0:00:14 > 0:00:21For a period in the 17th and 18th centuries, crime was endemic.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24On the open roads, robbers robbed with impunity.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27On the high seas, pirates roamed.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32Felons robbed, burgled and cheated.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36Across the country, there was no established police force
0:00:36 > 0:00:39and although the ultimate penalty was death,
0:00:39 > 0:00:41who was there to enforce it?
0:00:43 > 0:00:48In this series, I want to explore the world of the British outlaw,
0:00:48 > 0:00:50the original antihero
0:00:50 > 0:00:53in an age of swashbuckle,
0:00:53 > 0:00:56daring and style.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00And no outlaw was more glamorous, romantic and glorified
0:01:00 > 0:01:04than the highwayman - the masked horseback robber
0:01:04 > 0:01:07who stole hard cash and admirers' hearts
0:01:07 > 0:01:10in pursuit of a merry life
0:01:10 > 0:01:11and a short one.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26Most people think of the highwayman as an underworld figure -
0:01:26 > 0:01:30perhaps an 18th century rogue, like Dick Turpin.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32GUNFIRE
0:01:34 > 0:01:36But their origins lie much earlier,
0:01:36 > 0:01:39with the fall from grace of the King's men
0:01:39 > 0:01:43and the rise of gentleman robbers in the English Civil War,
0:01:43 > 0:01:47the brutal conflict that erupted in the 1640s.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51As the country tore itself apart,
0:01:51 > 0:01:55a maelstrom of violence, disorder and distrust
0:01:55 > 0:01:59created the perfect conditions for outlaws to thrive.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03The Royalists had lost.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05King Charles was executed.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08Great houses were devastated in battle.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11Suddenly, thousands of experienced military men
0:02:11 > 0:02:13were unemployed and angry.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17Some decided their best chance of survival was to take to the roads -
0:02:17 > 0:02:20as what we would now call highwaymen.
0:02:22 > 0:02:23Under Cromwell's rule,
0:02:23 > 0:02:27reports began to emerge of lawlessness on the roads
0:02:27 > 0:02:29on a scale never before seen.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32Fantastical stories appeared of outlaws -
0:02:32 > 0:02:35men whose political beliefs had failed them
0:02:35 > 0:02:38and who now sought glory in a life of crime.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43These were military trained sharpshooters,
0:02:43 > 0:02:46who found themselves on the losing side.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48There had been highway robbery
0:02:48 > 0:02:53for as long as there had been roads, but this...
0:02:53 > 0:02:55Well, this was something different.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58It became a menace that marked the age
0:02:58 > 0:03:01and lent a new air of romance to crime.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09For these outlaws were motivated by principles as much as money -
0:03:09 > 0:03:12former soldiers who clung to a broken sense of honour,
0:03:12 > 0:03:14mixed with thievery.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18Men like Captain James Hind.
0:03:19 > 0:03:24In 1651, Hind was dragged out from a London barber shop
0:03:24 > 0:03:27and arrested by heavily-armed soldiers.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31A wanted man, he had been living under an alias for months,
0:03:31 > 0:03:33until his hiding place was betrayed.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36He was taken to Newgate Prison and clapped in irons.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42Hind was a passionate Royalist
0:03:42 > 0:03:46and he'd already fought - and lost - in the name of the crown.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50But he was already well-known for a very different reason,
0:03:50 > 0:03:55because Hind was the most notorious outlaw-highwayman in Britain
0:03:55 > 0:03:57and his fame was about to explode.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02Described as "the unparalleled thief",
0:04:02 > 0:04:06the stories about him were almost unbelievable.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10Hind was born in Oxfordshire, in 1616.
0:04:10 > 0:04:11He wasn't a nobleman,
0:04:11 > 0:04:15but his family were respected and comfortably well-off.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18For the young James, education held little appeal,
0:04:18 > 0:04:21so eventually, his father apprenticed him to a butcher,
0:04:21 > 0:04:25hoping he would take to an honest trade.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29After falling foul of his master's violent temper once too often,
0:04:29 > 0:04:32the teenager decided to run away
0:04:32 > 0:04:35and he headed to London, to seek his fortune.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37Now, in the eyes of some,
0:04:37 > 0:04:40the capital was a place that corrupted with vice and sin,
0:04:40 > 0:04:42but for a man like Hind,
0:04:42 > 0:04:45it simply offered the best entertainment around.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51It wasn't long before the young Hind fell into bad company.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54He was arrested whilst drunk in the arms of a prostitute
0:04:54 > 0:04:58and thrown into a jail called the Poultry Compter.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02In this grim and filthy dungeon, one inmate stood out from all the rest -
0:05:02 > 0:05:07Thomas Allen, an experienced highwayman and gang leader.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11After their release, the two decided to join forces.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15But first, the inexperienced Hind
0:05:15 > 0:05:19needed to prove himself a worthy partner.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22As the gang hid, he was sent out on his first robbery.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29They chose an ambush site at Shooter's Hill,
0:05:29 > 0:05:31on the outskirts of London,
0:05:31 > 0:05:36and waited until a gentleman and his servant came by, travelling alone.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39If Hind was nervous, he didn't show it.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42With pistols drawn, he demanded money
0:05:42 > 0:05:46and the gentleman - in fear of his life - handed over £10.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48A healthy sum, for a first attempt.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53But then, something unusual happened.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57It was said that Hind took pity on the man he had just robbed.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01He put his hand back in the purse, took out 20 shillings
0:06:01 > 0:06:05and gave it back to the man, saying it was for his travel expenses.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08It was an act that marked him out as something different.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13Handing back money was a calculated display of gallantry
0:06:13 > 0:06:15and it piqued Allen's interest.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18Hind quickly became his second-in-command.
0:06:18 > 0:06:23His reputation was set as a principled and gentlemanly robber.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25Hind had star quality.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29But the politics of civil war were never far away.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33Hind and Allen's gang had sworn oaths as Royalists
0:06:33 > 0:06:35and began to single out Parliamentarians.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38The list of Hind's supposed victims
0:06:38 > 0:06:41reads like a who's who of the Roundhead regime.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44One day, as he travelled through Dorset,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47Hind spotted a chance to ambush John Bradshaw,
0:06:47 > 0:06:51the judge who had actually condemned King Charles to death.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54Knowing that his name now struck fear into the hearts of men,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Hind put his pistol to Bradshaw's head
0:06:57 > 0:07:00and demanded his money with particular venom.
