Tag: French Hercules

Horace Barre was Louis Cyr’s protege as they traveled the country performing in the John Robinson Circus. Though from Montreal, circuses through a more exotic moniker would be better for ticket sales so Barré was often billed as the “French Hercules” or the “French Sampson” and, like his mentor, he excelled in such oldtime strongman feats as the back lift, hefting heavy dumbbells overhead and barrel lifting.