.jpg)
Ok, so hands up! I'm pushing the boat out here on the "Nursery Rhyme" category! However, there is a rhyme of sorts which does enable me to post this here, in the form of a poem entitled "The Highwayman". This poem I actually found scribbled in the back of a 2nd hand book of nursery and folk songs which I purchased on Amazon, and so I was somewhat disappointed to discover that it was actually a poem written in 1906 and not a nursery rhyme after all.
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees.The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding
Up to the old inn-door.
He’d a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,
A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin.
They fitted with never a wrinkle. His boots were up to the thigh.
And he rode with a jewelled twinkle
Under the jewelled sky.
This was all that was handwritten into my book by the previous owner, however this poem is actually slightly different in format and goes on for another good few verses which can be read online. This poem was first published in Blackwoods Magazine, in 1906.
The stereotype of an English highwayman is one which brings with it the images of romanticism and nostalgia for forgotten eras. There are few who when asked to describe such, would describe anything other than the mounted and masked “gentleman of the road” with his chivalrous manners and dashing appearance. Often the focus of historical romances these days (yes, even I wrote one of those!) the figure of the highwayman has become one of romance and historical intrigue. However, despite a few exceptions, most highwaymen can be perceived to have been simple bandits too and potentially as violent as their counterparts; the street-robbers of London in the eighteenth century. Previous research shows that they were just as capable of rape, murder and assault as other criminals of the time and it can be argued that this false image of the gentleman highwayman as a romantic figure seems to have grown exponentially during the nineteenth century
There is some debate, amongst the secondary literature as to when the romanticism of the
highwayman figure began, with some authors claiming it to be during the nineteenth century, and others claiming that the process began earlier and could already have been happening during the eighteenth century, perhaps back to the time in question itself. An example is apparent in the old bailey proceedings of a Mr Francis Peters in 1773, who was robbed on the road by a Mr William Gordon who then insisted to take his hat and wig. Mr Peters exclaimed that men of Mr Gordon’s ilk would not normally take a hat and wig, and that it was cold and he might become ill if they were taken.
"He snatch'd off my Hat and Wig. I expostulated with him on that occasion. I told him it was very unusual for men of his profession to take such things, and that it being very cold it might in-danger my health."
Mr Gordon was, however, not swayed by this and:"He swore plentifully, gave me a great deal of opprobrious Language, and told me that he would take all he could get."
This foul-mouthed highwayman took the items anyway before being spooked and fleeing, leaving a very shocked and confused Mr Peters in his wake!
The topic of "highway robbery" is actually one which encompasses many types of crime – that being any crime which happened on the roads - from cutthroats and robbers to rapists and assault as well as mounted robbery. Whilst the gentleman highwayman had the image of being chivalrous and polite, this was not the case for the lowlier cutthroats, robbers and pickpockets who were much feared.
By 1720, the concept of the highway robber (not to be confused with the mounted highwayman) was a much-dreaded thing, of which people were very fearful. Part of this was due to the way crimes were reported, and the motives behind such publishing – often semi-political in their purpose. For example, in order to justify demands for harsher punishments for criminals or the highlight the need for better policing in London. From this over-the-top negative media, the term “street robber” was born, as a somewhat new type of highway robbery, with pamphlet writers including well-known writers such as Daniel Defoe describing it as “worrying”. As well as this, and owing to expansion of the urban areas, as well as the enhanced development of newspaper printing and media in the eighteenth century, suddenly news of crimes was everywhere. All types of robbery were shown to extremes to the population of eighteenth century England, whether that be negative or romanticised.
These sources then, show a distinct bias to vilifying robbers, and have distinct agendas for the tone of their writing. Enter here, the image of a gent on a horse who doesn't need to kill his victims because his face is hidden and he can just ride away when the deed is done. This led to a distinction between this stereotype of highwaymen and street-robbers, as the street-robber was given to be an altogether different and more violent type of criminal. In response, highwaymen began to receive a more generous reputation, with some going so far as to say they were more gentlemanly, a generally nicer, more polite sort of thief overall. Thus, the concept of the polite and gallant gentleman highwayman was born.
This romanticism in itself could have, however, led to a rise in highway robbers who were not of the same ilk as before. For example, in many sources from the Old Bailey website it can be seen that the “lowly” robbers began to emulate the highwaymen in an attempt to raise their status in the criminal world. Sometimes in the robberies, it is seen that the robber stole the horses and clothing as well as belongings, too. These men, however, were no different to how they had always been and they would not follow the same “code” as their apparently more distinguished comrades.
One case, that of the cutthroat turned highwayman: John Cullingham, shows that the very guns used to rob his victim were stolen from his previous victim, Sir William Chapman. Interestingly, in this case the highwayman in question was apprehended due to his fall from his horse. This could be a coincidence but it’s also possible that a lack of experience in handling a horse could have caused this accident. If this were the case, this also lends evidence to the hypothesis of cutthroats stealing what they needed to become highwaymen.
