Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine), 1834-1924 DEVONSHIRE WRESTLERS WRESTLING was the favourite sport in former days in Devonshire and Cornwall. Evelyn, in his Diary, speaks of Westcountrymen in London contesting in London against men of the North, and in all cases the former were the victors. And Ben Jonson, in his Bartholomew Fair, 1614, introduces a Western […]
OLD DEVON SPORT Wrestling and Boxing Matches at Crediton. Great interest was manifested Saturday night at the Town in a wrestling match for £5 a side between Walter Roach and Bob Yeoman. The rules were Devonshire style. The strength and weight of Yeoman soon told on Roach, and the latter making a slip, Yeoman took […]
OLD DEVON SPORT Wrestling and Boxing Matches at Crediton. Great interest was manifested Saturday night in a wrestling match for £5 a side between Walter Roach and Bob Yeoman. Roach was formerly the light-weight champion of Devon. The rules were Devonshire style, and the referee Bill Chamberlain (Cheriton) and the sticklers George Greenslade (Land Farm) […]
“West-country Wrestlers” — subject dealt with by Percy Longhurst in a current publication. He says it is 300 years since one old writer declared there was not a 12-year-old boy in Cornwall who could not give a stranger, curious of the style of wrestling, a fall or, at foil. But the game still goes on […]
Dover’s Antient Meeting 1812 , On Thursday in Whit – week , on that highly renowned and universally admired spot called Dover’s Hill , near Chipping Campden , Glos . The sports will commence with a grand match of Backswords , for a purse of guineas , To be played by 9 or 7 men […]
(pp.15) CORNWALL AND DEVONSHIRE STYLE. In leading off with the Cornwall and Devonshire style of wrestling, I may remark that the regulations are apparently of the simplest character; yet, in consequence of the complicated nature of the Cornish definition of a “fall,” the south-country gatherings often end very unsatisfactorily, and many inferior men have honors […]
Identification Field Detail Archive reference DWS/PRI/CIG/1913/18-20 Object type Cigarette cards (tobacco premium) Title of series Wrestling and Ju-Jitsu: A Series of 25 Card numbers 18, 19, 20 Section heading Devon and Cornwall Style Publisher John Player & Sons, Branch of the Imperial Tobacco Co. (of Great Britain & Ireland), Ltd., Nottingham Date of issue 1913 […]
THE LATE MRS. STONE. Funeral of a Well-Known Crediton Woman. The funeral took place at Crediton Churchyard yesterday afternoon of the late Mrs. Mary Ann Stone, wife of Mr. A. J. Stone, High-street, Crediton. Mrs. Stone, who died on the previous Thursday, had only been seriously ill for about a week. Formerly Mr. and Mrs. […]
(pp385) On the night appointed, I hid behind a tree at the arranged spot, ready to spring to the rescue and help the old lion ; my loafers lurked in the shade of a wall. He came in the starlight — a grand figure of an old warlock, just merry enough to feel the blood […]
“In Brittany the West-Country Englishman or a Welshman finds himself quite at home… The Breton peasant is a distinct figure among the workers of France. He is proud, and brave, and independent. He loves liberty, and he is his own master, tilling his plot of land or going to sea in his own fishing-boat… In […]
Suggested coat of arms for Cornwall, by Sir Robert Edgcumbe. (Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, vol. 21, 1922-1925).
