SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



mediate borders of Windermere, Ulleswater 

 or Derwentwater. 



The experiment of giving handsome money 

 prizes, first tried at Ambleside for two 

 years, was followed up at the Carlisle races, 

 where the first annual wrestling on the Swifts 

 took place in the month of September, 1809. 

 The successful establishment of the great 

 northern wrestling meeting was due principally 

 to the endeavours of Mr. Henry Pearson, soli- 

 citor, Carlisle. Previous to this period wrest- 

 ling in the immediate vicinity of Carlisle was 

 in no very great estimation. It was seldom 

 witnessed, and consequently could not be duly 

 appreciated ; and it was probably owing to this 

 circumstance that there was not any wrestler 

 of celebrity, either in the city itself or within 

 some miles of it ; therefore, notwithstanding 

 the novelty of such an exhibition on the 

 Swifts and the very handsome sum subscribed, 

 the competitors were not usually numerous. 



The gentlemen of Penrith, well aware of 

 the universal satisfaction the revival of this 

 truly British amusement had given to all 

 ranks at Carlisle, determined to adopt the 

 same means of increasing the popularity of 

 the ensuing races at that town ; and Dr. 

 Pearson, brother to Mr. Pearson of Carlisle, 

 exerting himself in the business, it was at- 

 tended with corresponding success. As Pen- 

 rith was deemed a kind of central position 

 between Carlisle and Ambleside, and situated 

 in a much more noted country for wrestling 

 than either of them, the competitors for that 

 prize were more numerous than at the other 

 places. 



The wrestling at this meeting seems to 

 have awakened an interest in the sport, for in 

 the following year two purses of gold were 

 offered as prizes, and an immense multitude 

 was drawn to the ring. Thomas Nicholson, 

 the winner of the previous year, whose suc- 

 cess at Ambleside has already been mentioned, 

 again won the first prize, and William 

 Richardson of Caldbeck obtained the second. 

 Wrestling had now been fairly set going, and 

 in October, 1811, it was announced that 

 athletic sports in Cumberland were to be re- 

 vived. A prize of twenty guineas was to 

 be offered, and from the terms of the an- 

 nouncement it would appear that wrestling 

 had formerly been a favourite pastime, but 

 that either from want of money or of wrest- 

 lers it had for a time been allowed to decline. 

 Later on we find the sport patronized at Car- 

 lisle by the Duke of Norfolk, the Marquis of 

 Queensberry and the Earl of Lonsdale, the 

 buttock and cross-buttock in those days being 

 the favourite ' chips.' 



Tom Nicholson owed the high position he 



attained in the wrestling ring not to over- 

 powering strength and weight, but to what 

 lend the principal charm to back-hold wrest- 

 ling science and activity. He stood close 

 upon six feet : lean, muscular, with broad and 

 powerful shoulders ; had remarkably long arms, 

 reaching, when at full length and standing 

 perfectly upright, down to his knees. His 

 weight never exceeded thirteen stone. He 

 accidentally dislocated his shoulder in 1812 

 and thereafter acted as umpire. 



From about 1827 to 1840 or so, the in- 

 terest in wrestling, not only in Carlisle but all 

 over Cumberland and Westmorland, continued 

 to increase ; the prizes were more tempting, 

 the entries at the different meetings more 

 numerous, and the scientific attainments of 

 the athletes became more and more apparent, 

 till at Wigton in 1839 the all-weight prize 

 was the largest entry ever known in England, 

 either before or since, there being 256 com- 

 petitors. 



From 1822 up to 1836 the most prominent 

 names in wrestling annals were those of 

 William Cass, John Weightman, George 

 Irving, John McLaughlan, John Liddell, 

 William Robinson of Renwick, T. Richard- 

 son, James Little, John Fearon, Robert 

 Walters, Tom Todd, and Joseph Robley of 

 Scarrowmannock, who is credited with being 

 the originator of the swinging hype, a modus 

 operandi he used for many years with con- 

 siderable effect in east Cumberland. 



For great size and well proportioned figure, 

 combined with amazing strength and activity, 

 John Weightman was one of the most re- 

 markable men ever bred in Cumberland. 

 Born at Greenhead near Gilsland in 1795, he 

 was brought up at the quiet pastoral village 

 of Hayton near Brampton, where he con- 

 tinued to live until the time of his death. 

 From a physical point of view he was a 

 wonder, being endowed with tremendous 

 bodily strength on the one hand and the 

 agility of a cat on the other. He stood 

 fully six feet three inches high and weighed 

 from fifteen to sixteen stone. Possessing a 

 good reach of arm and formidable power in 

 the shoulders, he invariably beat his elbows 

 into the ribs of an opponent, which vice-like 

 pressure was so terrific in its results that many 

 strong men were glad to get to the ground 

 in order to escape his punishing hug. Not- 

 withstanding the facility with which prizes 

 might have been gained, it was only on 

 rare occasions that Weightman attended the 

 great annual gathering at Carlisle, and yet he 

 was champion in three different years in the 

 ring there, which speaks volumes for his wrest- 

 ling powers. 



485 



