relative--Mr. Wanless, of the Bay Horse inn, Haltwhistle--under whose roof
he spent the last twelve years of his life; and died there in April, 1873,
at the patriarchal age of ninety-four. Some nine or ten months before the
latter end--the final closing scene of a long life--he "hed sair croppen
in," and was in fact nearly bent double. But previous to that time, his
appearance was so fresh and animated, his step so firm and active, his
intellect and memory so clear and retentive, that no stranger would have
taken him to be anything like his real age.
While living at Haltwhistle, if the old Kingwater athlete could only manage
to fall in with any wrestling, dog-trailing, or hunting, or could get off
shooting with a dog and gun, either by himself or in company, he was in the
height of his glory. When sitting by the side of a wrestling ring, during
this latter period of his life, as an onlooker, it was only natural he
should become garrulous, and almost, as a matter of course, cynical in his
remarks. "Sec bits o' shafflin' things," he used to say, "git prizes
noo-a-days! If they'd been leevin' lang syne, we wad ha' thrown them ower
th' dyke!" At other times, when a wrestler had laid down in favour of an
opponent, he would exclaim: "Ah! ah! that wullent deà at aw, lads! Theer
was neà sec lyin' doon i' my time. It was aw main-strength an' hard wark,
than!"
John Stanyan Bigg's rhyme, in the Furness dialect, slightly altered,
presents a very apt picture of Robert Rowantree, as a cheerful and hearty
old man, verging on ninety years:--
Auld Robin Rowantree was stordy and strang;
Auld Robin Rowantree was six feet lang;
He was first at a weddin', an' last at a fair,
He was t' jolliest of aw, whoiver was there;
For he keep't a lad's heart in his wizzen'd auld skin,
And work'd out his woes as fast as they wer' in;
Ye'd niver believe he'd iver seen trouble,
Tho' at times t' auld fellow was amaist walkin' double.
WILLIAM DICKINSON
OF ALSTON.
Alston, the capital of a lead-mining district of East Cumberland, stands
very conspicuously perched on the side of a hill, overlooking the river
Tyne, which flows eastward through a narrow valley below, on its course to
the populous towns of Hexham, Newcastle, and Shields, and is then lost in
the German Ocean. The miniature town of Alston has a market cross of the
quaintest order, and a main street so "brant" and twisting, that strangers
watch with amazement the ascent and descent of any kind of conveyance or
vehicle, which may chance to be stirring. As a people, the Alstonians are
thoughtful, studious, and intelligent. There are few places in Britain
where a healthful class of literature, and general knowledge, are sought
after with greater avidity, than by the mining population of the town and
neighbourhood.
At one time the district was fruitful in producing good wrestlers. Thomas
Lee, the publican, Jemmy Fawcett of Nenthead, powerful John Horsley, Tom
and Frank Golightly, William Dickinson, Tom Todd of Knarsdale, and other
stars of lesser magnitude, rose and set in succession. At a period after
those enumerated, the neighbouring valley of Weardale was equally
celebrated in the production of a whole host of good wrestlers. Among them
may be noted, John Milburn, Tom Robson, James Pattinson, John Emmerson,
Joseph Allison, and many others. And we can bear testimony to their general
conduct in the ring as being eminently praiseworthy.
William Dickinson was born at Spency-croft, near Alston, about the year
1792, and brought up in Alston town. He followed the trade or occupation of
a lead miner. In height, he stood five feet ten-and-a-half inches, and
weighed fully thirteen stones. In appearance, there was every indication of
a stout compact built man, well made from top to toe, with nothing
cumbersome about him. He had fine expansive shoulders, good loins, and was
rather light built about the limbs. He usually appeared in the ring,
dressed in a pair of Cashmere trousers, light coloured stockings, and high
tied shoes. Though a great enthusiast at wrestling, Dickinson was generally
considered to be indifferent about other recreations, and was rather easy
about following his daily occupation very closely. Some of the more
pugnacious Alstonians tried various means to get him enlisted among them as
a fighter, but in this they were disappointed. "D--n thy snoot!" shouted a
jeering comrade to him one day, "thoo can grip a chap's back smart eneuf;
but thoo darn't hit a body for thy life! Thoo's far ower muckle
shoo'der-bund for a trick like that!"