0:07:00 > 0:07:05"I fear neither you, nor any king-killing son-of-a-whore alive.
0:07:05 > 0:07:10"I have now as much power over you as you lately had over the King."
0:07:10 > 0:07:13Judge Bradshaw placed a trembling hand into his pocket
0:07:13 > 0:07:16and drew out a mere 40 shillings in silver.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19The highwayman was distinctly unimpressed
0:07:19 > 0:07:22and swore that he'd shoot him through the heart there and then,
0:07:22 > 0:07:26if he didn't find coin of another species.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28With his life hanging in the balance,
0:07:28 > 0:07:32the judge handed over a purse full of gold instead.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35After a lecture on the immorality of Parliament's cause,
0:07:35 > 0:07:39Hind shot all six of the coach horses dead.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43Stories like these - whether real or imagined -
0:07:43 > 0:07:45were used by writers to question
0:07:45 > 0:07:48the legitimacy of Parliament's authority.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50But there's more,
0:07:50 > 0:07:52because while these robberies of the great and the good
0:07:52 > 0:07:54burnished his reputation,
0:07:54 > 0:07:58he also became known as something of a Robin Hood figure -
0:07:58 > 0:08:01a highwayman with a conscience.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05After running short of money,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08Hind held up a farmer who was on his way to market
0:08:08 > 0:08:11to buy his wife and ten children a cow.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15The farmer begged him not to take his meagre 40 shillings
0:08:15 > 0:08:20as it was all he had, and had taken him two years to scrimp together.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22Hind was desperate and took it anyway,
0:08:22 > 0:08:26but the farmer was repaid double and extra a week later when,
0:08:26 > 0:08:31true to his word, the highwayman returned to pay him back.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33It was all good PR,
0:08:33 > 0:08:36but simple farmers weren't enough to make a legend.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38Hind craved infamy.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42In several accounts of his life, there's a story of an attack
0:08:42 > 0:08:45that proved to be the Hind gang's undoing -
0:08:45 > 0:08:47on Oliver Cromwell himself.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52They launched their assault as Cromwell's coach left Huntingdon.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56It's unclear if it was meant to be a simple robbery or an assassination,
0:08:56 > 0:09:00but he was heavily guarded and the attack went horribly wrong.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04Thomas Allen and several of his men were captured and executed
0:09:04 > 0:09:07and Hind barely managed to escape with his life.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13He went on the run, riding his horse until it dropped and eventually
0:09:13 > 0:09:17returning to the anonymity of his old haunts in London.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21In the end, Hind was betrayed by one of his fellow Royalists.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23A former soldier recognised him
0:09:23 > 0:09:26and reported him to the Speaker of the House of Commons.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30Hind, by now, had some very powerful enemies.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32He was already well-known,
0:09:32 > 0:09:35but now, something extraordinary happened -
0:09:35 > 0:09:38he became a celebrity, the length and breadth of the country.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43During the Civil War,
0:09:43 > 0:09:46there was a boom in the production of printed material.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50Hind's exploits were published in a rich tapestry of pamphlets,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53ballad songs, chapbooks, poems and broadsheets,
0:09:53 > 0:09:54published at a prodigious rate
0:09:54 > 0:09:59and all claiming to relate his true words and story.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02Hind is the first figure, to my knowledge,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05who becomes a celebrated criminal.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08The political changes and the war
0:10:08 > 0:10:12were accompanied by a massive upsurge in print.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14So, what we're looking at with Hind is two things -
0:10:14 > 0:10:16it's the historical circumstances
0:10:16 > 0:10:19that make a highwayman like Hind possible
0:10:19 > 0:10:23and it's also the emergence of print culture
0:10:23 > 0:10:24to a greater degree than before.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31These printed works were something like early tabloids.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35Their authors were untroubled with journalistic accuracy
0:10:35 > 0:10:38and the readers didn't really care, either.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40These weren't just morality tales,
0:10:40 > 0:10:43nor were they bland, official accounts.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45These stories were colourful, they were exciting,
0:10:45 > 0:10:47they were designed to entertain.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54In the press, Hind embodied the idea of the jovial Cavalier
0:10:54 > 0:10:57resisting against the dour Puritans.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00While the regime was busy banning Christmas,
0:11:00 > 0:11:02he's out there, enjoying himself.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04It's not through prayer and hard work -
0:11:04 > 0:11:08he's drinking, carousing and having adventures.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11Now, in the imagination, the highwayman is gallant,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14he's principled and he's damn good fun.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18From his jail cell, Hind actually denied many of the stories
0:11:18 > 0:11:21attributed to him in the pulp press.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24When asked about some of the pamphlets written about him,
0:11:24 > 0:11:26he answered that they were fictions,
0:11:26 > 0:11:31before adding, "But some merry pranks and revels I have played.
0:11:31 > 0:11:32"That, I deny not."
0:11:35 > 0:11:36But none of that mattered.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40The regime simply could not let Hind become a rallying point
0:11:40 > 0:11:42for Royalist sympathisers.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44They wanted him dead.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49The authorities were having none of it.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51Hind wasn't just any Royalist soldier,
0:11:51 > 0:11:56he'd fought alongside the future Charles II, right to the end.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01He was taken to Worcester, the scene of Charles II's last battle,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05where he was tried and convicted for treason.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07Hind would suffer a traitor's death.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13He was hung, drawn and quartered,
0:12:13 > 0:12:17his head displayed on a spike above the bridge over the Severn.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22Despite Hind's gruesome end, the horse had already bolted.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25Highwaymen were a menace on the roads,
0:12:25 > 0:12:27but their stories were bestsellers.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31Technology was on the highwaymen's side.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34The printing press made them famous
0:12:34 > 0:12:36and the Civil War flooded the country
0:12:36 > 0:12:40with a revolutionary invention that allowed them to flourish.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43The flintlock pistol.
