Read Ebook: Pugilistica: The History of British Boxing Volume 1 (of 3) Containing Lives of the Most Celebrated Pugilists; Full Reports of Their Battles from Contemporary Newspapers With Authentic Portraits Personal Anecdotes and Sketches of the Principal Patrons of t by Miles Henry Downes

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PUGILISTICA

THE HISTORY

PUGILISTICA

THE HISTORY

CONTAINING LIVES OF THE MOST CELEBRATED PUGILISTS; FULL REPORTS OF THEIR BATTLES FROM CONTEMPORARY NEWSPAPERS, WITH AUTHENTIC PORTRAITS, PERSONAL ANECDOTES, AND SKETCHES OF THE PRINCIPAL PATRONS OF THE PRIZE RING, FORMING A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE RING FROM FIG AND BROUGHTON, 1719-40, TO THE LAST CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE BETWEEN KING AND HEENAN, IN DECEMBER 1863

BY HENRY DOWNES MILES

VOLUME ONE

Edinburgh

JOHN GRANT

PREFACE TO THE FIRST VOLUME.

The history of "the Ring," its rise and progress, the deeds of the men whose manly courage illustrate its contests in the days of its prosperity and popularity, with the story of its decline and fall, as yet remain unwritten. The author proposes in the pages which follow to supply this blank in the home-records of the English people in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The space covered in these volumes extends over one hundred and forty-four years, from the time when James Fig opened his amphitheatre in the Oxford Road, in May, 1719, to the championship battle between John Camel Heenan, the American, and Tom King, the English champion, at Wadhurst, in Kent, on the 10th of December, 1863.

A few lines will suffice to elucidate the plan of the work.

Having decided that its most readable form would be that of a series of biographies of the principal boxers, in chronological order, so far as practicable, it was found convenient to group them in "Periods;" as each notable champion will be seen to have visibly impressed his style and characteristics on the period in which he and his imitators, antagonists or, as we may call it, "school" flourished in popular favour and success.

A glance at the "Lives of the Boxers" thus thrown into groups will explain this arrangement:--

? To each period there is an Appendix containing notices and sketches of the minor professors of the ars pugnandi and of the light-weight boxers of the day.

In "the Introduction" I have dealt with the "Classic" pugilism of Greece and Rome. The darkness of the middle ages is as barren of record of "the art of self-defence" as of other arts. With their revival in Italy we have an amusing coincidence in the "Memoirs of Benvenuto Cellini," in which a triumvirate of renowned names are associated with the common-place event of "un grande punzone del naso"--a mighty punch on the nose.

"Michael-Angelo nose was flat from a blow which he received in his youth from Torrigiano, a brother artist and countryman, who gave me the following account of the occurrence: 'I was,' said Torrigiano, 'extremely irritated, and, doubling my fist, gave him such a violent blow on the nose that I felt the cartilages yield as if they had been made of paste, and the mark I then gave him he will carry to the grave.'" Cellini adds: "Torrigiano was a handsome man, of consummate audacity, having rather the air of a bravo than a sculptor: above all, his strange gestures," "his enormous voice, with a manner of knitting his brows, enough to frighten any man who faced him, gave him a tremendous aspect, and he was continually talking of his great feats among 'those bears of Englishmen,' whose country he had lately quitted."

The testimony of St. Bernard to the merits of boxing as a substitute for the deadly combats of his time, with an extract from Forsyth's "Excursion in Italy," will be found at page xv. of the Introduction to this volume; and these may bring us to the period when the first Stuart ascended the throne of "Merrie Englande."

In Dr. Noble's "History of the Cromwell Family," we find the following interesting notice of the fistic prowess of the statesman-warrior who, in after-times, "made the sovereigns of Europe court the alliance and dread the might of England's arm." At p. 94 vol. i., we read:--

"Yesterday a match of boxing was performed before his Grace the Duke of Albemarle, between the Duke's footman and a butcher. The latter won the prize, as he hath done many before, being accounted, though but a little man, the best at that exercise in England."

"Here be proofs": 1, of ducal patronage; 2, of a stake of money; 3, of the custom of public boxing; 4, of the skill of the victor, "he being but a little man;" and all in a five-line paragraph. The names of the Champions are unwritten.