Dickinson's career proved to be exceedingly brief, and few particulars are
now remembered respecting him. While still in his teens, he excelled in his
own neighbourhood as a strong athlete, and succeeded in carrying off
several minor prizes. We cannot learn whether he attended the then noted
gatherings at Melmerby or Langwathby. However, in October, 1812, when
twenty years old, we find him figuring at a great meeting held at Penrith,
where a sum of fifteen guineas, subscribed for by the Earl of Lonsdale,
Squire Hasell of Dalemain, and others, was given to contend for. From the
first to the third round, Dickinson threw--Thomas Parker of Pallethill,
John Nicholson of Threlkeld, and John Harrison of Horrock-wood, and was
himself toppled over in the fourth round by some one whose name is not now
known. The head prize--ten guineas--was won by John Parker of Sparkgate,
and the second by James Lancaster of Catterlan.
In 1813--the following year--Dickinson attended the Carlisle wrestlings,
where he attained considerable distinction. For the head prize, he threw
Thomas Graham, Robert Forster, and Frank Watson. In the fourth round, he
was thrown by Samuel Jameson of Penrith. On the second day, the young
Alstonian beat down all opposition, and carried off the chief prize amid
great applause. He threw in quick succession, and in a masterly manner the
following men, namely--John Forster, John Hope, Robert Forster, Simon
Armstrong, and, in the final fall, John Lowden of Keswick, a really
formidable opponent.
In 1814, he attained the highest wrestling distinction, by carrying off the
head prize at Carlisle. It was calculated, from the amount of money taken
at the gate, that not less than 15,000 people witnessed the wrestling on
the Swifts. The meeting was disgraced by one pugilistic encounter, which
_did_ take place, and by the foreshadowing of another which _did not_ take
place. It appears a match had been arranged between Carter, a Lancashire
man, and one Cooper, both professional boxers. The latter, for some cause
or other, did not turn up, and Carter gave an exhibition of pugilistic
science, in a large room at the Blue Bell inn, in the presence of the
Marquis of Queensberry and a crowd of people, drawn by curiosity to witness
the performance.
The fight which _did_ take place, was for a purse of thirty-five guineas,
between two local men--Tom Ridley, seaman, a native of Carlisle, commonly
known as the "glutton," and Tom Nicholson of Threlkeld, wrestler. The
battle was fought in a roped ring on the Swifts, used for wrestling. The
severe blows dealt by the "glutton," told much in his favour, while
Nicholson baffled and punished his opponent materially, by bringing him
frequently to mother earth, with a heavy "soss." After the contest had
lasted for half-an-hour--the Threlkeld man being much punished about the
head, and Ridley about the body--the constables interfered and put an end
to the combat.
We gladly resume our account of the wrestling. Sixty-six men entered the
ring, to compete for various prizes. Dickinson came upon the Swifts in
excellent trim, looking every inch a man as he stripped for the contest.
Although Tom Nicholson, William Richardson, Robert Rowantree, John Earl,
and James Scott, failed to put in an appearance, still a good field of
dangerous hands met to contend.
In the first and second rounds, Dickinson threw John Baillie and John
Routledge; and in the third had a keenly contested struggle with John
Watson--a well known athlete in the early annals of the Carlisle ring--and
succeeded in throwing him. Among others who came to grief in the third
round were Tom Richardson, "the Dyer"--then a stripling in his teens, and
Joseph Bird of Holm Wrangle. Turning out as fresh as a lark, in the fourth
round, Dickinson grassed William Ward; and in the fifth, James Routledge;
the latter of whom had previously done good service by disposing of John
Nicholson of Threlkeld, William Earl of Cumwhitton, and Joseph Peart. In
the sixth round, the hero of the day was fortunate enough to be odd man;
and then at the last faced George Dennison, (who had previously carried off
William Slee of Dacre, with a clean hype.) The final fall was a singular
one. "Dennison," says Litt, "threw in his left side with much force,
intending to buttock his opponent; Dickinson left go, and Dennison,
disappointed of his object, staggered forward a considerable distance, but
could not save himself from going down on his hands, otherwise he would
have won the fall, as he had preserved his hold."
The head prize--a belt, and eight bright guineas--was then handed to
Dickinson, amid much cheering, especially from the Alstonians, and some
commotion from the disappointed friends and admirers of Dennison.
After tracing Dickinson's career, until his brow was decked with the green
bay of victory, in the foremost wrestling ring of the kingdom, there ensues
a sudden collapse. The Carlisle ring of 1814, was probably the last one in
which he figured, for afterwards we lose sight of him altogether as a
wrestler.
