On the revival of the Carlisle wrestling in 1821

On the revival of the Carlisle wrestling in 1821

On the revival of the Carlisle wrestling in 1821

On the revival of the Carlisle wrestling in 1821, after three years' cessation, Richardson, then forty-one years old, drove to the meeting in a conveyance with Tom "Dyer" and others. On leaving home he had no thoughts whatever of wrestling"ower oald"and withstood all the persuasions of his friends, till reaching Durdar village, where he consented once more to try. He wore at the time, a pair of old-fashioned knee-breeches, which held him too tight to wrestle in, and had therefore to borrow an easier pair before entering the ring. The gathering was an immense one. The numbers assembled on the Swifts were estimated at twenty thousand. A long array of highly respectable ladies, including the Countess of Lonsdale, were interested spectators. Sixty-four men entered, and nearly all were calculated to weigh fourteen stones or upwards. In the morning, when the Caldbeck party were at Durdar, Tom "Dyer"one of the very best hypers of his time, indeed, a first-class man altogetherwas very full of winning. The first man called into the ring, and the first that went down, proved to be Tom, being thrown by one John Hetherington.