Jennifer Kloester Read online

  BOXING AT THE FIVES COURT, PRIZEFIGHTS AND PETS OF THE FANCY

  Fist fights as a means of resolving disputes, attacking an enemy or defending oneself in a weaponless situation had long been a part of English life and, despite the fact that boxing matches were forbidden by law, a wide cross section of the population eagerly embraced the sport and would travel miles on foot, on horseback, in a carriage or any conveyance they could find, to attend a match. In The Unknown Ajax, Richmond Darracott was thrilled at the prospect of going to a prizefight at Sevenoaks with his cousin Vincent to watch Cribb’s latest protégé battle it out with Tom Bugle for twenty guineas a side. Although the magistrates rarely put a stop to illegal bouts, fights were generally held outside the main cities and towns and their location kept a closely guarded secret until the night before a match. In London, however, sparring was a regular attraction at the Fives Court in St Martin’s Lane, Leicester Fields. Up to a thousand spectators could be accommodated in the old, high-ceilinged, brick building where men had traditionally played at hand tennis or ‘fives’. Sparring exhibitions and boxing matches were held at the Fives Court each afternoon at two o’clock and, for a three-shilling admission, enthusiasts could watch up-and-coming pugilists demonstrate their skill, and learn something of the science of boxing, although Jessamy Merriville in Frederica felt that he had led his younger brother into a ‘haunt of vice’ by taking him there. Combatants had to be approved by the great man of Regency boxing, ‘Gentleman’ John Jackson, and several of the most famous names of pugilism, including Jem Belcher, Tom Cribb and Bill Richmond, made appearances there to the delight of the ‘fancy’.

  Men of all classes attended sparring matches at the Fives Court.

  The ‘fancy’ was a collective term for those who followed boxing and ‘pets of the fancy’ were those pugilists who had made names for themselves as champions or fighters with ‘bottom’ or great courage. They had huge followings among the populace and, as the Taverners discovered in Regency Buck when they arrived at Grantham on the day before a major match, fighters like Cribb, Belcher or Molyneux could draw crowds of twenty or thirty thousand spectators whenever they fought. Whether they walked, rode or drove, men of all classes would often set out the day before a match to be sure of a good vantage point and the opportunity to place their bets.

  Much admired as an arbiter of sport, ‘Gentleman’ John Jackson

  taught many gentlemen how to box.

  In 1795, John Jackson had won the title of English Champion from the great Jewish boxer, Mendoza, and immediately afterwards set about establishing a boxing school for gentlemen. He took rooms at number 13 Bond Street and equipped the elegant saloon with a set of scales, boxing gloves, weights, fencing equipment, wooden staves for single stick and chairs for subscribers. The walls were decorated with pictures of famous bouts, well-known pugilists and diagrams explaining the art and science of boxing. Open three times a week throughout the Season, Jackson’s Saloon became a kind of boxing headquarters during the Regency and Jackson drew a huge following from among the aristocracy to the sport. He condemned fixed fights (known as crosses), never made a bet and his presence as either a referee or a spectator at a fight was a sign to onlookers that the bout would be fair. Entrée to Jackson’s Saloon could only be obtained through introduction and many upper-class men aspired to boxing lessons from the great man. Some among the nobility, such as Sir Richard Wyndham in The Corinthian, were privileged enough to strip to the waist, don a pair of boxing gloves and engage in a sparring contest with ‘Corinthian Jack’, and many famous Regency men, including Lord Byron, learned the art of self-defence at his Bond Street rooms. Charles Rivenhall in The Grand Sophy sparred there regularly and Jackson was wont to say that he could have made him a champion if he had not been an aristocrat. Jackson’s manners and well-bred demeanour earned him the sobriquet ‘Gentleman’ and he was respected by nobility and commoners alike.

  After John Jackson, the most famous English Champion during the Regency was Tom Cribb, who fought his greatest matches between 1805 and 1811. Renowned for his courage and stamina, as well as for his ability to read an opponent and engage in the ‘science’ of boxing, Cribb was most famous for his hard-fought victories over the American Tom Molyneux and in particular the match fought in 1811 at Thistleton Gap in Leicestershire which Cribb won. Apart from an exhibition match given for the Allied Sovereigns during their visit to England in 1814, Cribb chose not to continue boxing after his victory over Molyneux. He bought the King’s Arms tavern and established ‘Cribb’s Parlour’, a neat little snuggery or separate room off the main taproom in which pugilists and the sporting men of the ton would gather to talk, smoke and admire the Champion’s cup—a prize Bertram Tallant in Arabella was thrilled to be able to hold. The King’s Arms was always crowded with men of all ranks and professions and it was not uncommon for eager young men with visions of glory to try and goad Cribb into fighting with them—only to find themselves hauled directly to the watch house or magistrate by the unimpressed Champion.

  Cribb’s Parlour was a popular pleasure haunt among the Corinthians and Regency bucks.

  COCKS AND DOGS

  One of the oldest-known spectator sports, cock-fighting had a large following during the Regency and men (and sometimes women) would gather regularly at both indoor and outdoor venues. Betting was as much a part of the sport as spectating and sometimes entire estates were wagered on the outcome of a ‘main’ which consisted of an odd number of battles, sometimes run over several days, between two rival teams with each cock fighting once. The main was won by whichever team gained the majority of victories with prize money paid for each battle and a larger sum offered to the overall winner. In Regency Buck, the bet was a thousand guineas a side and forty guineas for each individual contest. Similarly, crowds would often gather in pubs, yards or purpose-built venues to watch dog-fighting where two or more dogs would fight to the death. Eager spectators would gather at local venues or the Westminster Pit in London to watch contests between different breeds. Battles between bulldogs and bull terriers were popular and dustmen, butchers, grooms and barristers would jostle with MPs, gentlemen and the nobility for a ringside view. As with all Regency sports, gambling was a vital part of the event and vast sums often changed hands during a contest at the Westminster Pit.

  REVEL-ROUTS AND BOXING THE WATCH

  The propensity for Regency men to drink heavily led many of them to take part in drunken revels late at night when few people were on the streets and the chances of being caught greatly reduced. Aristocratic young men up from the country, or sons of the nobility sent down from Oxford or Cambridge for outrageous behaviour, took great pleasure in getting drunk and engaging in the kind of ‘larks’ that such an uninhibited state allowed. A revel-rout was a gathering of usually young men for the specific purpose of drinking and engaging in revelry. In London the opportunities for mischief were many and a favourite sport for young bucks such as Dysart in April Lady was known as ‘boxing the watch’. The ‘watch’ were the city’s nightwatchmen, also known as ‘Charleys’, whose job it was to patrol the streets calling out the time and the weather on the hour, and ensuring that law and order were maintained. They were not very effectual as many of the watchmen were old and interested only in the small wage paid to them by the Parish.

  Small wooden booths were set up at various points around the city in which the watchmen could sit and observe the passers-by. Each booth had a single door and inebriated young men considered it a great lark to overturn the booth (with the Charley inside) or to turn it door-side to the wall so he could not get out. This was known as ‘boxing the watch’. It was not uncommon for young men, finding their favourite gambling hell closed to them in the early hours of the morning, to wander the streets looking for a fight, break windows, wake a shopkeeper with a false call of ‘fire’ or cut the traces of a hackney cab while the coachman slept inside and take his horses to some other part of the city. Many revellers’ drunken antics ended with the unrepe