land alone
Unsung, unheard of, and unknown;
Dim background of life's busy stage,
Scarce named in local history's page.
Neglected spot! what hast thou done,
That, ever since the world begun,
Thy name proscribed hath seemed to be,
In legend, tale, or minstrelsy?
That e'en no rustic bard hath owned thee,
And thrown a wreath of song around thee?

However much the paucity of general incidents may be felt in reviewing the past history of this Cumberland village, it is pleasing to note that Langwathby and Melmerby vie with each other in antiquity as promoters or "handers down" of local athletic pastimes.

The famous Adam Dodd, "the Cock of the North," lived and died at Langwathby Mill, which place is still--or was recently--inhabited and owned by the same family. The last Adam Dodd of that ilk, was killed half a century after the death of the first Adam, on his homeward journey with horse and cart from Alston, while turning a sharp angle of the road a little above Melmerby.

Langwathby Rounds, unlike those at Melmerby, were held annually in the midst of "winter and cold weather"--that is to say, on New Year's Day and the day following. Wrestling formed by far the greatest attraction of these primitive gatherings; the yeomen, farmers, and husbandmen from the neighbouring hamlets being the principal competitors. The sports took place, as a general rule, in a field close to the village which belongs to Mr. John Hodgson; but on some few occasions they were held on the opposite or western side of the river Eden. The prizes given were of small value, but great honour. During the latter part of the last century, a narrow leathern belt of meagre appearance, or a pair of buckskin breeches, was almost the only trophy given for wrestling. In the year 1816, when James Robinson won, a couple of guineas was the full amount offered; and this sum, we suppose, was never exceeded till many years after the King of Mardale and the Bishop of Lichfield's brother had carried off the principal prizes.

About the year 1820, on New Year's Day, the ground was covered with a coating of snow three or four inches deep, when a curious scene took place during the wrestling. It so happened that Isaac Mason of Croglin, was drawn against Isaac Westmorland of Ousby. Mason--well known for his smuggling adventures and his numerous eccentricities--entered the ring wearing an old home-spun overcoat, so thick and patched that it set at nought all Westmorland's attempts to clasp his arms around it. No persuasion could induce Mason to try and accommodate matters by stripping. He would not move a jot; and in the meantime his opponent was becoming quite numb and frigid with cold. At length Mason showed signs of relenting, and ultimately took off the obnoxious overcoat. Still Westmorland's arms were found to be too short, and refused to meet. Continuing therefore to "doff" what was most cumbersome--off went the coat, then the waistcoat, and finally Mason stood stripped to his "sark" in the snow, with nothing on but his trousers, where his opponent managed to keep him standing until he, in his turn, was nearly starved to death!

Among other minor prizes at Langwathby, a pair of garters was given to the boy who proved himself to be the fleetest runner. About forty years since this prize was carried off by a youth of the village, who afterwards became a successful rower, and, as one of the athletes of Queen's College, Oxford, won the silver oar twice in succession.

A dance on the green among the village girls of four or five years old, formed a pretty rural sight, even when witnessed amid the cheerless snow. At the conclusion of these jocund rounds, each little maiden was presented with a bright ribbon--such mementoes being popularly spoken of as _fancies_. And while the procession of fiddlers and villagers were marshalling in order, it was no unusual thing to hear an aged dame calling from her cottage door: "Noo, honies, run an' git ye're _fancies_!"

The boys' race and the leaping usually succeeded the dancing on the green; and by the time these pastimes were concluded, daylight had either gone or was fast fading away. Owing to darkness setting in thus early, lanterns were frequently in great request among the rough-spun frequenters of the wrestling ring.

Following close in the rear of the New Year's pastimes, came the ancient custom of _stanging_ on the Twelfth Night. A procession of young fellows--dressed in fantastic garbs as clowns, accompanied by one in woman's attire, and preceded by a couple of fiddlers--paraded the village streets. Calling in rotation at the various houses on their way, the "woman" commenced operations by sweeping up the fireside with a besom, which she carried for that purpose, and then the leading clown delivered a ludicrous speech to the inmates of the house. One Brunskill, shoemaker and rustic humourist, is still remembered as being by far the cleverest clown who figured at these Stangings. To his credit let it be mentioned that his mirth was always kept well within the limits of decorum and decency.

