
A highwayman was a
robber who stole from travellers. This type of
thief usually travelled and robbed by
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...
as compared to a
footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads.
[ Rid, Samuel. "Martin Markall, Beadle of Bridewell," in ''The Elizabethan Underworld'', A. V. Judges, ed. pp. 415–416. George Routledge, 1930]
Online quotation
[Spraggs, pp. 107, 169, 190–191.] Such
criminals operated until the mid- or late 19th century. Highwaywomen, such as
Katherine Ferrers, were said to also exist, often dressing as men, especially in fiction.
The first attestation of the word ''highwayman'' is from 1617.
Euphemisms such as "knights of the road" and "gentlemen of the road" were sometimes used by people interested in romanticizing (with a
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...
–esque slant) what was often an especially violent form of stealing. In the 19th-century American West, highwaymen were sometimes known as road agents. In Australia, they were known as
bushrangers.
Robbing
The great age of highwaymen was the period from the
Restoration in 1660 to the death of
Queen Anne in 1714. Some are known to have been disbanded soldiers, and even officers, of the
English Civil War
The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
and French wars. What favoured them most was the lack of governance and absence of a police force: parish constables were almost entirely ineffective, while detection and arrest were very difficult. Most of the highwaymen held up travellers and took their money. Some had channels by which they could dispose of bills of exchange. Others had a 'racket' on the road transport of an extensive district; carriers regularly paid them a ransom to go unmolested.
They often attacked
coaches for their lack of protection, including public
stagecoaches; the
postboys who carried the mail were also frequently held up. The demand to "
Stand and deliver!" (sometimes in forms such as "Stand and deliver your purse!" "Stand and deliver your money!") was in use from the 17th century to the 19th century:
The phrase "Your money or your life!" is mentioned in trial reports from the mid-18th century:
Victims of highwaymen included the Prime Minister
Lord North, who wrote in 1774: "I was robbed last night as I expected, our loss was not great, but as the
postilion did not stop immediately one of the two highwaymen fired at him (They had guns at the time) – It was at the end of
Gunnersbury Lane."
Horace Walpole, who was shot at in Hyde Park, wrote that "One is forced to travel, even at noon, as if one was going to battle." During this period, crime was rife and encounters with highwaymen or women could be bloody if the victim attempted to resist. The historian
Roy Porter described the use of direct, physical action as a hallmark of public and political life: "From the rough-house of the crowd to the dragoons' musket volley, violence was as English as plum pudding. Force was used not just criminally, but as a matter of routine to achieve social and political goals, smudging hard-and-fast distinctions between the worlds of criminality and politics... Highwaymen were romanticized, with a hidden irony, as 'gentlemen of the road.'"
Robbers as heroes
There is a long history of treating highway robbers as heroes. They were admired by many as bold men who confronted their victims
face to face and were ready to fight for what they wanted.
[Spraggs, pp. 2–3, 7–8, 255.] Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
outlaw
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...
is regarded as an English
folk hero. Later robber heroes included the
Cavalier highwayman
James Hind; the
French-born gentleman highwayman
Claude Du Vall;
John Nevison;
Dick Turpin;
Sixteen String Jack;
William Plunkett and his partner, the "Gentleman Highwayman"
James MacLaine; the Slovak
Juraj Jánošík; and Indians including
Kayamkulam Kochunni,
Veerappan, and
Phoolan Devi. In the same way, the
Puerto Rican pirate
Roberto Cofresí also came to be venerated as a hero.
In
early modern Ireland, acts of robbery were often part of a tradition of Irish Catholic resistance to the
Dublin Castle administration and
Protestant Ascendancy. From the mid-17th century onwards, Catholic highwaymen who harassed
the Crown
The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
and their supporters were known as 'tories' (from Irish ''
tóraidhe'', raider; ''tóraí'' in
modern spelling). By the end of the century, they were also known as
rapparees. Notable Irish highwaymen of the period included
James Freney,
Redmond O'Hanlon,
Willy Brennan and Jeremiah Grant.
[Seal, pp. 69–78.]