0:12:43 > 0:12:48This weapon made the highwaymen's signature surprise attack much easier.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52What were the advantages of this type of weapon, for the highwayman?
0:12:52 > 0:12:56The flintlock gave the highwayman the chance to have his weapon
0:12:56 > 0:13:00all primed and ready to go and then, in his coat.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03The best way to really understand the advantages of the flintlock
0:13:03 > 0:13:06is to look what had to be used before.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11This is a matchlock and this is the match - hence the matchlock -
0:13:11 > 0:13:14and for this to be ready to fire, that has to be glowing red.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16There's no way you could load this
0:13:16 > 0:13:19and then go about your business, with it ready to use.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22It's as powerful as anything that came later,
0:13:22 > 0:13:24but if you like, it's fire by appointment.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28How does the flintlock work?
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Well, three key components in a flintlock -
0:13:31 > 0:13:34the cock, which is this piece here, which holds the flint.
0:13:34 > 0:13:39The frizzen, which is what the spark comes from, and the pan.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43So, to make this work, you would go back to half cock,
0:13:43 > 0:13:45which is where we are there.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49You would pour powder in the pan and then close the frizzen.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53And then, the final thing to make it go -
0:13:53 > 0:13:56you'd go back to full cock and when you pull the trigger,
0:13:56 > 0:14:01that piece of flint flies forward, drags down the frizzen,
0:14:01 > 0:14:04scraping off little bits of metal as red hot sparks
0:14:04 > 0:14:06and then a few sparks and flames from the pan
0:14:06 > 0:14:09goes into the barrel and sets off the main charge.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11What sort of range did they fire over?
0:14:11 > 0:14:14The pistols particularly would have been effective over a short range.
0:14:14 > 0:14:19They were designed to hit a man-sized target at a range...
0:14:19 > 0:14:22perhaps not that much greater than an arm's length, plus a sword.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27GUNSHOT
0:14:27 > 0:14:30- Wahey!- Right on the chin. Well done.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32He'd be staggering around now, wouldn't he?
0:14:36 > 0:14:39After the Civil War, amidst a flood of weapons
0:14:39 > 0:14:42and desperate men roaming the nation,
0:14:42 > 0:14:45highway robbery became an epidemic.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50Each infamous figure took the myth to a new level
0:14:50 > 0:14:52and the state wasn't ready.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55The age of the highwayman had arrived.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59On the lonely 17th century roads,
0:14:59 > 0:15:02you never knew who was lurking in the shadows.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06Just outside of the cities, towns and villages,
0:15:06 > 0:15:08England was like the Wild West.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12Vast swathes of countryside stretched across the landscape.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15There was no police force and out here,
0:15:15 > 0:15:19law and order of any description had very little reach.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23People and possessions could simply vanish.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32Highwaymen swarmed around wealth.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36Their main hunting grounds were the arterial King's roads
0:15:36 > 0:15:39that headed out from the major cities - especially London -
0:15:39 > 0:15:42carrying the richest members of society.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46A few miles from the capital and you were a sitting duck.
0:15:46 > 0:15:51Highwaymen lay in wait around areas like Hounslow Heath, Shooter's Hill
0:15:51 > 0:15:56and the Great North Road, which all became notorious robbery hot spots.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58Travel was expensive.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01Coach passengers by definition were wealthy,
0:16:01 > 0:16:03and so, they were frequently targeted.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06But highwaymen saw everyone on the road as fair game.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14To make matters worse, the roads of the period were terrible -
0:16:14 > 0:16:19deep-rutted in summer and impassable quagmires in winter.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22They were little more than trackways, badly-maintained
0:16:22 > 0:16:25and cursed by those who travelled on them.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30The rough, countryside terrain
0:16:30 > 0:16:33worked to the highwaymen's advantage.
0:16:33 > 0:16:38Coaches plodded along at around 5mph on a good road,
0:16:38 > 0:16:40slower on a poor one.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43Hills were particularly dangerous,
0:16:43 > 0:16:46because coaches were forced to slow down,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49which made them an ideal location for ambush.
0:16:49 > 0:16:54Heathland and forests provided plenty of cover for robbers to hide
0:16:54 > 0:16:58and urban centres were an ideal location to lie low.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12After the death of Cromwell, the English Republic fell apart
0:17:12 > 0:17:16and in 1660, Charles II was brought to England to take the throne.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18CHEERING
0:17:18 > 0:17:21The time of disgruntled Royalist highwaymen
0:17:21 > 0:17:25running riot around the countryside came to an end.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28They had been valiant losers in the new order,
0:17:28 > 0:17:29but the monarchy was back.
0:17:30 > 0:17:35Jubilant Royalists returned home triumphant with the new king.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39They were extravagant and hedonistic and they brought someone with them -
0:17:39 > 0:17:43Claude Duval, the man who gave highwaymen sex appeal.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46He was from Normandy and worked as a footman
0:17:46 > 0:17:49to an exiled English aristocrat.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53Footmen were expected to be good shots and keen horsemen,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56with a reputation for hauteur and insolence.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59Being a footman was a great training for being a highwayman,
0:17:59 > 0:18:01because you were essentially an armed guard
0:18:01 > 0:18:04to protect the noble family that you worked for.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07You were chosen for your height and good looks,
0:18:07 > 0:18:09so the kind of glamour was written into it.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13Very fast runners, sure shots, because they were trained to fire.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16I mean, it was almost like training someone to be a highwayman.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20Restoration aristocrats were a bunch of dissolute hedonists.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23Their French-style fashion was elaborately decadent
0:18:23 > 0:18:26and debauchery was positively encouraged.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29All of which rubbed off on their entourage.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32Duval would have been described as a popinjay
0:18:32 > 0:18:34for his fashionable French clothes
0:18:34 > 0:18:37and he soon gained a reputation for fine living.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40He was an insatiable drinker, womaniser and gambler,
0:18:40 > 0:18:44but this was a lifestyle that he simply couldn't afford.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46Now, for a man with an ego like Duval's,
0:18:46 > 0:18:49getting a proper job was simply out of the question,
0:18:49 > 0:18:51so instead, he turned highwayman.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Unlike Hind, Duval wasn't interested in politics.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04He robbed simply to keep the party going.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07He became a thief with style to match his daring
0:19:07 > 0:19:12and with Duval, panache was added to the highwayman legend.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18Soon enough, Duval found his way to the top of the nation's wanted list,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21with a reward of £20 offered for his capture.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24He robbed travellers and royal officials -
0:19:24 > 0:19:26anyone with money that came his way.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32This was a highwayman with no pretence to any social mission.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36He doesn't seem to have had any scruples about robbing from the poor.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38Robin Hood, he was not.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41On one occasion, Duval and an accomplice
0:19:41 > 0:19:44came across two gentlemen and their servants.
