Paris, A hand-book for travellers in Devon and Cornwall (1872)

XXXIX It is to be regretted that the old Cornish games are gradually losing their hold and are dying out in the country. The wrestling matches which formerly were well attended and patronized by the local gentry are now with few exceptions got up by the publicans as means of selling liquor, and in place of the gold laced hat which used to be the champion’s prize; the rewards are given in money often giving rise to a suspicion of foul play or of a man selling his back i.e. allowing himself to be thrown by his adversary for the sake of a division of the prize. Cornish wrestling had not the savage character that prevailed among the Devonshire kickshins as they are called. The shoes of the Cornish players were taken off before beginning the match and then kicks and trips are nearly if not entirely harmless. At the Red Lion Hotel in St Columb is a large silver punchbowl, given to the landlord the famous wrestler Polkinhorne by the gentle-men of the county after his great match with the Devon Champion Abraham Cann.

Available online at Google Books.