There always has been great deal of discussion about the style of wrestling depicted on the misericord from St. Cuthbert's Church in the village of Halsall, near Ormskirk in West Lancashire. The XIV century wood carving shows two men wrestling in an equal cross-wise "hip and thigh" holds (see pic below).
My interpretation of this famous piece of Medieval art is based on English history and on the comparative visual analyses. The name of the market-town Ormskirk is of Old Norse origin, and the earliest settlement in that area was established by the Norsemen, or Vikings. If we follow this logic then likely the local wrestling style would also have been of North Germanic origin. Then the legit question is: "Which Viking wrestling style (and they had quite a few of them) does this image resemble?" Fair enough to say that in fact the Halsall wood sculpture does have similarities with the Icelandic Vikings wrestling style called GLIMA which was and still is (according to various sources) the same as it always was (i.e. equal cross-wise hip and thigh hold), meaning that the essential rules thereof have never changed over the time. So, there we go, Glima it is, my friends. The images from the 1908 book called "Icelandic Wrestling" by a famous local champion wrestler Jóhannes Jósefsson with the basic info on this style of wrestling to follow below. Enjoy my friends, Russian Concussion.
Good question! I haven't been up there to measure it - maybe a job for a sunny autumn day?
How long is the Hale giants grave?
Indeed gentlemen, Just as well weights and measures dept at the local council authorities didn't check them out .
The same question has been asked about certain other giants of wrestling!
Thank you Ruslan for that unique insight into St Cuthbert's Church, Halsall. I would never have expected that it had a wrestling connection.
I live in south Liverpool and not far away is the village of Hale - on the banks of the Mersey.
There is a wrestling connection in Hale. The "Childe of Hale" (John Middleton) is buried in St Mary's Churchyard. He was apparently 9 feet 3 inches tall and in around 1620 he beat the King's champion in a wrestling match.
Thanks so much for sharing!!! Much appreciated!!!
Another wrestling connection with the Leeds & Liverpool Canal: Imperial Gardens Flats on the site of the Imperial Ballroom on Carr Road, Nelson. A regular venue for Jack Atherton in the old days
Thanks Riot Squad! here are the pictures of St Cuthbert's Church, Halsall and the Halsall Navvie by the Leeds & Liverpool Canal
Thanks Ruslan
I enjoyed my walk today and if someone can tell me how to upload pictures to here I will do so with the pictures of the Church and the Halsall Navvy
I hope to start my canal walk tomorrow at Halsall so will be passing by the Parish Church. It is unlikely to be open but I will think of the wrestlers depicted therein. There are a lot of place and street names in the Southport area which have Norse connections.
Incidentally, by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Halsall there is a stone sculpture known as the "Halsall Navvie" it depicts the hard labour of the navvies (often from Ireland) who built our canals. I wonder whether they, like the Wigan miners, engaged in wrestling after a hard days work?
I pass this Church on a regular basis and I have never been inside.
Amazing that it has such a wrestling connection!