Dangerous places
English highwaymen often laid in wait on the main roads radiating from London. They usually chose lonely areas of
heathland or
woodland.
Hounslow Heath was a favourite haunt: it was crossed by the roads to
Bath and
Exeter.
Bagshot Heath in
Surrey
Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
was another dangerous place on the road to Exeter. One of the most notorious places in England was
Shooter's Hill on the
Great Dover Road.
Finchley Common, on the
Great North Road, was nearly as bad.
To the south of London, highwaymen sought to attack wealthy travellers on the roads leading to and from the
Channel ports and aristocratic arenas like
Epsom, which became a fashionable spa town in 1620, and
Banstead Downs where horse races and sporting events became popular with the elite from 1625. Later in the 18th century, the road from London to
Reigate and
Brighton
Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
through
Sutton attracted highwaymen. Commons and heaths considered to be dangerous included
Blackheath,
Putney Heath,
Streatham Common,
Mitcham Common,
Thornton Heath – also the site of a gallows known as "Hangman's Acre" or "Gallows Green" –
Sutton Common, Banstead Downs and
Reigate Heath.
During the late 17th and early 18th centuries, highwaymen in
Hyde Park were sufficiently common for
King William III to have the route between
St James's Palace and
Kensington Palace (
Rotten Row) lit at night with oil lamps as a precaution against them. This made it the first
artificially lit highway in Britain.
Executions
The penalty for robbery with violence was
hanging, and most notorious English highwaymen ended on the
gallows. The chief place of execution for London and
Middlesex was
Tyburn Tree. Highwaymen whose lives ended there include
Claude Du Vall,
James MacLaine, and
Sixteen-string Jack. Highwaymen who went to the gallows laughing and joking, or at least showing no fear, are said to have been admired by many of the people who came to watch.
[Spraggs, pp. 212–233.]
Decline
During the 18th century, French rural roads were generally safer from highwaymen than those of England, an advantage credited by the historian
Alexis de Tocqueville to the existence of a uniformed and disciplined mounted
constabulary known as the
Maréchaussée. In England this force was often confused with the regular army and as such cited as an instrument of royal tyranny not to be imitated.
In England, the causes of the decline are more controversial. After about 1815, mounted robbers are recorded only rarely, the last recorded robbery by a mounted highwayman having occurred in 1831. The decline in highwayman activity also occurred during the period in which repeating handguns, notably the
pepper-box and the
percussion revolver, became increasingly available and affordable to the average citizen. The development of the
railways is sometimes cited as a factor, but highwaymen were already obsolete before the railway network was built. The expansion of the system of
turnpikes, manned and gated
toll-roads, made it all but impossible for a highwayman to escape notice while making his getaway, but he could easily avoid such systems and use other roads, almost all of which outside the cities were flanked by open country.
Cities such as London were becoming much better policed: in 1805 a body of mounted police began to patrol the districts around the city at night. London was growing rapidly, and some of the most dangerous open spaces near the city, such as
Finchley Common, were being covered with buildings. However, this only moved the robbers' operating area further out, to the new exterior of an expanded city, and does not therefore explain decline. A greater use of
banknote
A banknote or bank notealso called a bill (North American English) or simply a noteis a type of paper money that is made and distributed ("issued") by a bank of issue, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued by commerc ...
s, more traceable than gold coins, also made life more difficult for robbers,
[Spraggs, p. 234.] but the
Inclosure Act 1773 was followed by a sharp decline in highway robberies; stone walls falling over the open range like a net, confined the escaping highwaymen to the roads themselves, which now had walls on both sides and were better patrolled.
The dramatic population increase which began with the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
also meant, quite simply, that there were more eyes around, and the concept of remote place became a thing of the past in England.
Outside Anglophone countries
Greece
The bandits in
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
under Ottoman rule were the
Klephts (κλέφτες), Greeks who had taken refuge in the inaccessible mountains. The klephts, who acted as a guerilla force, were instrumental in the
Greek War of Independence.