About this date he married Sarah Eals, of Alston, innkeeper, who proved a
shrew. Not living happily with her, and being himself a man who loved
quietude and peace of mind, more than strife and contention, he left both
the neighbourhood and his shrewish partner behind him, somewhat suddenly,
and went into Scotland, where he lived for some time employed as a
gamekeeper. He afterwards emigrated to America; and although doomed to be
an exile from Alston and his native district, it is said he returned again
to England, and died many years ago.
GEORGE DENNISON
OF PENRITH.
For more than thirty years--from 1808 to 1840--George Dennison was a
well-known character in the north; trusted and esteemed by all classes as a
skilful bone-setter, all over Cumberland, Westmorland, and a great part of
North Lancashire. Whenever a bad case of broken limbs or dislocated joint
befel an unfortunate individual, throughout this wide district, the first
move in most cases was either to, "Send for Dennison," or else, "We must go
to Penrith."
He succeeded Benjamin Taylor, another distinguished bone-setter, who sprang
from New Church in Matterdale. Dennison, we believe, originally entered
Taylor's service in the capacity of a servant, and was often called in to
assist in holding patients. Being of a shrewd and observant disposition, he
picked up many points connected with bone-setting, and soon became very
useful to his master. At that time Taylor had a pupil under his charge, as
stolid and slow at learning as any one well could be. It was hard work to
get anything driven into his dull pate. Taylor often lost temper
altogether, and used to exclaim: "Thoo blinnd divel! thoo can see
nowte--nowte at aw; an' theer' tudder chap actually larnin' faster than I
larn't mysel'! I can keep nowte frae _him_!"
Dennison practised bone-setting for a life-time, throughout the north, with
great success. And by concentrating his skill on one particular branch, he
out-distanced the whole of the college-tutored doctors, far and near.
"Cocking" was then a pastime much followed, and Benjamin Taylor's breed of
game cocks were noted for their fighting properties. They were, however,
(says Professor Wilson,) outmatched when sent over to Westmorland to fight
in a main at Elleray. Several of the Dennison family, too, about that date,
were likewise great "cockers." William Dennison, uncle to the bone-setter,
by trade a nailer, figured conspicuously for several years at the Easter
fights held at Alston.
George Dennison was born and brought up at Penrith, one of the pleasantest
small towns in the north country. In height, he stood five feet
nine-and-a-half inches, and weighed fully thirteen stones; all over an
athlete in appearance, a compact and well made man. He was an excellent
striker with the right leg, effective with the "hench," and clever, also,
at hyping. The most successful feat he achieved in the ring, was at
Carlisle, in 1814, when he wrestled up with Dickinson of Alston; and at the
same meeting, carried off chief prize on the second day. He did not
continue to follow wrestling for any lengthened period, but wisely kept an
eye steadily towards the vocation for which he was so eminently fitted.
He figured more as an amateur in the ring than as a professional,
especially after the excitable youthful stage was passed. At an early
period in the outset of his career, he distinguished himself by throwing
the noted John Harrison of New Church, Matterdale, twice in the wrestle up
at some neighbouring country sports; and at Morland, in Westmorland, he
threw Savage of Bolton, near Appleby, who was at one time looked upon as
the don of a wide country-side.
In July, 1812, there was a great gathering at the village of Newbiggin, a
place which had become famous for the keen rivalry displayed at its annual
wrestling contests. In this year, Armstrong, better known as "Solid Oak,"
(provincially "Solid Yak,") put in an appearance, and came swaggering into
the ring on the village green, boasting he would soon clear the deck for
them. On stripping, he presented a gigantic mass of humanity, that
certainly looked exceedingly formidable. He stood upwards of six feet,
weighed fully eighteen stones, was solidly built from head to foot, and
apparently carried no superfluous flesh. But as the Fates would have it,
bounce and swagger, height and weight, and amazing strength, all proved of
no avail in the scales, for in one of the early rounds, the "Yak tree" was
dexterously carried off by the valiant bone-setter, and grassed amid the
loud taunts and jeers of the assembled villagers. At the Penrith gathering,
in October following, Dennison, then of Sockbridge, threw David Harrison of
New Church, in the first round, and was thrown next time over by Joseph
Bellas of Park-house.