0:19:44 > 0:19:45Engaging them in conversation,
0:19:45 > 0:19:49they then robbed every penny from the servants,
0:19:49 > 0:19:52without even bothering to search their wealthy employers.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00But there was a particular theme in the tales of Duval's career
0:20:00 > 0:20:02that really made his name -
0:20:02 > 0:20:05and that was his pursuit of women.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08He gained a reputation for gallantry, particularly
0:20:08 > 0:20:12for returning keepsakes or trinkets to women, after he'd robbed them.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16He was as keen on stealing their heart as their money.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20This persona is perfectly captured
0:20:20 > 0:20:25in an 1860 painting by William Frith of an encounter on Hounslow Heath.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29With Duval, it was your money or your wife.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32Duval's gang held up a coach carrying a gentleman and his wife
0:20:32 > 0:20:36with the enormous sum of £400 on board.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38As the gang approached,
0:20:38 > 0:20:40the lady played a tune on her flageolet,
0:20:40 > 0:20:42to show she wasn't scared.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44Duval was intrigued.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48After complimenting the man on his wife's musical skills,
0:20:48 > 0:20:50he asked if she danced as well as she played
0:20:50 > 0:20:53and if the gent would allow her to dance with him.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55Surrounded by pistols,
0:20:55 > 0:20:59it's perhaps unsurprising that the husband promptly agreed.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01Leaping down from his horse,
0:21:01 > 0:21:03Duval and the lady danced the courante together,
0:21:03 > 0:21:06while his cronies played music to accompany them.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10Of course, Duval is as skilled with his feet as he is with his blade,
0:21:10 > 0:21:12and when the dance is over,
0:21:12 > 0:21:15he hands his dancing partner back into the coach.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19Duval then takes £100 from her husband as payment for the music,
0:21:19 > 0:21:24but excuses him from the remaining £300 for being a good sport.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28The incident really sums up what Duval's all about.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32There's swashbuckle and ladies going weak at the knees when Duval's around,
0:21:32 > 0:21:35but that's exactly what he brought to the idea of the highwayman -
0:21:35 > 0:21:39romance, a bit of dash and sexual frisson.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46In the end, it was Duval's hedonistic lifestyle
0:21:46 > 0:21:47that brought him down.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51To celebrate a successful robbery, he stopped off at the pub.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55The Frenchman had a reputation for being handy with sword and pistol,
0:21:55 > 0:21:59but by the time a bailiff arrived to arrest him, he was legless.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01Too drunk to resist,
0:22:01 > 0:22:04he was thrown into Newgate Gaol to await his fate.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07At his trial, well-placed ladies of the court
0:22:07 > 0:22:11tried to intervene for a reprieve, but it was to no avail.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15Claude Duval was found guilty and sentenced to hang.
0:22:15 > 0:22:21Duval rode to the gallows in 1670 watched by thousands of women,
0:22:21 > 0:22:23from duchesses to prostitutes.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25He was 27.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31For the poor, he was an iconic figure -
0:22:31 > 0:22:34a rock star criminal, a glamorous gangster.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38Through Duval, they could escape the status of their birth,
0:22:38 > 0:22:39even if in fantasy.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41For the nobility,
0:22:41 > 0:22:44he added a touch of danger and excitement to their world.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47It would have been a thrill to have been robbed by him.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52Writers recounting Duval's adventures often did so
0:22:52 > 0:22:55to express concern about the Restoration elite -
0:22:55 > 0:22:58that they were dissolute and robbing the public to pay for their excess.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01Some thought they were less interested in ruling
0:23:01 > 0:23:03than womanising and gambling.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06There was also the feeling that courtly manners
0:23:06 > 0:23:10were becoming feminised and even worse, French.
0:23:10 > 0:23:16All of which was a nasty foreign corruption of good old English morality.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18One of the interesting things about Claude Duval
0:23:18 > 0:23:21is that he kind of reflects the society that produced him.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24He likes women and gambling and dancing,
0:23:24 > 0:23:28and presumably, all the other vices of the court of Charles II.
0:23:28 > 0:23:33And so, he's a focus for criticism of Charles II's court.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37Frith's painting of Duval captures the moment of a hold-up
0:23:37 > 0:23:40in a way that instantly mythologises it.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42Duval is at the centre, being all gallant,
0:23:42 > 0:23:45whilst his less respectable sidekicks do the rest.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48He's got the clothes, the style and a mask.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01Highwaymen were noted for dressing like the wealthy gentlemen of the day.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03This was partly out of vanity,
0:24:03 > 0:24:06but partly to blend in with the well-to-do passengers.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11Crime was considered the province of the poor,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14so dressing this way was intended to allay suspicion.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22Every highwayman had a different approach to disguise.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27Some accounts mention that some highwaymen
0:24:27 > 0:24:31pulled their periwigs down to cover their eyes, or more bizarrely,
0:24:31 > 0:24:33tucked their tails into their mouths.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37Others wore their hats pulled down low, wore false beards
0:24:37 > 0:24:41or simply did nothing at all - a risky and cocky approach.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51The famous tricorn hat arrived around 1700,
0:24:51 > 0:24:54but what about that iconic black mask?
0:24:54 > 0:24:57Well, we know that some highwaymen did wear a mask,
0:24:57 > 0:25:01but by far the most common disguise was a simple scarf.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09As important as choosing their disguise
0:25:09 > 0:25:12was selecting the right victims.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15The best operators carefully gathered intelligence
0:25:15 > 0:25:16on prime targets.