This brings us to the period at which our first volume opens, in which will be found the deeds and incidents of the Pugilists, the Prize-ring, and its patrons, detailed from contemporary and authentic sources, down to the opening of the present century. We cannot, however, close this somewhat gossiping preface without an extract from a pleasant paper which has just fallen under our notice, in which some of the notable men who admired and upheld the now-fallen fortunes of boxing are vividly introduced by one whose reminiscences of bygone men and manners are given in a sketch called "The Last of Limmer's." To the younger reader it may be necessary to premise, that from the days when the Prince Regent, Sheridan, and Beau Brummel imbibed their beeswing--when the nineteenth century was in its infancy--down to the year of grace 1860, the name of "Limmer's Hotel" was "familiar in sporting men's mouths as household words," and co-extensive in celebrity with "Tattersall's" and "Weatherby's."

My name is John Collins, head-waiter at "Limmer's," Corner of Conduit Street, Hanover Square; My chief occupation is filling of brimmers, For spicy young gentlemen frequenting there.

"In that little tunnelled recess at the bottom of the dark, low-browed coffee-oom, the preliminaries of more prize-fights have been arranged by Sir St. Vincent Cotton, Parson Ambrose, the late Lord Queensberry, Colonel Berkeley, his son, the Marquis Drumlanrig, Sir Edward Kent, the famous Marquis of Waterford, Tom Crommelin, the two Jack Myttons, the late Lord Longford, and the committee of the Fair-play Club, than in the parlour of No. 5, Norfolk Street , in Tom Spring's parlour, or Jem Burn's 'snuggery.'

"Let it not be imagined that any apology is needed, nor will be here vouchsafed in defence of those to whom, whatever may have been their station in life, the prize-ring was formerly dear. The once well-known and well-liked Tom Crommelin, for instance, is the only survivor among those whom we chance to have named, but in his far-distant Australian home he will have no cause to remember with regret that he has often taken part in the promotion of pugilistic encounters.

"A pursuit which was enthusiastically supported and believed in by William Windham, Charles James Fox, Lord Althorp, and Lord Byron, stands in little need of modern excuse on behalf of its promoters when Limmer's was at its apogee. Full many a well-known pugilist, with Michael-Angelo nose and square-cut jaw, has stood, cap in hand, at the door of that historical coffee-room within which Lord Queensberry--then Lord Drumlanrig--and Captain William Peel and the late Lord Strathmore were taking their meals. In one window stands Colonel Ouseley Higgins, Captain Little, and Major Hope Johnstone. A servant of the major's, with an unmistakable fighting face, enters with a note for his master. It is from Lord Longford and Sir St. Vincent Cotton asking him to allow his valet to be trained by Johnny Walker for a proximate prize fight. The servant, who is no other than William Nelson, the breeder of Plebeian, winner of the Middle Park Plate, however, firmly declines the pugilistic honours his aristocratic patrons design for him, so the fight is off. Hard by maybe seen the stately Lord George Bentinck, in conference with his chief-commissioner, Harry Hill," &c., &c. We here break off the reminiscences of Limmer's, as the rest of this most readable paper deals solely with the celebrities of the turf.

The last time the writer saw the late Sir Robert Peel, was at Willis's Rooms, in King Street, on the occasion of an Assault of Arms, given by the Officers of the Household Brigade, whereat the art of self-defence was illustrated by the non-commissioned officers of the Life Guards, Grenadier Guards, and Royal Artillery. Corporal-Majors Limbert and Gray, Sergeants Dean and Venn, Corporal Toohig , with Professors Gillemand, Shury, and Arnold, displayed their skill with broadsword, foil, single-stick, and sabre against bayonet. The gloves, too, were put on, and some sharp and manly bouts played by the stalwart Guardsmen. The lamented Minister watched these with approving attention. Then came a glove display in which Alec Keene put on the mittens with Arnold, the "Professor of the Bond Street Gymnasium." The sparring was admirable, and sir Robert, who was in the midst of an aristocratic group, pressed forward to the woollen boundary-rope. His eyes lighted up with the memories of Harrow school-days and he clapped his hands in hearty applause of each well-delivered left or right and each neat stop or parry. The bout was over, and neither was best man. The writer perceived the deep interest of Sir Robert, and conveyed to the friendly antagonists the desire of several gentlemen for "one round more." It was complied with, and closed with a pretty rally, in which a clean cross-counter and first and sharpest home from Keene's left proved the finale amid a round of applause. The practised pugilist was too many for the professor of "mimic warfare." Next came another clever demonstration of the arts of attack and defence by Johnny Walker and Ned Donnelly. Sir Robert was as hilarious as a schoolboy cricketer when the winning run is got on the second innings. Turning to Mr. C. C. Greville and the Hon. Robert Grimstone, he exclaimed, "There is nothing that interests me like good boxing. It asks more steadiness, self-control, aye, and manly courage than any other combat. You must take as well as give--eye to eye, toe to toe, and arm to arm. Give my thanks to both the men, they are brave and clever fellows, and I hope we shall never want such among our countrymen." It is gratifying to add that, to our knowledge, these sentiments are the inheritance of the third Sir Robert, whose manly and patriotic speech, at Exeter Hall, on the 17th of February, 1878, rings in our ears as we write these lines.

