My Great-great-Grandad

At least, that is how family folklore always had it. On 15 November 1962, "THE LISTENER" (the BBC's very own publication, at that time) carried a report on one Abraham Cann of Devon, who had always been identified by my grandfather George Cann as his grandfather.  My mother's maiden name was of course Cann. The Cann contemporary family archivist, one Paul Cann, disputes that contention, suggesting that Abraham Cann was probably a great-uncle of the Swansea Canns.  But if you were related to the Lennox Lewis of your day, would you not allow yourself a little embroidery of history as well?

This is what "THE LISTENER" said -

A Famous Wrestling Match

"Cornish wrestling still survives, though its ancient glory has departed", said Alan Gibson in Round-up (West of England Home Service).  "Devon wrestling - that is to say, wrestling in the old Devon style - has completely vanished; and perhaps it is just as well.  The principal threat of the Devon style, was the kick, aimed at the opponent's shins, with boots hardened to the toughness of clogs through prolonged soaking in bull's blood, and baking.  I have known old men in Devon who could still point to the long blue scars on their shins, relics of those distant wrestling days.

"Cornish wrestling depended, as good wrestling has always done, upon the hug and the throw; but Cornish men and Devon men have an irresistible urge to meet each other in any kind of athletic competition and so, despite the differences in style, it came about that on 23 October 1826 Abraham Cann, the champion of Devon, met James Polkinghorne, the champion of Cornwall, each to wrestle according to his own rules.  It sounds an unequal match, but Polkinghorne had a tremendous - and deserved - reputation, and there was no shortage of Cornish money to back him, nor Cornish voices to support him, when the two men met at Tamar Green, Plymouth, before some 17,000 spectators.

"Polkinghorne was six inches the taller and three stone the heavier - perhaps a little too heavy, as he had not wrestled for some time.  However, he obtained the first fall - the match was for the best of three.  Cann, after some desperate exchanges, made it level at one each. 

It is at this point that the contest becomes unsatisfactory, as so often happened on such occasions, when heavy betting was involved.  There was a dispute among the sticklers (the sticklers were the umpires).  There were four of them - not, unfortunately, neutral, but two from each County.  Their number was reduced to two, but after the eighth round another dispute broke out, and with the spectators joining in there was a delay of about an hour before the match was resumed.

"Polkinghorne had been suffering, not only from Cann's kicking, but ominously from a shortage of wind, and there was a strong feeling among the Devon men that his supporters were deliberately spinning out their arguments to give him a chance to recover.  Certainly, when they did get going again, Polkinghorne was much stronger and he succeeded in throwing Cann - a tremendous throw, clean over his shoulder.  But in doing so, he dropped on one knee, and after some more argument, the sticklers disallowed the fall.

Now it was the Cornishmen's turn to protest, led by Polkinghorne himself who marched out of the ring in disgust at his unfair treatment (Cornish version) or because he knew his strength would not stand another turn (Devon version).  The stakes wen to Cann by default, but probably few bets were paid.  The spectators wsere anxious that the two men should meet again - but Cann and Polkinghorne took a different view, and it was a high tribute to the prowess of each that both had had enough."

End

• RWE Editorial Note: "Prize-wrestling" continued until the 1840s, when it was outlawed - the next generation came over to Swansea in search of work in South Wales, by then the "Klondyke" of the UK - my grandfather came over with his parents at three years of age, and grew up in South Wales, always proud to call himself an adopted Welshman, and marrying Welsh wife Sara Williams, from Goodwick in West Wales.  He was first employed as the Manager of a Sawmill in Llandyssl (where the young couple first lived, and my mother was born) and then my grandfather moved into Swansea to start up his own builders' merchants business in South Dock Swansea, specialisin in roofing materials - and I was born in his Mumbles house, on 11 December 1935.