0:25:17 > 0:25:22In 1674, an obscure highwayman named Francis Jackson
0:25:22 > 0:25:25recorded his adventures in a confessional pamphlet.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28If Jackson hoped it would give him a reprieve, he was wrong -
0:25:28 > 0:25:29and he was hanged.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32But its value to us today is that he's left us
0:25:32 > 0:25:34a kind of highwayman's manual -
0:25:34 > 0:25:37a how-to guide for robbery on the road.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45In his book, Jackson explains how highwaymen had a spy network
0:25:45 > 0:25:48working throughout the coaching inns and taverns
0:25:48 > 0:25:49that dotted the landscape.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52Everyone was involved, from the landlords to the stable hands,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55each getting a cut of the profits for a good tip-off.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02He also explained how highwaymen employed deception
0:26:02 > 0:26:04and confidence tricks,
0:26:04 > 0:26:07building false familiarity with potential victims,
0:26:07 > 0:26:10ingratiating themselves into fellow travellers' company
0:26:10 > 0:26:11before attacking.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18And Jackson also had advice for those who got caught.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21"To procure mercy from the bench,
0:26:21 > 0:26:23"there must be a plausible account given
0:26:23 > 0:26:26"how you fell into this course of life.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29"Fetching a deep sigh, saying that you were well-born,
0:26:29 > 0:26:33"but by reason of your family falling into decay,
0:26:33 > 0:26:35"you were exposed to great want.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39"And rather than shamefully beg, for you knew not how to labour,
0:26:39 > 0:26:42"you were constrained to take this course for a subsistence.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46"That it is your first fault, which you are heartily sorry for
0:26:46 > 0:26:49"and will never attempt the like again."
0:26:50 > 0:26:55Most interestingly of all, I think, he also has advice for travellers.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58Never say goodbye and never reveal your destination,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01in case a highwayman is listening.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03Also, never travel on a Sunday,
0:27:03 > 0:27:07because the roads are deserted and the authorities won't help.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13Then there was the robbery itself,
0:27:13 > 0:27:16the riskiest part of the venture for all concerned.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20To minimise the risks, highwaymen often worked in gangs
0:27:20 > 0:27:24and they developed strategies to make robberies go smoothly.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28Sometimes, they simply chatted to the driver before pulling a gun,
0:27:28 > 0:27:32but if that wasn't an option, there was the direct approach - an ambush.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37One of the gang would approach directly from the front,
0:27:37 > 0:27:40with pistol drawn to hold up the driver.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43Attacking head-on shielded him from the passengers inside -
0:27:43 > 0:27:45who might be armed -
0:27:45 > 0:27:48and it allowed him to make sure the driver surrendered.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53A second highwayman would head for the passengers.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56He might approach from directly behind the coach,
0:27:56 > 0:27:58minimising the chance of getting shot.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02From the rear or side window,
0:28:02 > 0:28:04he would then threaten or charm the passengers.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08Guttural threats of violence alternating with witty provocations,
0:28:08 > 0:28:11both intended to coerce victims
0:28:11 > 0:28:14into handing over their goods without resistance.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Then, the gang made their escape.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20To prevent pursuit, or out of spite,
0:28:20 > 0:28:24they would sometimes cut the bridles or kill the horses.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29Finally, they would flee into a busy city or head to a friendly inn
0:28:29 > 0:28:31and establish an alibi.
0:28:35 > 0:28:39Escape and evading the law were vital skills in highway robbery.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43In highwayman legend, the greatest of all escape tales
0:28:43 > 0:28:46belonged to the robbers of the Great North Road -
0:28:46 > 0:28:49and they don't come any more sensational
0:28:49 > 0:28:51than those of John Nevison.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53Years before Dick Turpin,
0:28:53 > 0:28:56he became famous for his ingenious and daring escapes.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00This is the Peak District in Derbyshire,
0:29:00 > 0:29:02John Nevison's stamping ground.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05It's the ideal environment for highwaymen.
0:29:10 > 0:29:13In reality, Nevison was a bit of a thug.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15He operated protection rackets
0:29:15 > 0:29:17on the routes to the markets down south.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20He took money, not from wealthy aristocrats,
0:29:20 > 0:29:24but from drovers, from butchers, from shopkeepers.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27He was also a horse thief and a murderer,
0:29:27 > 0:29:31killing a parish constable sent to arrest him.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33Nevison was a hard man.
0:29:33 > 0:29:34He was also a survivor.
0:29:38 > 0:29:40Like many highwaymen stories,
0:29:40 > 0:29:43it's unclear what's true and what is just a good yarn,
0:29:43 > 0:29:47but Nevison's legend was full of incredible escape routines.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51In 1674, he broke out of Wakefield Gaol
0:29:51 > 0:29:54before charges could be brought.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57A few years later, he was sentenced to transportation
0:29:57 > 0:29:59and hopped ship before it left the docks.
0:29:59 > 0:30:01But he wasn't done yet.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03According to the Newgate Calendar,
0:30:03 > 0:30:06in 1681, the law caught up with him again
0:30:06 > 0:30:08and he was sent to Leicester Gaol -
0:30:08 > 0:30:11but this time, escape seemed impossible.
0:30:11 > 0:30:13His escapades were well-known
0:30:13 > 0:30:16and it was reported that he was so elaborately shackled
0:30:16 > 0:30:18that he could scarcely move.
0:30:18 > 0:30:22To get out of this one, he'd need a plan with a new level of cunning
0:30:22 > 0:30:25and a little bit of help from his friends.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31The first step was to get out of the closely-guarded cell.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34He did this by feigning a deadly sickness
0:30:34 > 0:30:37and calling for his friends to pay their last respects -
0:30:37 > 0:30:39one of whom was a physician.