The curious reader may find some interest in a few paragraphs on the Bibliography of Boxing; for the Ring had a contemporary literature, contributed to by the ablest pens; and to this, in the earlier periods of its history, the author would be an ingrate were he not to acknowledge his indebtedness.

This pamphlet contains an account of the Captain's training of Cribb for his fight with Molineaux.

Dr. Maginn , also exercised his pen in classic imitations apropos of our brave boxers.

Or the following "happy thought," to which Leech furnished an illustrative sketch:--

CHAMPIONS OF ENGLAND FROM 1719 TO 1863.

INTRODUCTION.

The origin of boxing has been assumed by some superficial writers as coeval with the earliest contests of man. This view appears to the writer both crude and unphilosophical. It might be argued with equal probability that the foil was antecedent to the sword, the sword to the dagger, or the singlestick to the club with which the first murder was perpetrated. The clumsiest and, so far as rude and blood-thirsty attack could contrive them, the most deadly weapons were the first used; the sudden destruction of life, not the art of defence, being the brutal instinct of the vengeful, cunning, and cowardly savage, or the treacherous manslayer. This, too, would lead us fairly to infer--as the most dangerous forms of the caestus are the most ancient, and the naked fist in combat appears nowhere to have been used in the gladiatorial combats of Greece or Rome--that to England and her Anglo-Saxon race is due this fairest and least dangerous of all forms of the duel; and to attribute to a recent period the padded boxing-glove , by means of which the truly noble art of self-defence can be safely and healthfully practised and illustrated.

"Quem tu, Melpomene, semel Nascentem placido lumine videris, Illum non labor Isthmius Clarabit pugilem." Lib. iv., Ode 3, l. 1-4.

And in another place:--

Having alluded to the poets who have celebrated pugilism, we will take a hasty glance at the demigods and heroes by whom boxing has been illustrated. POLLUX, the twin brother of Castor--sprung from the intrigue of Jupiter with the beauteous Leda, wife of Tyndarus, King of Sparta, and mother of the fair Helen of Troy--presents us with a lofty pedigree as the tutelary deity of the boxers. The twins fought their way to a seat on Mount Olympus, as also did Hercules himself:--

ERYX, also, figures among the heaven-descended pugilists. He was the son of Venus, by Butes, a descendant of Amycus, and very skilful in the use of the caestus. He, too, kept up a standing challenge to all comers, and so came to grief. For Hercules, who "barred neither weight, country, nor colour," coming that way, took up the gauntlet, and knocked poor Eryx clean out of time; so they buried him on a hill where he had, like a pious son, built a beautiful temple in honour of his rather too easy mamma. It is but fair, however, in this instance, to state that there is another version of the parentage of Eryx, not quite so lofty, but, to our poor thinking, quite as creditable. It runs thus:--Butes, being on a Mediterranean voyage, touched at the three-cornered island of Sicily , and there, sailor fashion, was hooked by one Lycaste, a beautiful harlot, who was called by the islanders "Venus." She was the mother of Eryx, and so he was called the son of Venus. However this may be, the temple of Eryx and the "Erycinian Venus" were most renowned, and Diodorus, the Sicilian, tells us that the Carthaginians revered Venus Erycina as much as the Sicilians themselves, identifying her with the Phoenician Astarte. So much for the genealogy of the fourth boxer.

ANTAEUS here claims a place. We have had a couple from heaven , and one from the sea , our next shall be from earth and ocean combined. Antaeus, though principally renowned as a wrestler, is represented with the caestus. He was the son of Terra, by Neptune; or, as the stud-book would put it, by Neptune out of Terra. He was certainly dreadfully given to "bounce," for he threatened to erect a temple to his father with the skulls of his conquered antagonists; but he planned his house before he had procured the materials. The story runs, that whenever he kissed his "mother earth" she renewed his strength, from which we may fairly infer that he was an adept in the art of "getting down," like many of our modern pugilists. Hercules, however, found out the dodge by which the artful Antaeus got "second wind" and renewed strength. He accordingly put on "the squeeze," and giving him a cross-lift, held him off the ground till he expired, which we take to have been foul play on the part of his Herculean godship. There was another Antaeus, a friend of Turnus, killed by AEneas in the Latin wars.

