Read Ebook: Pugilistica: The History of British Boxing Volume 3 (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 THREE

Edinburgh JOHN GRANT 1906

LEAR JAMES DREW, ESQ.,

A PATRON OF SPORT, AND A

SUPPORTER OF THE RECREATIONS OF THE PEOPLE,

THIS VOLUME OF LIVES OF THE

MODERN BOXERS IS DEDICATED, AS A

TOKEN OF FRIENDSHIP, RESPECT, AND ESTEEM,

The Reader who has attentively accompanied us through the biographies which form the contents of our first and second volumes will not find the memoirs in this third and concluding volume of less interest and variety of incident than the former.

The period comprised herein extends from the year 1835 , and contains the battles of Caunt, Nick Ward, Deaf Burke, William Perry , Harry Broome, Tom Paddock, Harry Orme, Aaron Jones, Nat Langham, Tom Sayers, and Jem Mace, closing with the last Championship fight between Tom King and John Camel Heenan, on the 10th of December, 1863.

In these chapters of the "Decline and Fall" of Pugilism it has been the aim of the author to "write his annals true," "nothing extenuate nor set down aught in malice;" leaving the deeds of each of the Champions to be judged by the "test of time, which proveth all things."

In these pages will be found all the battles of the actual Champions, and of those who contended with them for that once-coveted distinction. It must be evident, however, that the space of three volumes thrice multiplied would not suffice to record the numerous battles of the middle and light weight men of this period; indeed, they do not come within the scope of this work. As these include some of the best battles of the later days of the P.R., and for the greater part fall within the memory of the writer of these pages, he will collect them in a series of "PENCILLINGS OF PUGILISTS." These "Reminiscences" of the Ring, will form, when completed, a concurrent stream of pugilistic history, subsidiary and contemporary with this last volume of this work.

In bidding farewell to his subject the writer would plead, with the Latin poet--

"Nor is the book the index of my mind, But as I feel an honest wish to find Some way of pleasing, be it grave or witty; Accius were else the greatest brute in Rome, Terence a rake, who never dined at home, And those who sing of wars all fighters and banditti."

"Nec liber indicium est animi, sed honesta voluntas Plurima mulcendis auribus apta refert; Accius esset atrox; conviva Terentius esset; Essent pugnaces, qui fera bella canunt." OVID.

PUGILISTICA

PUGILISTICA:

FROM THE CHAMPIONSHIP OF BENDIGO TO HIS LAST BATTLE WITH CAUNT .

WILLIAM THOMPSON , OF NOTTINGHAM, CHAMPION. 1835-1850.

William Thompson, whose pseudonym of Bendigo has given its name to a district or territory of our Antipodean empire, first saw the light on the 11th day of October, in the year 1811, in the city of Nottingham, renowned, in the days of rotten boroughs and protracted contested elections, for its pugnacious populace, its riotous mobs, and rampant Radicalism, succeeded, in a like spirit, even in later "reformed" times, by its lion-like "lambs," and "tiger-Tories." William was one of three sons at a birth, and, we are assured, of a family holding a respectable position among their neighbours, some of them filling the ministerial pulpit, and others belonging to a strait and strict denomination of dissent. The late Viscount Palmerston expressed his opinion that had not John Bright, the coadjutor of Cobden and Gladstonian Cabinet Minister of our own day, been born a Quaker, he must have grown up a pugilist; a similar reflection suggests itself to those who knew the character and genius of William Thompson; with the difference that in his case the young pugilist did grow into an elderly Methodist parson, as we shall hereafter see, while the Broadbrim secular Minister has not yet figured in the roped twenty-four feet.

There is a closer psychological connection between fighting and fanaticism, pugnacity and Puritanism, than saints and Stigginses can afford to admit, and the readiness of wordy disputants to resort to the argumentum ad hominem, or ad baculinum, and the facile step from preachee to floggee of parsons of all sects and times, need no citations of history to prove. The young Bendigo, as we shall see hereafter, became another illustration of the wisdom of Seneca, and took to theological disputation when he could no longer convince his opponents by knock-down blows.

Of the earlier portion of the career of Bendigo, previous to his first victory over the gigantic Ben Caunt, in July, 1835, much apocryphal stuff has been fabricated by an obscure biographer.

In 1832, William Thompson, then in his twenty-first year, beat Bill Faulker, a Nottingham notoriety. In April, 1833, he defeated Charley Martin, and in the following month polished off Lin Jackson, another local celebrity.

