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.