Of the Homeric boxers, EPEUS and EURYALUS are the most renowned. Epeus was king of the Epei, a people of the Peloponnesus; he was son of Endymion, and brother to Paeon and AEolus. As his papa was the paramour of the goddess of chastity, Diana, the family may be said to have moved in high society. The story of Endymion and the goddess of the moon has been a favourite with poets. Epeus was a "big one," and, like others of Homer's heroes, a bit of a bully.

In the twenty-third book of the Iliad we find the father of poetry places the games at the funeral of Patroclus in this order:--1, The chariot race; 2, the caestus fight; 3, the wrestling; 4, the foot race. As it is with the second of these only that Epeus and Euryalus are concerned, we shall confine ourselves to the Homeric description.

So far the first report of a prize fight, which came off 1184 years B.C., in the last year of the siege of Troy, anno mundi, 3530.

There was another EPEUS, son of Panopaeus, who was a skilful carpenter, and made the Greek mare, commonly but erroneously called the Trojan horse, in the womb of which the Argive warriors were introduced to the ruin of beleaguered Troy, as related in the second book of the "AEneid."

EURYALUS will be known by name to newspaper readers of the present day as having given name to the steam frigate in which our sailor Prince Alfred took his earliest voyages to sea: to the scholar he is known as a valiant Greek prince, who went to the Trojan war with eighty ships, at least so says Homer, "Iliad," b. ii.

"Next move to war the generous Argive train, From high Troezen? and Maseta's plain; And fair AEgina circled by the main, Whom strong Tyrinthe's lofty walls surround, And Epidaure with viny harvest crowned, And where fair Asinen and Hermion show Their cliffs above and ample bay below. These by the brave EURYALUS were led, Great Sthenelus and greater Diomed. But chief Tydides bore the sovereign sway; In fourscore barks they plough their watery way."

We may here note that Tydides was Euryalus's second in the mill with Epeus, wherein we have just seen him so soundly thrashed by the big and bounceable Epeus. As Virgil generally invents a "continuation" or counterpart of the Homeric heroes for his "AEneid," we find Euryalus made the hero of an episode, and celebrated for his immortal friendship with Nisus: with him he had a partnership in fighting, and they died together in a night encounter with the troops of the Rutulians, whose camp they had plundered, but were overtaken and slain. We will now therefore shift the scene from Greece, and come to Sicily and Italy, and the early boxing matches there.

AEneas' companions were a "school" of boxers, and met with the like in Italy, among whom ENTELLUS, ERYX, and ANTAEUS , DARES, CLOANTHUS, GYGES, GYAS, etc., may be numbered.

ENTELLUS, the intimate of Eryx, and who conquered Dares at the funeral games of Anchises in Sicily, deserves first mention. He was even then an "old 'un," but, unlike most who have "trusted a battle to a waning age," comes off gloriously in the encounter; which, as we shall presently see, under Dares, gives an occasion for the second ring report of antiquity, as well as a minute description of the caestus itself. The lines from the fifth book of the "AEneid" need no preface. After the rowing match , in which Cloanthus is the victor, AEneas thus addresses his assembled companions:--

"'If there be here whose dauntless courage dare In gauntlet-fight, with back and body bare, His opposite sustain in open view, Stand forth thou, champion, and the games renew: Two prizes I propose, and thus divide-- A bull with gilded horns and fillets tied, Shall be the portion of the conq'ring chief; A sword and helm shall cheer the loser's grief.' Then haughty Dares in the lists appears; Stalking he strides, his head erected bears; His nervous arms the weighty gauntlets wield And loud applauses echo through the field. Dares alone in combat sued to stand, The match of mighty Paris, hand to hand; The same at Hector's funerals undertook Gigantic Butes of the Amycian stock, And by the stroke of his resistless hand, Stretched his vast bulk along the yellow sand. Such Dares was, and such he strode along, And drew the wonder of the gazing throng. His brawny bulk and ample breast he shows, His lifted arms around his head he throws, And deals, in whistling air, his empty blows. His match is sought; but through the trembling band Not one dares answer to his proud demand. Presuming of his force, with sparkling eyes, Already he devours the promised prize. He claims the bull with lawless insolence, And, having seized his horns, addressed the prince: 'If none my matchless valour dares oppose, How long shall Dares wait his dastard foes? Permit me, chief, permit without delay, To lead this uncontested gift away.' The crowd assents, and, with redoubled cries, For the proud challenger demands the prize."

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