Additional information
| Weight | 0.81 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 30 × 15 × 1.5 cm |
CORNISH WRESTLING: A HISTORY
£20.00
Author: Mike Tripp.
Publisher: Federation of Old Cornwall Societies.
ISBN 978-0-902660- 54-0
Format: A4 softback. 185 pages, 65 illustrations, tables, indices, bibliography.
Price: £20.00.
Description: A major study and the very first published history of Cornwall oldest and longest-surviving sport. Cornish Wrestling is distinct from other forms and in the nineteenth century it was also the most popular sport in Cornwall by far, with adherents everywhere, and tournaments with wrestlers from Brittany and Devonshire. The sport spread across the globe to wherever Cornish miners emigrated, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, USA, and this book examines all such locations. This book is a vital piece of social and sporting history which will be indispensible to all students of both Cornwall’s past and sporting history more widely.
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2 reviews for CORNISH WRESTLING: A HISTORY
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Terry Knight –
From Old Cornwall / Kernow Goth, Vol 16, no 5, Spring 2024
The Federation is especially proud to have been able to publish the very first comprehensive history of Cornwall’s oldest sporting tradition which is still alive today. The book was officially launched at the 2023 Gorsedh Kernow at Padstow where the Cornish Wrestling Association gave a display, featuring the various techniques unique to the Cornish sport.
Mike Tripp’s doctoral thesis was the foundation which provided the basis for the extensive and fascinating examination of what made the sport so popular. The author looks at exactly what is Cornish wrestling, its early origins, its growth in the 18th century and on, its coming under attack and the emergence of modern sports, and then its ‘Golden Age’. This is the period we are probably most aware of with renowned exponents and matches, Polkinghorne, Gundry and so forth. Then come the years of decline, and the reasons.
The diaspora is considered at some length too, where the Cornish took their culture to Latin America, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, as well as over the border to England and Wales. It makes for a whole fresh dimension to what most of us probably think of as a minor activity today.
For those of an unsporting disposition, like your Editor, unlike too many sports books this is still a wholly absorbing read, substantially because it places the activity so well in its changing historical contexts. Additionally, the breadth of the sources used is remarkable, as is shown by the truly extensive bibliographical appendix.
The twentieth century brought about efforts at a genuine revival and, post-WW1, the establishment of governing bodies in the 1920s and 1930s. In a review of the Cornish Revival, the writer recognizes the input of those involved in establishing Old Cornwall and the Gorsedh, and the adoption of Cornish wrestling as an important icon of Cornish identity, a ‘Celtic’ tradition like that of Brittany. The book concludes with the years since WW2, and the ‘state of play’ now.
For anyone who considers themselves interested in and aware of Cornwall’s heritage and culture, this is a must-have volume. It is in A4 paper size, nicely designed by Perran Tremewan, and liberally illustrated throughout. Published by the Federation as a not-for-profit publication, it is remarkably good value at £20.00 for what is now the ‘standard work’ on the subject. Editor.
Terry Knight –
Gorsedh Kernow’s Holyer an Gof panel assessing the best books published in 2023 awarded Cornish Wrestling its Federation of Old Cornwall trophy