0:30:39 > 0:30:43On his arrival, his friend declared that Nevison had the plague
0:30:43 > 0:30:46and he would infect the whole prison - wardens included -
0:30:46 > 0:30:48if he was not isolated.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53Nevison was moved and unshackled and the guards kept their distance.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55Then he brought in an artist,
0:30:55 > 0:30:58who set about painting the fatal symptoms of plague
0:30:58 > 0:31:00all over his body.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03His physician friend then gave him a sleeping draught
0:31:03 > 0:31:05and they claimed he was dead.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12After a cursory examination from his jailors,
0:31:12 > 0:31:14who were too scared to get close,
0:31:14 > 0:31:17his friends were allowed to come and claim his body
0:31:17 > 0:31:19and take it away in a coffin.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22He was soon up on his feet, however -
0:31:22 > 0:31:26only this time, as a highwayman robbing as his own ghost,
0:31:26 > 0:31:29which made him even more terrifying to his victims.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33But there was another highwayman on the North Road
0:31:33 > 0:31:36with an escape story that became even more famous,
0:31:36 > 0:31:38known as Swift Nix.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42A shadowy figure, nicknamed for being as fast as the devil himself.
0:31:44 > 0:31:48The story goes that he relieved a debt collector of £500
0:31:48 > 0:31:51near Rochester one morning, but he was worried that
0:31:51 > 0:31:54the victim would be able to identify him in court.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57Now, a lesser man might have killed the collector,
0:31:57 > 0:32:01but Swift Nix decided on a more elaborate alibi.
0:32:01 > 0:32:06He decided to ride the 230 miles to York in one day -
0:32:06 > 0:32:08a feat then considered impossible.
0:32:10 > 0:32:12After hatching his plan, he sped off,
0:32:12 > 0:32:14tearing through Chelmsford and Cambridge
0:32:14 > 0:32:17before haring up the Great North Road.
0:32:17 > 0:32:19Riding several horses into the ground,
0:32:19 > 0:32:22he arrived in York around 7.30 -
0:32:22 > 0:32:25and, changing into his finest clothes,
0:32:25 > 0:32:27he finally arrived, breathless, at his destination...
0:32:30 > 0:32:31..a bowling green.
0:32:33 > 0:32:34Swift Nix stepped onto the green
0:32:34 > 0:32:37and exchanged pleasantries with the mayor,
0:32:37 > 0:32:40who would later swear that he'd been his guest that evening
0:32:40 > 0:32:43and couldn't possibly have been in Kent that very morning.
0:32:43 > 0:32:47This story was later attributed to Dick Turpin riding Black Bess,
0:32:47 > 0:32:49but the original was Swift Nix.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58But all of these stories - whether true or not -
0:32:58 > 0:33:01tell us what people wanted to see in their highwaymen.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04They needed to be charming, generous and clever.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07Who'd have thought that a game of bowls
0:33:07 > 0:33:09was a way of staying out of gaol?
0:33:12 > 0:33:16There was little to actually stop highwaymen plying their trade.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18The state was small
0:33:18 > 0:33:21and its ability to control the population was limited,
0:33:21 > 0:33:25which meant it reacted to crimes, but did not try to prevent them.
0:33:26 > 0:33:31Fear of brutal punishment was supposed to keep criminals in check.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34Law enforcement was a localised affair.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39Constables were unpaid amateurs whose job it was to keep the peace
0:33:39 > 0:33:44and occasionally arrest villains, if they didn't look too dangerous.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47In London, watchmen were tasked with keeping some sense of peace
0:33:47 > 0:33:50in the disorderly city.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54Watchmen were hired by the parish to walk round at night.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57Like the constables, they're seen as pretty ineffectual.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59Quite often paid off, quite often old men.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03You know, it's a job you give to someone who's retiring.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07In most cases, they're seen as laughably inefficient.
0:34:08 > 0:34:11Perhaps the main hindrance to a highwayman early on
0:34:11 > 0:34:13seems to have been the "hue and cry"...
0:34:15 > 0:34:17..a posse of regular citizens
0:34:17 > 0:34:20gathered by their victims to hunt them down.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23Eventually, though, it was a change in the law
0:34:23 > 0:34:25that posed the biggest threat to highwaymen
0:34:25 > 0:34:27as the 18th century dawned.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30By this time, it was acknowledged
0:34:30 > 0:34:33that things had got completely out of control,
0:34:33 > 0:34:35but the aristocracy who ran the state
0:34:35 > 0:34:38had no interest in founding a police force.
0:34:38 > 0:34:43It had more than a little whiff of French tyranny and expense about it.
0:34:43 > 0:34:46Justice was about making the legal penalties stronger,
0:34:46 > 0:34:48rather than prevention.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52They wanted to use the law to bring down the knights of the road.
0:34:55 > 0:34:59The Highwayman's Act came into force in 1693,
0:34:59 > 0:35:03and you've got relatively wealthy people being robbed
0:35:03 > 0:35:06in inaccessible places, by men on horseback.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09So, their getaway was pretty easy
0:35:09 > 0:35:12and the detection was pretty unlikely,
0:35:12 > 0:35:16so they offered rewards to people who apprehended highwaymen.
0:35:16 > 0:35:17The other section, of course,
0:35:17 > 0:35:21was to try and turn criminals against criminals, get grasses.
0:35:21 > 0:35:23So, if you are convicted of a robbery
0:35:23 > 0:35:26and therefore, you are facing the death penalty yourself,
0:35:26 > 0:35:29if you are prepared to turn Queen's Evidence
0:35:29 > 0:35:31and shop at least two of your confederates,
0:35:31 > 0:35:36you would receive a pardon for the robberies that you had committed.
0:35:39 > 0:35:43Any private citizen could bring in a highwayman - if they dared -
0:35:43 > 0:35:46but taking them to court wasn't simple.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49It was their victims who had to pay for a prosecution
0:35:49 > 0:35:52and provide evidence.
0:35:52 > 0:35:54For many, it simply wasn't worth it.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56These were not men to cross lightly.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02When one highwayman couldn't get a ring off his victim's hand,
0:36:02 > 0:36:04he cut off her finger.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07When another swallowed her jewellery to keep it safe,
0:36:07 > 0:36:10the robber cut her open.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12And when their identity was threatened,
0:36:12 > 0:36:15they could be particularly ruthless.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18On one occasion, a local woman witnessed a robbery
0:36:18 > 0:36:21and called out that she recognised the robbers
0:36:21 > 0:36:22and that she would report them.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25They turned around and cut out her tongue.