Kingdom of Hungary
The highwaymen of the 17th- to 19-century
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...
were the ''betyárs'' (
Slovak: ''zbojník''). Until the 1830s, they were mainly simply regarded as criminals but an increasing public appetite for betyar songs, ballads and stories gradually gave a romantic image to these armed and usually mounted robbers. Several of the
betyárs have become legendary figures who in the public mind fought for social justice. Hungarian betyárs included
Jóska Sobri, Márton Vidróczki, András Juhász, Bandi Angyal, Pista Sisa, Jóska Savanyú.
Juraj Jánošík (), who was born and operated in Upper Hungary (now
Slovakia
Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
), is still regarded as the Slovak version, and
Sándor Rózsa the
Hungarian version of
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...
in their regions.
The
Hajduk (
Hungarian: Hajdú) also originated in Hungary. They were formed from large numbers of Hungarians forced out of Syrmia and the Banates (Banate of Srebrenik, Banate of Nándorfehérvár, Banat of Macsó), moving upwards to central Hungary because of the Turkish attacks (they are replaced by the
Serbs,
Bosnians and
Croats
The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...
settling in the region). By the end of the 16th century, they had developed into a significant military force. They developed their own military organisation, separate from the ranks established in the country – they chose their own commanders, captains, lieutenants and corporals. Their rights were later taken away by the Austrians after the defeat of the
Rákóczi's War of Independence, fearing their military power, they forced them into serfdom, so this was the end of the Hajduk golden age.
India
The Indian Subcontinent has had a long and documented history of organised robbery for millennia. These included the
Thuggees, a quasi-religious group that robbed travellers on Indian roads until the cult was systematically eradicated in the mid-1800s by British colonial administrators. Thugees would befriend large road caravans and gain their confidence, before strangling them to death and robbing their valuables. According to some estimates the Thuggees murdered a million people between 1740 and 1840. More generally, armed bands known colloquially as "
dacoits" have long wreaked havoc on many parts of the country. In recent times this has often served as a way to fund various regional and political insurgencies that includes the Maoist
Naxalite movement.
Kayamkulam Kochunni was also a famed highwayman who was active in
Central Travancore in the early 19th century. Along with his close friend Ithikkarappkki from the nearby Ithikkara village, he is said to have stolen from the rich and given to the poor. With the help of an
Ezhava warrior called
Arattupuzha Velayudha Panicker, Kochunni was arrested and sent to Poojappura Central Jail. Legends of his works are compiled in
folklore
Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...
and are still read and heard today.
The Balkans and eastern Europe
The bandits in Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia and Bulgaria under Ottoman rule, and in Hungary were the
Hajduks (Hajduci, Хајдуци, Хайдути) – rebels who opposed Ottoman rule and acted as a guerilla force, also instrumental in the many wars against the Ottomans, especially the
Serbian revolution. Serbian and Croatian refugees in Austro-Hungarian (and Habsburg) lands were also part of the
Uskoci. Notable freedom fighters include
Starina Novak, a notable
outlaw was
Jovo Stanisavljević Čaruga.
In medieval
Wallachia,
Moldavia,
Transylvania and Ukraine, the Haiduks (Romanian – Haiduci, Ukrainian – Гайдуки, ''Haiduky'') were bandits and deserters who lived in forests and robbed local
Boyars or other travelers along roads. Sometimes they would help the poor peasants. In the 1800s,
betyárs became common in Hungary.
Literature and popular culture

In
Shakespeare's ''
Henry IV, Part 1''
Falstaff is a highwayman, and part of the action of the play concerns a robbery committed by him and his companions. Another highwayman in
English drama is
Captain Macheath, hero of
John Gay's 18th-century
ballad opera ''
The Beggar's Opera''. The legend of
Dick Turpin was significantly boosted by ''
Rookwood'' (1834), in which a heavily fictionalised Turpin is one of the main characters.
[Spraggs, pp. 237–240.] Alfred Noyes's
narrative poem "
The Highwayman" has been immensely popular ever since its publication in 1906.
