Physic Versus Brummy, and the Fight Hanley Denied

James Greenwood attended a fight in Hanley, Staffordshire, and reported it under the title “Physic versus Brummy.” The Spectator placed the encounter in a quiet house in a bye-street. The bulldog was Physic. The man was Brummy in the published title. The story began with two bodies fixed to one wall and a contest that had no respectable place to stand.

The Spectator reported that the man and the dog fought on all-fours, each chained to the wall. The man wore nothing except his trousers. The chain set the terms: neither fighter could leave, and every movement stayed inside the length of the restraint. Greenwood’s account made the bout a physical arrangement before it became a public argument.

In the eleventh round, the man remained still for one minute, according to The Spectator. Physic was declared the victor. The published account supplied a result, a losing body, and a winner with four legs. The fight had its decision before Hanley’s police decided whether the fight had happened.

The Hanley police said Greenwood had invented the story to blacken the character of their town. The denial went after the entire contest, not a single round or detail. Local papers, The Spectator reported, were angry with the police and demanded an investigation. The pressure moved from the quiet house to the men defending Hanley’s name.

The argument then turned to jurisdiction. The police and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals accounts conflicted over whether the reported fight had taken place within Hanley’s legal reach. Greenwood adhered to his statement after the police denial. Physic remained the declared victor, but Greenwood kept the account that had put the fight into print.