Another possibility, based on this concept of a media-born almost socially-acceptable highwayman, is that this reputation could have become an almost desirable state to achieve for own notoriety. For example, as well as to better deceive, some men might have wanted to be perceived as a noble highwayman, rather than as a lowly criminal, especially in the glorified media state of such. With this in mind, it is highly possible that some of the cases which can be seen in the old bailey sources of the more polite and gentlemanly highwaymen, could also have been seen to be an emulation of what the perpetrator believed to be acceptable highwayman behaviour based on a stereotype.
A second and separate line of enquiry is to assess the concept of “outlaw heroes” in general. Spraggs, in her paper on outlaws, discusses this by stating that heroes are at the very centre of society as a means to reinforce and reflect social inequality. They give both the knowledge of what is not just, and the hope of change. The concept of the highwayman was conceived as a respite from the drudgery of normal crime, and therefore rose to become a hero outlaw, but that this concept had to have rules, for example not harming women, polite manners and a chivalrous manner. This then, must have contrasted well with the lighthearted tales of folk heroes told in the early days of the era of highwaymen, such as Robin Hood and Fulke le Fitzwarin, whose tales were by then already widespread and romanticised. Certainly, by the late nineteenth century, scholars writing on the subject were including figures such as Robin Hood in the category of highwaymen. This is a topic I intend to cover in more detail on another day though.
So, did real “gentlemen” highwaymen exist? Well, yes, probably, but in truth a lot of their charms probably didn’t 😉
Sources
Brandon, D. (2011) Stand and deliver!: A history of highway robbery. 4th edn. London: History Press.
Cowden, S., Seal, G. and George, R.M. (1999) ‘The outlaw legend: A cultural tradition in Britain, America and Australia’, The Yearbook of English Studies, 29, p. 336. doi: 10.2307/3509004.
Defoe, D. (1726) A brief historical account of the lives of the six notorious street-robbers, executed at Kingston: Viz. William Blewet, Edward Bunworth, Emanuel Dickenson, Thomas Berry, John Higges, and John Legee: With a particular relation of their early introduction i. Available at: https://archive.org/details/briefhistoricala00defo (Accessed: 12 June 2016).
Johnson, C. and Whitehead, C. (1883) Lives and exploits of English Highwaymen, pirates, and robbers: Drawn from .. 4th (with additions) edn. London: Google Books.
Kelly, T.E. and Knight, S. (1997) Fouke le Fitz Waryn: Introduction | Robbins library digital projects. Available at: http://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/fouke-le-fitz-waryn-introduction (Accessed: 23 April 2016).
Langbein, J.H. (2003) The origins of adversary criminal trial. (googlebooks)
Mackie, E. (2010) Rakes, Highwaymen, and pirates: The making of the modern gentleman in the .. 3rd edn. JHU Press.
Online, O.B.P. (2003c) The Value Of the Proceedings as a Historical Source. Available at: https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/static/Value.jsp#reading (Accessed: 13 June 2016).
Spraggs, G. (2001) Outlaws and Highwaymen: The cult of the robber in England from the middle ages to the nineteenth century. London: Pimlico.
Samuel Sells, John Mattocks, Violent Theft > highway robbery, 14th January 1726. Reference Number: t17260114-62 -
John Hawkins, George Simpson, Violent Theft > highway robbery, 10th May 1722. Reference Number: t17220510-33 -
Samuel Vevers, Violent Theft > highway robbery, 31st August 1726. Reference Number: t17260831-354 –
John Robinson, Violent Theft > highway robbery, 16th October 1728. Reference Number: t17281016-405 -
Thomas Hitchin, Violent Theft > highway robbery, 28th August 1730. Reference Number: t17300828-326 –
William Gordon, Violent Theft > highway robbery, 4th April 1733. Reference Number: t17330404-447 –
Francis Crotchet, Violent Theft > highway robbery, 10th October 1733. Reference Number: t17331010-208 –
John Cullington, Violent Theft > highway robbery, 5th December 1733. Reference Number: t17331205-199 –
John Freelove, Violent Theft > highway robbery, 5th December 1733.10 –
James Macdowald, Violent Theft > highway robbery, 16th January 1734. Reference Number: t17340116-3811 –
Thomas Taverner, Violent Theft > highway robbery, 30th June 1734. Reference Number: t17340630-412 –
Thomas Dwyer, James O Neal, highway robbery, animal theft, 8th September 1736. Reference Number: t17360908-1113 –
Edward Bonner, Violent Theft > highway robbery, 8th September 1736. Reference Number: t17360908-3314 – T
homas Meighill, Violent Theft > highway robbery, 26th May 1737. Reference Number: t17370526-2015 –
William Barkwith, Violent Theft > highway robbery, 5th December 1739. Reference Number: t17391205-316 –