Winter blues were ushered away as a grand athletic tournament took place in Blantyre during January 1894. In an era before radio, TV or film entertainment, local people took great delight in meeting and making their own entertainment.
A large audience descended upon the Masonic Hall at Stonefield on the evening of Monday 15th January 1894. Now, this was a time before the Masonic buildings on Glasgow Road, this lodge being the above the Livingstonian Pub at the corner of Forrest Street and Glasgow Road junctions.
The proceedings opened with a wrestling match between William Murdoch of Greenock (favoured as the Amateur champion wrestler) and a much heavier man, MacKenzie of Inverness. In the Cumberland style, Mackenzie secured first fall after 1 minute 13 seconds. Murdoch also showed great skill when he switched to the Scotch style. At 14 minutes it looked like being a draw, before Murdoch clinched it!
The next event was weight lifting and Mr. W.D Bothwell was first up, a man already with the title of being the ‘Scottish Hercules’. He stood on the platform and demonstrated his skill, along with a Frenchman by the name of Moss Ricardo. Then it was the turn of Blantyre residents to try with some of the lower weights. The Police Constables were keen to show their talents, with Constable Moir taking a silver medal.
The feature of the evening was next. Another wrestling match, this time with G.M Ross who was touring, all the way from Philadelphia, America and Alex Bain, the “Scottish Sandow” who also happened to be a Police Constable at Clydesdale Steelworks. The battle of America and Scotland came to a close after 6 minutes with Bain throwing his opponent. It was a grand contest and appreciated by all.
AI imagines and illustrates the scene.
