> Does this mean, bearing in mind that the reference mentions not using
> barred and unbarred holds that the term refers to unskilled wrestling!
> >
> Cheers,
> Terry

Hi Terry...
It may be that 'shak a fa' started out as a term which covered all
wrestling(skilled & unskilled)but by the time your quote was published
many of the readers would have been familiar with styles using barred &
& unbarred holds - so 'shak a fa' would later refer to an
unskilled 'country bumpkin' form of wrestling.

Other refrences I've found which could be translated as -

"Upo' the lone, Wi' him to shak ' a fa'".
Up the lane with him to wrestle(1742)

Aye shak in' fa's, and aft-times o' their back.
Always wrestling and frequently on their back(1778)

Louie