(pp148) SINGLE-STICK, a slender, round stick of ash about 34 in. long and thicker at one end than the other, used as a weapon of attack and defence, the thicker end being thrust through a cup-shaped hilt of basket-work to protect the hand. The original form of the single-stick was the ‘‘waster”, which appeared in […]
Page 60 ACCORDING to the fictitious History of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth, Brutus the Trojan, with Corineus and other companions, landed at Totnes to take possession of the giant-haunted island which had been prophesied should be his own. Then, forraging the Ile, long promis’d them before, Amongst the ragged Cleeues those monstrous Giants sought: […]
Jaouen and Nichols described how “The new Cornish committee was shouldered by well-known and of the Highways Department fascinated in history, was close to the committee. by the Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall. Tregoning Hooper of Falmouth, an engineer prestigious personalities, such as the rich ship-owner Sir Edward Nicholl, and later the C.C.W.A. The Cornish […]
A video dated to 1925, covering Cornish wrestling championships at Ludgvan. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. (1925). Cornish wrestling championships at Ludgvan. Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/4ac050f0-c61a-012f-d026-58d385a7bc34
WRESTLING. CORNISH SPORT RE-ESTABLISHED. CENTENARY TOURNEY. What a very marked contrast there is in the attendances at the wrestling tournaments which have been held this year, and, above all, what great advancement in the standard of play and the evenness of the bouts, all this having been brought about undoubtedly by the influence of the […]
The centenary of the celebrated Polkinghorne and Cann match, which was held at Devonport in 1826, will occupy the attention of the General Committee when they meet at Wadebridge on June 27. Various opinions as to where this should be held are causing quite a controversy, some suggesting Home Park, Plymouth, and some a central […]
Farm labourers and clay workers fight in Cornwall county wrestling championships. Newquay. Available online via British Pathé. Film ID: 416.01 Archive: British Pathé Group: PATHE NEWSREELS / PATHE GAZETTES Issue Date: 06/08/1925 Colour: Black & White Sound: Silent
CORNISH WRESTLING. BENEVOLENT FUND FOR COMPETITORS WHO ARE INJURED. Begging the ring at wrestling tournaments has been a custom that has always been looked upon as objectionable and lowering to the dignity of those taking part. To overcome this, it has been decided that something shall be done to make provision for those injured, and […]
ST. COLUMB CELEBRATES CENTENARY OF FAMOUS WRESTLER. THOUSANDS HONOUR MEMORY OF GREATEST CORNISH CHAMPION. CORNISH WRESTLING CENTENARY AT ST COLUMB Saturday will stand out as a red-letter day in the history of Cornish wrestling. From all parts of the Duchy, supporters of the old county sport poured into the quaint little town of St Columb […]
Men wrestle in the park in Cambourne (sic). Item title reads: “Cornwall County Wrestling Championships. Crowds from all over the country – see grim and dour struggles in the “Cornish style”.” Available online via British Pathé. Film ID: 694.20 Archive: British Pathé Group: PATHE NEWSREELS / PATHE GAZETTES Issue Date: 18/08/1927 Colour: Black & White […]
WRESTLING RECORD. INTEREST IN THE GAME SPREADS. A YEAR’S GOOD WORK. Mr. F. J. Jago, secretary of the Cornwall Wrestling Association, at a meeting of the Management Committee at Truro on Monday, stated that a very gratifying feature of the season had been the number of ladies who had witnessed the various tournaments. This tended […]
CORNISH WRESTLERS EXHIBIT WARES IN LONDON THEATER London, Nov. – Cornish wrestling champions have invaded London music halls for the first time with exhibitions of their sport. The Cornwall County Wrestling essociation authorized eight of its best wrestlers to appear in the exhibitions which are a novelty to London audiences. The wrestlers wear only trunks […]
DOWN BUT NOT OUT. Cornish Wrestler: “The beginning of the end: I can’t stick the pace.” The speech-bubble of the stickler reads “One more month….”. An old wrestler labelled ‘Cornish Wrestler’ sits looking tired on the ground, whilst a youthful looking wrestler labelled ‘Modern sport’ stands ready looking down at him. This artefact is a […]
A Wrestling Festival A purely wrestling festival is a most uncommon sight out of doors, but I must recall with great pleasure the day when, at that delightfully situated old Cornish village, St Colomb, the centenary celebrations were held of a great wrestling match when one, Polkinghorne, the Cornish champion, overcame Cann, the pride of […]
CORNISH AND DEVON WRESTLING. To the Editor of the Western Times. Sir,—The enclosed card—”St. Thomas Grand Wrestling Match, Grand Stand: Admission sixpence”—I found amongst some old papers. It may be of interest, especially now when we hear of women engaging in the sport. About forty years ago I was engaged superintending the erection of a […]
pp. 26 “By Tre, Pol & Pen, ye may know Cornishmen,” says the old ballad and also by his wrestling jacket is the Cornish wrestler known. And wherever “Cousin Jack” has set foot, there he has taken with him his love of a wrestle. From time beyond all memory, even tradition, the Cornishman has the […]
Russell, Daniel; The Saturday Review, 22 August 1936, p. 243 He sat upon the low stone wall by the roadside and soaked his ancient bones in the sunlight. He was incredibly old. His brown face was seamed and crossed with a multitude of wrinkles. The hand which held his pipe shook as though palsied. Under […]
Despite the title of the book, Stanley Bacon was a practitioner of a range of styles, including Cornish Wrestling. In his work he covers a few techniques common in the Westcountry, although in his example, applied without jackets. The main Westcountry technique Bacon described was the Fore Crook, or Fore Lock (pp.54-55). CORNISH LOCK FORWARD […]
The Devonshire Wrestling Society archive has been assembled over more than twelve years of systematic research into the history of Westcountry martial arts. When this work began, the documentary record was sparse and dispersed: sources were few, descriptions were thin, and access required navigating institutional barriers that most researchers would not have the time or resources to overcome. The archive now comprises 421 records — 322 newspaper articles (1778–1947), 35 manuscripts, 11 posters, 48 books, one letters patent, two cemetery inscriptions, and two memorials — spanning approximately one thousand years of history across five defined periods and three core disciplines: wrestling, cudgelling, and pugilism.