Tom Cox , who had beaten Sam Merriman, was defeated easily in June, 1833; and in August of the same year Charles Skelton and Tom Burton are said to have fallen beneath Bendigo's conquering fist. Moreover he is credited with beating Bill Mason in Sept. 1833, and Bill Winterflood in October! Now as we know no Bill Winterflood except Bill Moulds, the Bath champion, and he never met Bendigo at all, are we not justified in rejecting such "history"?

The last in this list is a defeat of one Bingham, who is set down as "Champion," in January, 1834, which brings us near enough to Bendigo's first appearance in the blue posted rails of the P. R. with Caunt on July 21st, 1835. On that day, we read--

"A fight took place in the Nottingham district between two youngsters who were both fated to develop into Champions of England. The meeting-place was near Appleby House, on the Ashbourne Road, about thirty miles from Nottingham." Both men were natives of Nottinghamshire; the elder one, William Thompson, hailing from the county town; while the younger, Benjamin Caunt, was a native of the village of Hucknall, where his parents had been tenants of the poet, Lord Byron--a fact of which the athlete was always intensely proud. Caunt on this occasion made his first appearance in any ring, and having been born on the 22nd of March, 1815, had only just completed his twenty-first year, and had therefore a very considerable disadvantage in point of age. On the other hand, he was a youngster of herculean proportions and giant strength; stood 6ft. 2in. in height, and his fighting weight was 14st. 7lb. Thus, in point of size, it was a horse to a hen; but Caunt had no science at all, while Bendigo had a very considerable share of it. The big 'un was seconded by Butler and Bamford, and Bendigo by Turner and Merryman. Throughout twenty-two rounds Caunt stood up with indomitable pluck and perseverance to receive a long way the lion's share of the punishment, while his shifty opponent always avoided the return by getting down. Caunt at last, in a rage at these tactics, which he could not counteract or endure, rushed across the ring, called on him to stand up, before the call of "Time" by the umpires, and then struck Bendigo before he rose from his second's knee. The referee and umpires having decided that this blow was foul, the stakes, ?25 a side, were awarded to Bendigo. "It was the expressed opinion of the spectators that, had Caunt kept his temper and husbanded his strength, the issue would have gone the other way, as he proved himself game to the backbone, while his opponent was made up of dodges from heel to headpiece."

This fight had the effect of calling the attention of backers to both men. Of Bendigo's cleverness there could be no question, while Caunt's enormous strength and unflinching pluck were equally indisputable; and it is a curious illustration of the circular theory of events that these two men, whose pugilistic career may fairly be said to have commenced in this fight--when they were, of course, at the bottom of the ladder--should meet again when they were half-way up, and a third time when they stood on the topmost round.

This victory over the gigantic wrestler of Hucknall Torkard could not fail to bring his conqueror prominently before the eyes of the boxing world. John Leechman, alias Brassey, of Bradford , Charley Langan, Looney, of Liverpool, Bob Hampson, also of Liverpool--indeed, all the big 'uns of the "North Countrie" were anxious to have a shy at the audacious 11st. 10lb. man who had beaten Ben the Giant.

John Leechman now came out with a definite cartel, that he was open to fight any 12st. man within 100 miles of Bradford for ?25 or ?50, and that his money was ready at the "Stag's Head," Preston Street, Sheffield. This brought Bendigo to the scratch, and the match was made for ?25 a side, to come off on Tuesday, May 24th, 1836. The deposits were duly made, and on the appointed day, May 24th, 1836, the men met nine miles from Sheffield, on the Doncaster road. No reliable report of this fight, which was for ?25 a side, is extant: nothing beyond a paragraph in the following week's papers, declaring it to be won by Bendigo, "after a severe contest of 52 rounds, in which the superiority of science was on the side of the lesser man, Bendigo weighing 11st. 12lb., Brassey nearly 13st."

Brassey and his friends were not satisfied with this defeat, and immediately proposed a fresh match for ?50; and Jem Bailey also challenged Bendigo. Bendigo accepted Bailey's offer, but Paddy's friends hung back and forfeited the deposit.

Our hero now visited London, and was for some weeks an object of some curiosity, putting up at Jem Burn's, where he kept the company alive by his eccentric "patter." Jem offered to back Bendigo against Fitzmaurice , but Fitz's friends also backed out. It may be remarked, par parenthese, that the Deaf 'un was in America during this paper warfare.

Molyneux also accepted Bendy's offer, but insisted on raising the stakes to ?100 a side, and to Bendy confining himself to 11st. 7lb. Molyneux not to exceed 11st. 2lb., &c., &c.