A number of traditional
folk song
Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
s about highwaymen exist, both positive and negative, such as "
Young Morgan", "
Whiskey in the Jar", and "
The Wild Colonial Boy".
From the early 18th century, collections of short stories of highwaymen and other notorious criminals became very popular. The earliest of these is Captain Alexander Smith's ''Complete History of the Lives and Robberies of the Most Notorious Highwaymen'' (1714). Some later collections of this type had the words
The Newgate Calendar in their titles and this has become a general name for this kind of publication.
In the later 19th century, highwaymen such as Dick Turpin were the heroes of a number of
penny dreadfuls, stories for boys published in serial form. In the 20th century the handsome highwayman became a
stock character
A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a type of character in a narrative (e.g. a novel, play, television show, or film) whom audiences recognize across many narratives or as part of a storytelling tradition or convention. Th ...
in historical love romances, including books by
Baroness Orczy and
Georgette Heyer.
Sir
Walter Scott's romance ''
The Heart of Midlothian'' (1818) recounts the heroine waylaid by highwaymen while travelling from Scotland to London.
''
Ronia, the Robber's Daughter'' (1981) is a children's
fantasy book by
Astrid Lindgren, which portrays the adventures of Ronia, the daughter of the leader of a gang of highwaymen.
Comics
The Belgian comics series ' by
Turk and
De Groot is a
gag-a-day series about
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...
's attempts at robbing travellers in the forest.
The Dutch comics series ''
Gilles de Geus'' by
Hanco Kolk and
Peter de Wit was originally a gag-a-day about a failed highwayman called Gilles, but the character later evolved into a resistance fighter with the
Geuzen against the Spanish army.
''Ithikkara Pakki'', a graphic children's story book about the Indian highwayman
Ithikkara Pakki, was published in April 2010 in
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
. The life of the Indian highwayman
Kayamkulam Kochunni was adapted as a comic by Radha M. Nair in the
794th issue of the Indian comic book series,
Amar Chitra Katha.
Music
There were many broadsheet
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...
s about highwaymen; these were often written to be sold on the occasion of a famous robber's execution. A number of highwaymen ballads have remained current in
oral tradition
Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...
in England and Ireland.
[Seal, pp. 47–78.]
The traditional Irish song "
Whiskey in the Jar" tells the story of an Irish highwayman who robs an army captain and includes the lines "I first produced me pistol, then I drew me rapier. Said 'Stand and deliver, for you are a bold deceiver'." The hit single version recorded in 1973 by Irish rock band
Thin Lizzy renders this last line "I said 'Stand-oh and deliver, or the devil he may take ya'."
The traditional Irish song "
The Newry Highwayman" recounts the deeds and death of a highwayman who robbed "the lords and ladies bright". The traditional Irish song "Brennan on the Moor" describes an escapade of the "bold, undaunted robber".
Adam and the Ants had a number one song for five weeks in 1981 in the UK with "
Stand and Deliver". The video featured Adam Ant as an English highwayman.
The contemporary folk song "On the Road to Fairfax County" by
David Massengill, recorded by
The Roches and by
Joan Baez, recounts a romantic encounter between a highwayman and his female victim. In the end, the highwayman is hanged over the objections of his victim.
Musician
Jimmy Webb penned and recorded a song entitled "
Highwayman" in 1977 about a soul with incarnations in four different places in time and history, a highwayman, a
sailor, a construction worker on the
Hoover Dam, and finally as a
star ship captain.
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...
recorded a version of the song in 1978, but the most popular incarnation of the song was recorded by
Willie Nelson,
Kris Kristofferson,
Waylon Jennings and
Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...
in 1984, who as a group called themselves
The Highwaymen.
The Canadian singer
Loreena McKennit adapted the narrative poem, "
The Highwayman" written by
Alfred Noyes, as a song by the same title in her 1997 album
The Book of Secrets.
Cinema and television
The
Carry On films included a highwayman spoof in ''
Carry On Dick'' (1974).
