A fell-side rhymer, named Richard Nicholson, of Caldbeck, has done his best to embalm Richardson's memory in verse, something after the following fashion:-- "When youth bloom't on him, few were as grand; His fame was spread through aw the land, Wid active russlin' an' strang reet hand. At Faulds Brow reaces, 'twas his profession To run when young withoot intermission, And prizes nineteen he won in succession! The shipperds aroond med weel dred his name; For Herdwick tips oft the prize he'd claim, Till far an' wide was spread his fame, As ye may read: But noo i' the dust lies his noble frame: Will Ritson's deid!" WILLIAM LITT OF BOWTHORN. The name prefixed to our present biographical notice, is that of a gentleman who, by his writings and conduct in the ring, has conferred greater lustre on, and added greater distinction to the "back-hold" wrestling of Cumberland and Westmorland, than any other individual. His historical account of ancient and modern wrestling--Litt's _Wrestliana_--was considered, in 1823, when _Blackwood's Magazine_ was at the summit of its fame, worthy of a highly eulogistic notice from the pen of Christopher North. Litt's wrestling notices and anecdotes have reference to the existence of the noble pastime, and a record of its most famed heroes and their contests, from 1770, and for the fifty years following. Before this period, the names and places of abode; the various and noteworthy achievements; the distinctive excellencies of celebrated wrestlers; and the places where their triumphant contests occurred, were little known beyond their immediate locality; and the meagre information to be gathered--not invariably to be relied on--had been handed down, and circulated mostly as village gossip, or been derived from the tales of some one whose knowledge rested on hearsay, and not from actual observation. This arose in a great measure in consequence of the slight intercourse that existed, eighty or a hundred years ago, between places only fifty or sixty miles apart. At present--thanks to William Litt's research and literary labours--all the great contests from 1780 to 1822, are familiar to us, and can be resorted to, for furnishing those who take a delight in the manly pastime of our forefathers, with a perfectly reliable description of its heroes, and their several peculiar excellencies.