New York Herald, Devonshire Wrestling (1877)

DEVONSHIRE WRESTLING.

A wrestling match, “Devonshire” style, took place at Hill’s Variety Theatre yesterday afternoon, between Albert Ellis and W. H. Browning for a gold watch and a purse of $250. Fun apart, it is one which is not calculated to find much favour in this country, especially among our coloured fellow citizens, as the rules admit of the severest kind of kicking below the knees. The contestants wore short shoes, and during the match tested each other’s shin bones in a manner that created some objection among the audience. In response to some one who cried out to them to stop, the men turned to the people and displayed their limbs, laughingly remarking that it didn’t hurt. Browning was the first for, planting Ellis squarely on both shoulders and winning after a contest of over seventeen minutes. Ellis took the second fall and Browning the third and the match. Greco-Roman wrestling and boxing were added to the programme.

New York Herald, May 22, 1877