We have no list to show that Dennison attended the Carlisle meeting in
1812, but the following year his achievements were very creditable. He
wrestled successfully, for the head prize, as far as the fifth round,
throwing in succession--Robert Cowan, George Young, John Glendinning, and
Robert Langhorn, and--after one of the severest struggles on record--was
brought to grass by one of Robert Rowantree's slaughtering cross-buttocks.
In the second round, two young men, Tom Richardson, "the Dyer," and George
Forster--one of three brothers, all wrestlers--were drawn together. The
"Dyer" buttocked his opponent, and, in the fall, Forster unfortunately had
his shoulder dislocated. Dennison being in attendance, there was no need to
send for any bungling practitioner, or even to convey the sufferer off the
Swifts. The work of setting the shoulder to rights, in the presence of
12,000 wondering spectators, was not of long duration, and the operation so
successfully performed, that Forster could hardly be restrained from trying
his luck for the minor prize.
On the second day, at Carlisle, Dennison, in the second round, threw George
Little, a clever scientific wrestler, but immediately after, had to
succumb to the superior strength and weight of John Lowden of Keswick.
In 1814, Dennison made his last and most successful appearance in the
Carlisle ring. He had worked himself through the three first rounds, for
the head prize, without meeting with anything like a dangerous rival. In
the fourth, he came against his fellow-townsman, Samuel Jameson, a
cartwright, considered to be one of the best of his trade in the county. He
was a strong, bony, five feet ten man, an extremely dangerous customer to
deal with. His fame as a wrestler has, however, been totally eclipsed by
that of his son, William Jameson, the champion of a later period. Having
successfully disposed of Jameson, Dennison next came in contact with
another equally good man, in the person of William Slee of Dacre, and
proved again victorious. The next and final struggle occurred with William
Dickinson of Alston. A reference to a description of the fall, a few pages
back, in Dickinson's memoir, will show how the head prize was lost to
Dennison, by the merest accidental slip on his part.
Having missed first honours, he resolved to fight hard and perseveringly
for the second prize. This was won bravely. Only eighteen wrestlers entered
the ring, and the men who competed in the last two rounds, with the victor,
were Joseph Peart and Francis Wilson, the latter named being second.
After the year 1814, Dennison--then about thirty years old--determined to
bid farewell to the wrestling ring, excepting sometimes trying an odd bout
when officiating in the capacity of umpire. An increasing profession
engrossed his attention, and he began to stick more assiduously to it. It
is not often that talent is hereditary, but in the Dennison family it
proved to be eminently so. His sons, George, John, and Joseph, have all
distinguished themselves in the same honourable vocation.
The cures that Dennison wrought in bone-setting were numerous and
effective, and it is almost needless to remark, conferred more honour and
distinction on him than any success gained in the wrestling arena. One
remarkable cure may be mentioned; and as it was wrought on one of our most
renowned wrestlers, it will fit in appropriately. Richard Chapman, when
between ten and eleven years old, had a thigh bone badly broken. As a
matter of course, Dennison was sent for, and the cure effected was simply
perfection. Any one seeing the fine elastic form and marvellous activity of
Chapman, would hardly imagine or give credence to the fact, that a few
years before he had had a broken thigh bone. George Dennison, sitting or
standing, as the case might be, among the multitude round a wrestling ring,
and delightedly witnessing the Patterdale champion, tossing about his
opponents like shuttlecocks, with a science and activity rarely
paralleled, used to exclaim, in the well understood vernacular of the
north: "Leùk, lads, leùk! Theer' yan o' my cures of a brokken thie'!"
At the Keswick annual sports, held in Crow Park, in 1833, a somewhat
singular coincidence occurred--the meeting of two athletes, and both of
them indebted to Dennison for being able to appear. John Spedding of
Egremont, a clever wrestler, and Richard Chapman, were called together.
Now, it so happened, the former had had a dislocated hip-joint set to
rights by Dennison, just about the same time the accident occurred to the
latter. Some little excitement was caused by these two stripping into the
ring in perfect form, when they doubtless presented a gratifying spectacle
to the skilful bone-setter, who was among the throng of onlookers: "Noo,
than!" he exclaimed, "leùk at my tweà men. I'll bet on brokken thie'-beàn,
ageàn hip-joint!" His opinion was quickly corroborated. "Thie'-beàn" won
cleverly, and afterwards disposed of John Nichol of Bothel, a formidable
opponent, in the final fall, for the head prize. The winner then went to
Greystoke, and won both the wrestling and high jumping; a neighbouring
squire asserting: "Upon my word, Chapman can jump higher than any horse I
have!"