The material has been drawn from archives, museums, and libraries at both local and national level, as well as from diaspora communities. Access varied considerably: some holdings were straightforwardly available through public or gated online repositories; others required direct institutional inquiry, formal licensing, or payment. Licence fees for individual items have, in some cases, reached several hundred pounds. Items acquired under licence are retained for private research purposes only and are not published. A small number of items from private collections likewise remain unpublished, pending permission. All records for which publication rights have been secured are made freely and openly available.
The cost of the archive — in time and in money — has been substantial. It is offered without charge because the traditions it documents belong to the communities that produced them, and because those who come after should not be required to repeat the effort already expended.
Every record in the archive was acquired through a consistent five-stage process:
Identification. Awareness of potential sources was established through systematic searches of public and private institutional indexes worldwide, and through direct correspondence with subject specialists already engaged with relevant holdings.
Access. Depending on the institution, access was obtained through online repositories, direct application, or formal licensing. Correspondence was initiated with several hundred institutions over the course of the project. Where institutions confirmed the absence of relevant holdings, this was recorded. Where access was granted, the means of access was documented.
Storage. All acquired material is held in a single centralised repository, ensuring that research access is permanent and that no duplication of acquisition effort is necessary.
Preparation. Every record has been transcribed to render it fully searchable and taggable. Images have been assigned metadata recording provenance, licensing terms, and resolution specifications for publication purposes.
Publication. The publicly available inventory represents all records for which the requisite permissions have been obtained.
In order to ensure consistency and intellectual coherence across the archive, all prospective additions are evaluated against the following criteria, which are applied collectively and in sequence. A record should satisfy the majority of these criteria before inclusion is considered.
Relevance. The record must have a demonstrable and direct connection to the Six Shires (Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire, and Wiltshire) as the location of practice, the origin of practitioners, or the primary institutional context. Records concerning Westcountry practitioners competing elsewhere (in London, the United States, or South Africa, for example) are eligible where the practitioner’s regional identity is explicitly identified in the source. Records documenting the export of Westcountry martial arts beyond Britain are admissible and desirable, consistent with existing holdings relating to California, Japan, New Zealand, and South Africa. The record must concern one or more of the three disciplines in scope: Westcountry wrestling (Devonshire or Cornish style), cudgelling or single-stick as practised in the region, or pugilism and boxing with a demonstrable Westcountry connection. Records documenting the co-occurrence of two or more disciplines are particularly valuable and should be prioritised.
Integrity. The source must be primary or a reliable early secondary record. For newspaper sources, this means a contemporaneous report; for books, a first or early edition, or a verified transcription thereof. Secondary scholarship is admissible where it contains primary-source quotations not otherwise independently accessible, provided these are clearly identified as such.
Balanced representation. The curatorial target is approximate parity — not of record count, which will inevitably reflect the uneven survival of evidence — but of intellectual representation across the three core disciplines. Where any discipline is underrepresented relative to this target, acquisitions in that discipline should be prioritised accordingly.
Material culture. Physical objects — trophies, belts, equipment, and architectural features — are admissible where they carry inscriptions or documentary provenance that independently attest to the practice of a discipline in the region.
Verifiability. The source must be identifiable with sufficient bibliographic precision to be cited in APA format and, where possible, to be independently verified by a reader consulting the original. Oral tradition, undocumented folklore, and secondary paraphrases without citation do not meet this standard. Where a source is available online, a direct URL must be provided.
