According to the auld English tradition the most common prize for wrestling during the Middle Ages was a ram. But how about not wrestling for a ram, but wrestling with a ram. Ashton-in-Makerfield, 1600s.
This reminds me of the nervous young Welsh boy who was making love to his girlfriend under a hedge when he became aware of a presence watching him. To his horror, he looked up and saw his girlfriend's mother peering over the hedge and observing them both. He turned to the mother and said, "I'm really sorry." The mother looked down on him and said, "Baaa."
Ron, what entertained me is how he called a ram - Old Nicke, which is another word for Satan, Devil, so in fact that man fought with a devil himself and 'cast hime and smote him on the head' (head and shoulders come to the ground first, fair back fall hahaha), pure folklore which I love the most...by the way it was 'Lancashire way of throwing' that he did, kind of a "fireman lift" (he took hold of hornes and one of his feet), he dropped on his knees to take a "proper hold". In old English folkstyle dropping on the knee(s) was a sign of defeat, remember they mostly wrestled - first down to lose. It was allowed ONLY in Old Lankishire to drop on the knee(s) in order to get a good under-catch, lift your opponent bodily off his feet and cast him on his head, that was an ultimate victory in wrestling. Back then there were 2 kinds of Lancashire wrestling, stand-up for a thrut (the one from this old story), and up-n-down when you have to take down your opponent and keep him on his back in chest-to-chest position for as long as possible until he gives up failing to reverse his supine position, if he was successful in that and got on top of you then he has to keep you on your back until you give up resistance and etc.
This reminds me of the nervous young Welsh boy who was making love to his girlfriend under a hedge when he became aware of a presence watching him. To his horror, he looked up and saw his girlfriend's mother peering over the hedge and observing them both. He turned to the mother and said, "I'm really sorry." The mother looked down on him and said, "Baaa."
Don't think any of my ancestors wrestled a ram , probably too busy farming and running coal mines.