0:36:26 > 0:36:30But there were also some instructive accounts of victims fighting back
0:36:30 > 0:36:32against their attackers,
0:36:32 > 0:36:35including an incident with two highwaymen
0:36:35 > 0:36:37at the Surrey village of Ripley.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41Their victims alerted the local population,
0:36:41 > 0:36:44who chased their attackers across a village green
0:36:44 > 0:36:46into the middle of a game of cricket.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49Now, one of the attackers managed to escape,
0:36:49 > 0:36:52but the other was beaten into submission
0:36:52 > 0:36:53with cricket bat and stumps.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59Whatever the truth about their methods,
0:36:59 > 0:37:02as the 1700s progressed, highwaymen's stories became
0:37:02 > 0:37:05an increasingly popular form of entertainment.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09As their fame grew, so did the sense of romance
0:37:09 > 0:37:13around the idea of who they were and what they stood for.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17In 1714, Captain Alexander Smith's book,
0:37:17 > 0:37:21The Complete History Of The Lives And Robberies Of The Most Notorious Highwaymen,
0:37:21 > 0:37:23caused a sensation.
0:37:23 > 0:37:25It set the bar for colourful
0:37:25 > 0:37:29and slightly dubious accounts of the big names in highway robbery.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32But whilst the public might find them romantic,
0:37:32 > 0:37:34the elite weren't so keen.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37They represented a threat to the social order.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40Not only were they attacking property with impunity,
0:37:40 > 0:37:43without any regard to the rank of their victims,
0:37:43 > 0:37:48but the robberies were giving them wealth and pretensions of status.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51To satirists, there was a delicious irony
0:37:51 > 0:37:54to the howls of outrage about highwaymen.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57For them, politicians in the Georgian government
0:37:57 > 0:38:00were even worse thieves.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04In 1728, John Gay penned The Beggar's Opera,
0:38:04 > 0:38:06using a highwayman called Macheath
0:38:06 > 0:38:09as a central character in his staged satire.
0:38:09 > 0:38:13Macheath was the theatrical incarnation of the gentleman robber,
0:38:13 > 0:38:16but he wasn't the villain of the piece.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18He was moral, he was noble
0:38:18 > 0:38:21and it was set against the rapaciousness of the elite.
0:38:21 > 0:38:26His character was used to dissect the hypocrisy of the ruling classes,
0:38:26 > 0:38:30who were losing more at the gambling tables than they were on the roads.
0:38:32 > 0:38:34Then, there was the corruption.
0:38:34 > 0:38:35In John Gay's eyes,
0:38:35 > 0:38:38highwaymen were more honest thieves than the government.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41The ruling class were committing robberies of their own,
0:38:41 > 0:38:43but they were getting away with it.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47Prime Minister Robert Walpole spirited away thousands of pounds.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50And when the Chancellor - the Earl of Macclesfield -
0:38:50 > 0:38:55took £100,000 in bribes, all he got was a fine.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04The highwayman epidemic was a sign of the times.
0:39:04 > 0:39:07Britain was becoming a modern state.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10Commerce and capitalism were accelerating rapidly,
0:39:10 > 0:39:13leaving the old order behind.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16Highwaymen had been said to symbolise this process,
0:39:16 > 0:39:21as upwardly mobile, ruthless and heavily profit-oriented.
0:39:22 > 0:39:26Highwaymen stole because they wanted the money to support their lifestyle
0:39:26 > 0:39:29and didn't want to work for it, but there was still a sense
0:39:29 > 0:39:32that there were good and bad thieves in England.
0:39:32 > 0:39:34Criminality had its own hierarchy
0:39:34 > 0:39:37and right at the top were highwaymen.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39Many even considered themselves gentlemen.
0:39:39 > 0:39:41MUSIC: The Seeker by The Who
0:39:41 > 0:39:43None more so than James Maclaine.
0:39:43 > 0:39:47He was the son of a wealthy Scottish clergyman with connections.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50Not quite a gentleman, but not far off.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53He was raised to become a merchant, but early on,
0:39:53 > 0:39:58it was clear that he had a better eye for fine clothes than business.
0:39:58 > 0:40:00Maclaine was also a hopeless gambler
0:40:00 > 0:40:03and frittered away a considerable inheritance.
0:40:03 > 0:40:04Eternally on the scrounge,
0:40:04 > 0:40:07he then moved to London to find himself a rich wife.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10He quickly married a tradesman's daughter
0:40:10 > 0:40:14and used her £500 dowry to set up a grocer's shop.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17For a while, it looked like he'd turned his life around.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25When his wife died, it quickly became clear
0:40:25 > 0:40:27that she had been the one running the business.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29Maclaine was clueless,
0:40:29 > 0:40:33so he sold up and packed his kids off to their grandparents.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36With his remaining funds, he then bought expensive clothes
0:40:36 > 0:40:39and began to mingle in high society
0:40:39 > 0:40:42in an attempt to bag himself a wealthy wife.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45But he had no luck and soon, the money ran out.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56Maclaine had become desperate, when he met a man named William Plunkett.
0:40:56 > 0:41:00Now, he was an apothecary and a fellow bankrupt
0:41:00 > 0:41:04and he suggested that they start up a new business together,
0:41:04 > 0:41:07setting up shop as highwaymen.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09MUSIC: Rumble by Link Wray
0:41:09 > 0:41:13Plunkett recognised that Maclaine's gentlemanly pretensions
0:41:13 > 0:41:15might actually come in handy.
0:41:15 > 0:41:17Expressing sympathy for his plight,
0:41:17 > 0:41:20Plunkett urged Maclaine to join him on the roads.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23"I thought, Maclaine, that thou hadst spirit and resolution,
0:41:23 > 0:41:26"with some knowledge of the world.
0:41:26 > 0:41:27"A brave man cannot want.
0:41:27 > 0:41:32"He has a right to live and need not want the conveniences of life
0:41:32 > 0:41:36"while the dull, plodding busy knaves carry cash in their pockets.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39"We must draw upon them to supply our wants -
0:41:39 > 0:41:41"there needs only impudence
0:41:41 > 0:41:44"and getting the better of a few silly scruples.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46"There's scarce courage necessary."
