Whitaker, Wrestling farmers (1800)

…made it a regular custom to give their men servants a holiday on the Saturday afternoon, to take them to [the traditional wrestling field, called the ring-close], and yet to allow them their wages. As soon as ever dinner was finished, each master set out with his men to the ring; and there the latter exercised themselves in wrestling, under the encouraging eye and voice of the former. We thus see the love for wrestling that was active in the parish, and was called out into activity every Saturday.

…the grand display of spirit and vigour in the parish was the parish-feast, ….. [t]hen the ring-close was a busy scene of life. Standings [first round winners] ranged under the upper hedge. The ring was hemmed round by stakes driven into the earth, and by a rope let through the tops of them. Within this rope stood the foot persons. Without stood the horsemen. These looked over the heads of those, and those were guarded from the horses of these by the rope and the stakes.

By the antiquary John Whitaker, the vicar of Ruan-Lanihorne.

Douch, H.L. (ed.) (1974). “The History of Ruan Lanihorne by the Rev. John Whitaker”, in Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, p. 143. Cited in Tripp (2009, pp. 105).