Bare-knuckle Fighting
- fiona flint books
- Mar 25
- 2 min read
Bartley Gorman's father was a religious, law-abiding man who did not fight, but his forefathers included Boxing Bartley, Ireland's King of the Tinkers in the 19th century and, when he was only 9 years old, he witnessed his uncle being killed by one punch thrown by a rogue showman.
Within the Traveller community, boys like Bartley were made to spar with bigger lads to toughen them up. Jimmy Stockin was born into a fighting family. His father and grandfather before him both "trod the cobbles" and Jimmy was put against other boys on Gypsy camps from the age of five.
Travellers gambled thousands of pounds on fights, which were held in various places to avoid the police - the crowds drew pickpockets and prostitutes as well as police raids. In South Wales, colliers would fight in ‘blood hollows’, out of the way of prying eyes and at Epsom, after the races, fights took place in hollows in the Downs which could not be seen from the road.
'Those were the days when a man would walk with a plough behind a horse all day long, not sit on a tractor. You couldn’t beat a farmer in those days, never mind a prizefighter.'
Bartley Gorman
Bartley's grandfather practised on a gatepost, tying rags around it to save his knuckles. He had it swung towards him to hit back with his bare hands.
Sometimes there was no choice but to fight. Jem Mace (pictured) didn't start out earning his living from illegal bare knuckle prize fighting. He was a musician who was set upon by thugs while playing outside a pub in Great Yarmouth. With his fiddle smashed, he switched careers and fought for money in the booths at fairs.
Police wouldn't raid a big gypsy gathering, for fear of starting a riot, so knuckle fighting was a regular event at fairs. The booths, with their elaborately painted wooden fronts, were an integral part of travelling fairs. If there were no challengers, the booth boxers fought each other to entertain the crowd.
Read more (sources) ....
Bartley Gorman 'King of the Gypsies: Memoirs of the Undefeated Bareknuckle Champion of Great Britain and Ireland' (2002)
Jimmy Stockin 'On the Cobbles: The Life of a Bare Knuckled Gypsy Warrior' (2000)
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