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CHAPTER IX. 



THE DECLINE OF CUMBERLAND WRESTLING. 



T is a matter of almost universal 

 regret that many of the manly 

 exercises which found favour 

 in the eyes of the last two 

 generations are beginning to pass away, and 

 in some cases, have already disappeared. 

 The great philanthropist, Mr. George Moore, 

 for instance, who was born in 1806 and died 

 in 1876, used to attribute no small portion of 

 his success in life to the initiation into Cum- 

 berland wrestling which he received at a 

 very early age. When eight years old he 

 was sent to a day school at a place called 

 Bolton-Gate, about two miles from Meals- 

 gate, in Cumberland, where he was born. 

 At that time schools were very much rougher, 

 especially in the North of England, than 