Twenty years or more had elapsed, since Dennison and William Richardson of
Caldbeck, had been brought to grief, in the Carlisle ring, by the
Kingwater champion, Rowantree,--when they met by chance at Springfield, on
the road between Penrith and Keswick. The latter was returning homewards
from Patterdale sheep fair. It so happened that both were rather "fresh i'
drink." Nothing would do but they must have a fall or two. Each got one,
when Dennison complained his arm was lamed. One of the byestanders,
chaffing him, said: "It maks neà matter, Gwordie, aboot thy arm! If it is
brokken, thoo can seùn set it ageàn, thoo knows!"
The two veterans chatted over old times, and Dennison working himself up to
boiling point, in reference to the Carlisle wrestling of 1813, exclaimed:
"Wully! we sud beàth been weel bray't aw t' way heàm, for lettin' greit
Robin Row'ntree fell us. Confoond the numskull! Efter he'd carriet me off,
I dud think 'at thoo wad ha' stopt his gallop for him!"
George Dennison--justly regretted throughout the north--died May, 1840,
aged fifty-five years.
JAMES ROBINSON
OF HACKTHORPE.
Carlisle, the principal, the most influential and attractive wrestling ring
in Cumberland and Westmorland, and the Lowther family--the leading one of
the two counties--were for a considerable period closely allied. William,
Earl of Lonsdale, was a most munificent patron of the ring, from its
commencement in 1809, and for fully a quarter of a century afterwards. On
several occasions, this nobleman subscribed the sum of twenty guineas, the
full amount of prizes then given at the Border city; besides holding
meetings at Clifton, near Lowther, and other places, for the entertainment
of his guests. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that his
gamekeepers, wood-foresters, hinds, grooms, and other domestics, should be
sometimes found practising the art and mystery of buttocking, hyping,
swinging, and back-heeling, on sunny evenings in summer, under the shadow
of some stately oak or sycamore, in the park surrounding Lowther Castle.
Of James Robinson, one of the Earl of Lonsdale's gamekeepers, we have not
been able to glean many particulars. He was a stout built, muscular man,
rather low set, stood about five feet ten inches high, and weighed fully
fourteen stones. He became a clever and effective buttocker; but excelled,
we understand, more in defence, and as a stiff sturdy stander in the ring,
than from any great amount of science he possessed.
The earliest mention of Robinson, as a wrestler, which we can find, occurs
at the great gathering at Penrith in 1812. In the first round there, he
threw one J. Graham of Thomas Close, but owing to imperfect reporting, his
name does not appear again in the list.
In 1815, the Committee of the Carlisle wrestling ring circulated the
following advertisement throughout Cumberland, Westmorland, and the
northern counties:--
TWENTY GUINEAS.--To be Wrestled for at the Carlisle
Races, on Wednesday, the 4th of October, 1815, the sum
of Twenty Guineas, in the following Prizes:--First
Prize, £8. 8. 0. (He that wrestles the last fall with
the winner to receive £1. 1. 0.) Every wrestler, who
throws his man in the first wrestle, will be permitted
to contend for the second class of prizes, with the
exception of the winner of the first prize, in whose
place a wrestler will be chosen by the Clerk, to make
the dividing number even.
Second Prizes:--First, £4. 4. 0.; Second, £2. 2. 0.;
Third, £1. 11. 6.; Fourth, £1. 11. 6.; Fifth, 10s. 6d.;
Sixth, 10s. 6d.; Seventh, 10s. 6d.; Eighth, 10s. 6d.
No person to be permitted to contend for any of the
above prizes, unless he enrols his name with the Clerk,
on the Swifts, before ten o'clock in the morning of the
said 4th of October next, as the wrestling will
commence precisely at that hour. Any person making the
least disturbance, or attempting to force the ring,
will be taken into custody, as constables will be
specially appointed for that purpose. All disputes to
be determined by Joseph Richardson, Esq., umpire.
The weather during the races proved exceedingly favourable, and the ground
was in excellent condition. A greater concourse of people assembled than
had been seen for years. The leading families of the two counties were
represented. There were the Lowthers, the Vanes, the Grahams of Netherby
and Edmund Castle, the Broughams, the Salkelds, the Crackenthorpes, the
Senhouses, the Briscoes, the Hasells, the Wyberghs, and others.