Monty Python sent up the highwayman legends in the Dennis Moore sketch in Episode 37 of ''
Monty Python's Flying Circus'', in which
John Cleese played the titular criminal who stole only
lupins. In a linking sketch in an episode of ''
Not the Nine O'Clock News'' a highwayman holds up a stagecoach with pistols – in order to wash the coach in exchange for small monies in the manner of a modern-day unsolicited car window washer in traffic. In ''
Blackadder the Third'',
Mr. E. Blackadder turns highwayman in the episode "
Amy and Amiability". In the British children's television series ''
Dick Turpin'', starring
Richard O'Sullivan, the highwayman was depicted as an 18th-century Robin Hood figure. Additionally the actor
Mathew Baynton
Mathew John Baynton (born 18 November 1980) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. He is a member of the Them There collective, in which he wrote and starred in ''Horrible Histories (2009 TV series), Horrible Histories'', ''Yonderlan ...
played Dick Turpin in ''
Horrible Histories''. A singing highwayman appears in the fourth episode of the animated mini-series, ''
Over the Garden Wall'', ''Songs of the Dark Lantern''.
The highwayman known as
Juraj Jánošík (1688–1713) became a hero of many folk legends in the
Slovak, Czech, and Polish cultures by the 19th century and hundreds of
literary works about him have since been published. The first
Slovak feature film was ''
Jánošík'', made in 1921, followed by seven more Slovak and Polish
films about him.
''
Curro Jiménez'', a Spanish TV series which aired from 1976 to 1979, starred a group of 19th-century highwaymen or ''bandoleros'' in the mountains of
Ronda in the south of Spain.
''
Ronia, the Robber's Daughter'' (aka ''Ronja Robbersdaughter'' in the US) is a 1984 Swedish
fantasy film
Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually Magic (paranormal), magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The Film genre, genre is considered a form of speculative fic ...
, based on the 1981
novel of the same title by
Astrid Lindgren, and narrating the adventures of Ronia, the daughter of the leader of a gang of highwaymen.
''
Ronja, the Robber's Daughter'' (
Japanese: 山賊の娘ローニャ,
Hepburn: ''Sanzoku no Musume Rōnya'') is a Japanese animated television series, also based on Lindgren's novel ''
Ronia, the Robber's Daughter,'' and directed and storyboarded by
Gorō Miyazaki.
The lives of numerous Indian highwaymen including
Arattupuzha Velayudha Panicker,
Ithikkara Pakki,
Jambulingam Nadar,
Kayamkulam Kochunni and
Papadu have been adapted for cinema and television multiple times.
Season two, episode 20, of
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, the main villain (voiced by
James Marsters) disguises himself as a highwayman.
The animated series ''
Over the Garden Wall'' features
Jerron Paxton as a highwayman, including a short original song he composed in conjunction with
The Blasting Company.
Films
*''
The Mark of Zorro'' (1920)
*''
Dick Turpin'' (1925)
*''
Dick Turpin'' (1933)
*''
The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938)
*''
The Night Riders'' (1939)
*''
Frontier Marshal'' (1939)
*''
My Little Chickadee'' (1940)
*''
Virginia City'' (1940)
*''
The Mark of Zorro'' (1940)
*''
The Wicked Lady'' (1945)
*''
The Loves of Carmen'' (1948)
*''
The Lady and the Bandit'' (1951)
*''
Bend of the River'' (1952)
*''
Son of Paleface'' (1952)
*''
The King's Thief'' (1955)
*''
The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders'' (1965)
*''
Kayamkulam Kochunni'' (1966)
*''
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' is a 1969 American Western (genre), Western buddy film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman. Based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, k ...
'' (1969)
*''
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...