To these stipulations Bendy replied: "My Liverpool friends will back me ?100 to ?80, or ?50 to ?40, at catch weight, against Young Molyneux. I shall be in London in a few weeks, and shall be happy to meet Luke Rogers for ?50 or ?100, as Looney's match is off, owing to his being under lock and key for his day's amusement with Bob Hampson.--Nottingham, November 25, 1836." Molyneux got matched with Bailey, of Manchester, and this second affair fell through.

At length, in December, articles were signed with Young Langan , of Liverpool, to fight within two months, catch weight, and the day fixed for the 24th of January, 1837, when the men met at Woore, eight miles from Newcastle, in Staffordshire. At a few minutes to one o'clock Bendy appeared, esquired by Harris Birchall and Jem Corbett; Young Langan waited on by two of his countrymen. Langan weighed within 2lb. of 13st.; Bendigo 11st. 10lb. on this occasion. The battle was a characteristic one. The "long 'un," as he was called by the bystanders, began by "forcing the fighting," a game which suited the active and shifty Bendigo, who punished his opponent fearfully for almost every rush. Cautioned by his friends, Langan tried "out-fighting," but Bendy was not to be cajoled into countering with so long-armed and heavy an opponent. He feigned weakness, and Langan, being encouraged to "go in," found he had indeed "caught a Tartar." He was upper-cut, fibbed, and thrown, until, "blind as a pup," his seconds gave in for him at the close of the 92nd round, and one hour and thirty-three minutes.

Negotiations with Tom Britton, of Liverpool, fell through, as Britton could not come up to Bendy's minimum of ?100 a side.

Bendigo and his trainer, Peter Taylor, were now in high favour, and a sparring tour among the Lancashire and Yorkshire tykes was organised and arranged. Bendigo also wrote in the London and provincial papers that he was "ready to fight any man in England at 11st. 10lb. for ?50 to ?100 a side; and, as he is really in want of a job, he will not refuse any 12st. customer, and will not himself exceed 11st. 10lb. Money always ready."

Ward's letter had the effect of leading to a meeting of Looney's friends, whereat that boxer discreetly declared that he never meant to include Ward in his general challenge for ?100 or ?200, as he considered that Ward had retired. Barring, therefore, Ward, Mister Looney renewed his claim. Hereupon a gentleman from Nottingham, disputing Looney's claim to fight for "a Championship stake," offered to back Bendigo against him for ?50 a side and "as much more as he could get." This was closed with, and a deposit made. On the following Tuesday, at Matt Robinson's, "Molly Moloney" tavern, Liverpool, articles were signed for ?50 a side , to fight on the 13th of June, 1837, half-way between Nottingham and Liverpool. A spot near Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, was the rendezvous, and thither the men repaired. Looney arrived in Manchester from his training-quarters at Aintree, and Bendigo from Crosby, on the overnight, when there was some spirited betting at five and occasionally six to four on Looney.

The next morning proving beautifully fine brought hundreds from distant parts to the spot, in the usual description of drags, until there was not a stable left wherein to rest a jaded prad, or a bit of hay or corn in many places to eat. Looney had fought many battles, the most conspicuous of which were with Fisher and Bob Hampson, who suffered defeat three times by him. Bendigo, as we have seen, had scored victories over Caunt, Brassey, and young Langan. A little after eleven the magnets of the day left their hotels, and were immediately followed by an immense body on foot to the summit of a rasping hill, where a most excellent inner and outer ring was formed with new ropes and stakes, the latter being painted sky blue; near the top were the letters L. P. R. , encircled in a wreath of gold; the one to which the handkerchiefs were attached was, with the crown, gilt. Soon after twelve o'clock the men entered the ring amidst the cheers of their friends--Bendigo first. They good-humouredly shook hands, and proceeded to peel. Young Molyneux , along with Joe Birchall, appeared for Looney, whilst Peter Taylor and Young Langan were the assistants of Bendigo. The colours--green and gold for Looney; blue bird's-eye for Bendigo. A little after one o'clock, the betting being five to four on Looney, with many takers, commenced

THE FIGHT.

Round 1.--The appearance of Bendigo, on coming to the scratch, was of the first order, and as fair as a lily, whilst Looney displayed a scorbutic eruption on his back. Both seeming confident of victory put up their fives, caution and "stock-taking" for a few moments being the order of the day. Looney made a half-round right-hander, which told slightly on the ear. He then made three hits at the head and body, which Bendigo stepped away from, and dropped a little left 'un on the chin. Bendigo was not idle, but on the defensive, and succeeded in putting in two left-handers on the canister, and blood, the first, made its appearance from the mouth and under the left eye of Looney. This was a long round; in the close Bendigo was thrown.

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