The Langwathby Rounds continued to flourish after the Melmerby ones had passed away, being kept up for full twenty years longer, and consequently extended over a still greater period of time. The more intelligent dwellers at this hamlet give it as their opinion, that so long as the Rounds continued to be of a secluded character, and were almost entirely taken part in by the villagers and the rural population, living under the shadow of Crossfell or Hartside, things generally went well and smoothly; and that it was reserved for these latter days to open up new roads, offer larger prizes, and introduce a greater influx of "riff-raff" and unruly characters from the towns, after which period the annual gatherings became more and more degraded by tolerating unseemly abuses. About the year 1870, having sunk in social status, these Rounds were finally given up, lest some riot or other unpleasant circumstance might crop up, as did at Armathwaite, between the English and Irish navvies, employed in cutting the extension of the Midland line of railway from Settle to Carlisle.

The following is as full a list of the winners of the wrestling at the Langwathby Rounds as we have been able to collect together, from a variety of out-of-the-way and other sources.

About 1788, Adam Dodd of Langwathby Mill, won _several_ years.

About 1809, Paul Gedling, Culgaith, 1st; Isaac Dodd, Langwathby Mill, 2nd.

Dodd broke a blood vessel in the wrestle up, owing to which both men left loose; the prize, of course, being awarded to Gedling. Isaac Dodd farmed Barrock Gill, near Carlisle, for many years after this event.

1816, James Robinson, gamekeeper, Hackthorpe.

1817, Thomas Peat, Blencow, 1st; George Robinson, Langwathby, 2nd.

Robinson of Hackthorpe, and Joe Abbot of Thornthwaite, also wrestled.

1818, Thomas Richardson, Hesket-New-Market, known as "The Dyer," 1st; John Dobson, Cliburn, 2nd.

About 1820, Isaac Mason, Croglin.

About 1824, John Holmes, King of Mardale.

About 1826, John Bowstead, yeoman, Beckbank.

Bowstead was one of the Bishop of Lichfield's younger brothers.

1829, Joseph Thompson, Caldbeck, 1st;--Milburn, 2nd.

Thompson was only an eleven stone man; while Milburn stood six feet two inches, and weighed nearly sixteen stones. Thompson also distinguished himself by throwing Ireland and Bird, both good wrestlers.

About 1830, Matthew Dixon, Penrith.

About 1831, George Bird, farmer, Langwathby.

1832, _First day_: Thomas Dobson, Sleagill. _Second day_: William Warwick, Eamont Bridge.

About 1833, Richard Chapman, Patterdale, 1st; Benson of Hunsanby, 2nd.

About 1834, Richard Chapman, Patterdale.

" 1835, George Bird, farmer, Langwathby.

" 1836, Robt. Gordon, husbandman, Plumpton.

" 1837, George Bird, farmer, Langwathby.

" 1838, " " "

" 1839, ---- Moore, shoemaker, Melmerby.

" 1840, Thomas Morton, The Gale, Melmerby.

About 1841, John Spedding, husbandman, Skirwith.

" 1842, Thomas Morton, The Gale, Melmerby.

About 1843, Anthony Mc.Donald, Appleby.

" 1844, " " "

1845, _First day_: J. Shadwick, Lazonby, 1st; John Robinson, Langwathby, 2nd. _Second day_: William Buck, Temple Sowerby, 1st; John Buck Temple Sowerby, 2nd.

About 1846, Anthony Mc.Donald, Appleby.

1847, _First day_: Anthony Mc.Donald, Appleby, 1st; John Shadwick, 2nd. _Second day_: Joseph Halliwell, Penrith, 1st; John Shadwick, 2nd.

About 1848, Joseph Halliwell, Penrith.

1849, William Buck, Temple Sowerby, 1st; John Shadwick, 2nd.

About 1850, Anthony Mc.Donald, Appleby.

" 1851, " " "

" 1852, " " "

Anthony Mc.Donald won seven times in all, some of which were second day's prizes.