'' (1973)
*''
Carry On Dick'' (1974)
*''
The Mark of Zorro'' (1974)
*''
Barry Lyndon'' (1975)
*''
Kaayamkulam Kochunniyude Makan'' (1976)
*''
Joseph Andrews'' (1977)
*''
Vellayani Paramu'' (1979)
*''
Ronia, the Robber's Daughter'' (1981)
*''
Jambulingam'' (1982)
*''
The Wicked Lady'' (1983)
*''
The Deceivers'' (1988)
*''
The Lady and the Highwayman'' (1989)
*''
Plunkett & Macleane'' (1999)
*''
Kayamkulam Kochunni'' (2018)
*''
The Highwaymen'' (2019)
Video games
In ''
Fable II'', Highwaymen appear as an elite type of enemy which works alongside bandits and makes use of speed and agility over brute strength. It is also possible for players to dress as Highwaymen. There is an enemy type in ''
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim'' called the "bandit highwayman" that acts as one of the higher-level bandit enemies. In ''
World of Warcraft
''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a 2004 massively multiplayer online role-playing (MMORPG) video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment for Windows and Mac OS X. Set in the '' Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of War ...
'' one can encounter the Defias Highwaymen, the strongest members of the Defias Brotherhood. In ''
Darkest Dungeon'' the Highwayman is a class of hero who wields a dirk and flintlock to fight. In ''
Runescape'', highwaymen attack lower-leveled players on a route between two cities. In ''
Bushido Blade 2'' there is a playable character named Highwayman who is dressed in Victorian clothing and represents the hero archetype. In ''
Bloodborne'' many articles of clothing obtained by "The Hunter" are inspired by Highwaymen attire.
See also
*
List of highwaymen
*
Brigandage
*
Bushranger
*
Dacoity
*
Hajduk
*
Mail robbery
*
Marauder (disambiguation)
*
Piracy
*
Renegade Nell
*
Road agent (disambiguation)
*
Social bandits
*
Thuggees
References
Sources / further reading
*
Ash, Russell (1970). ''Highwaymen'', Shire Publications, ; revised edition (1994)
* Billett, Michael (1997). ''Highwaymen and Outlaws'', Weidenfeld Military,
* Brandon, David (2004). ''Stand and Deliver! A History of Highway Robbery'', Sutton Publishing,
* Dunford, Stephen (2000). ''The Irish Highwaymen'', Merlin Publishing,
* Evans, Hilary & Mary (1997). ''Hero on a Stolen Horse: Highwayman and His Brothers-in-arms – The Bandit and the Bushranger'', Muller,
* Haining, Peter (1991). ''The English Highwayman: A Legend Unmasked'', Robert Hale,
*
Harper, Charles George (1908). ''Half-hours with the Highwaymen: picturesque biographies and traditions of the "knights of the road"'', Chapman & Hall
Online edition via
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
.
*
Hobsbawm, Eric (1969). ''Bandits,'' Delacorte Press; Revised edition (2000).
* Koliopoulos, John S (1987). ''Brigands with a Cause, Brigandage and Irredentism in Modern Greece 1821–1912.'' Clarendon Press.
* Liapi, Lena (2019). "Roguery in Print: Crime and Culture in Early Modern London" Boydell & Brewer.
* Maxwell, Gordon S (1994). ''Highwayman's Heath: Story in Fact and Fiction of Hounslow Heath in Middlesex '', Heritage Publications, Hounslow Leisure Services,
* Newark, Peter (1988). ''Crimson Book of Highwaymen'', Olympic Marketing Corp,
* Pringle, Patrick (1951). ''Stand and Deliver: The Story of the Highwaymen'', Museum Press, ASIN B0000CHVTK
* Seal, Graham (1996). ''The Outlaw Legend: a cultural tradition in Britain, America and Australia'', Cambridge University Press, (hbk), (pbk)
* Sharpe, James (2005). ''Dick Turpin: The Myth of the English Highwayman'', Profile Books,
* Spraggs, Gillian (2001). ''Outlaws and Highwaymen: The Cult of the Robber in England from the Middle Ages to the Nineteenth Century'', Pimlico,
* Sugden, John and Philip (2015). ''The Thief of Hearts: Claude Duval and the Gentleman Highwayman in Fact and Fiction'', Forty Steps,
External links
The Heroic Outlaw in Irish Folklore and Popular Literature* Primary source book from 1674 on aspects of Highwaymen, their customs and their crimes
Jackson's Recantation; or, the Life and Death of the Notorious Highwayman
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