0:41:48 > 0:41:50Their ruse was simple, but effective.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53While Maclaine mingled with the great and the good,
0:41:53 > 0:41:55Plunkett posed as his footman,
0:41:55 > 0:41:58which gave him access below stairs,
0:41:58 > 0:42:00where he could get information from the staff.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03And so, with Maclaine listening upstairs
0:42:03 > 0:42:07and Plunkett downstairs, loose lips would provide juicy targets.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11Maclaine, though, was a bit of a coward.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14During a hold-up, Plunkett sent him to stop the driver of a coach
0:42:14 > 0:42:18while he searched the passengers, but Maclaine's courage failed him.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21Trembling with fear, he tried several times,
0:42:21 > 0:42:23but just couldn't do it,
0:42:23 > 0:42:25and Plunkett had to step in.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27But eventually, Maclaine got the hang of it,
0:42:27 > 0:42:31until one incident made them the talk of the town.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34In Hyde Park, they held up the coach of Horace Walpole,
0:42:34 > 0:42:37the Prime Minister's son and gothic novelist,
0:42:37 > 0:42:40who soon found himself in a horror story of his own.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45The ever-nervous Maclaine was collecting the passengers' valuables
0:42:45 > 0:42:49when his gun went off by accident, nearly blowing off Walpole's head
0:42:49 > 0:42:52and severely scorching the shocked man's cheek.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54After profuse apologies,
0:42:54 > 0:42:57Maclaine gathered the goods and they scarpered.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59True to his gentlemanly credentials,
0:42:59 > 0:43:03the mortified Maclaine wrote to Walpole the next day to apologise,
0:43:03 > 0:43:06and to try and sell him his own belongings back.
0:43:06 > 0:43:10Maclaine became known as the "Gentleman Highwayman,"
0:43:10 > 0:43:13and by reputation, he was courteous to a fault.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16Finally, he got to live as he'd always seen himself -
0:43:16 > 0:43:20a high-flyer, mixing with the very best people in society.
0:43:22 > 0:43:25And then, inevitably, it all went wrong.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28The blundering duo robbed the Salisbury stagecoach,
0:43:28 > 0:43:31relieving Lord Eglinton of his purse and blunderbuss
0:43:31 > 0:43:35and a wealthy passenger named Josiah Higden of his clothes
0:43:35 > 0:43:37and expensive fabrics.
0:43:37 > 0:43:41Maclaine then tried to sell some of the stolen goods.
0:43:41 > 0:43:43Firstly, he went to a lacemaker
0:43:43 > 0:43:45with some of Josiah Higden's golden lace -
0:43:45 > 0:43:47but unluckily for him,
0:43:47 > 0:43:51it was exactly the same lacemaker who had just sold it to Higden.
0:43:52 > 0:43:57After narrowly escaping that encounter, Maclaine was arrested.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00Higden recognised his stolen property in the local shop
0:44:00 > 0:44:02where Maclaine had eventually sold it,
0:44:02 > 0:44:06and unbelievably, had left his name and address.
0:44:06 > 0:44:08He'd been caught red-handed.
0:44:08 > 0:44:11Plunkett fled, never to be seen again.
0:44:11 > 0:44:15Maclaine was sent to jail, where he became a celebrity inmate.
0:44:15 > 0:44:193,000 people paid his jailers to visit him,
0:44:19 > 0:44:21including several of the aristocratic circle
0:44:21 > 0:44:23he had been so desperate to court.
0:44:27 > 0:44:31Being unable to tell a common criminal apart from a gentleman
0:44:31 > 0:44:33posed a threat to the social order
0:44:33 > 0:44:37and Maclaine's story was used as a dire warning.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40But status was important to criminals.
0:44:40 > 0:44:42Whilst in jail, Maclaine apparently wrote a treatise -
0:44:42 > 0:44:44published after his death -
0:44:44 > 0:44:48that attempted to distinguish the types of crime he committed
0:44:48 > 0:44:51from those of other mere criminals.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54Highway robbers were considered "gentlemen of the road".
0:44:54 > 0:44:57In order to be a highwayman, you had to have the accoutrements.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00He had to have a horse, he had to be able to feed the horse, he had to have a saddle.
0:45:00 > 0:45:04Well, I suppose you could nick those, but more often than not,
0:45:04 > 0:45:07you inherited those, because you came from that sort of class.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09And you had to be able to ride -
0:45:09 > 0:45:12and not everyone could ride a horse, but the gentry could -
0:45:12 > 0:45:14well, the well-off or the better off could.
0:45:14 > 0:45:18Highwaymen were, no doubt, at the top of the criminal hierarchy.
0:45:18 > 0:45:23They got to ride at the front of the cart to execution at Tyburn.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27A highwayman, Maclaine insisted, would only ever rob the rich,
0:45:27 > 0:45:31whereas the lowly footpad had little nobility in his work.
0:45:31 > 0:45:33Standing at Tyburn Tree,
0:45:33 > 0:45:37Maclaine faced his end as he had carried out his career.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39His last words as he saw the gallows?
0:45:39 > 0:45:41"Oh, Jesus."
0:45:45 > 0:45:48All of the colourful tales of the highwayman age
0:45:48 > 0:45:52were later taken and distilled into the story of one man -
0:45:52 > 0:45:53Dick Turpin.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59Popular culture down the centuries would embellish and exalt his legend
0:45:59 > 0:46:01through entertaining yarns,
0:46:01 > 0:46:04but lurking behind the glamorous Turpin of myth
0:46:04 > 0:46:07was a real man, with a far darker story.
0:46:14 > 0:46:19Turpin's real life was probably more typical of the average highwayman.
0:46:19 > 0:46:22He was a braggart, a bully and a coward.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25Violence was his modus operandi, not gallantry.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30Like the Royalist robber James Hind,
0:46:30 > 0:46:33he trained as a butcher, with a shop in Essex.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36Butchery was a respectable profession,
0:46:36 > 0:46:38but feeling the pinch in changing times.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41Turpin's downward spiral began
0:46:41 > 0:46:45when he started selling meat for a dodgy gang of poachers.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48When the law got involved, he left his business
0:46:48 > 0:46:51and joined his suppliers, the Gregory Gang.
0:46:51 > 0:46:55Soon, however, even poaching became too risky, so ironically,
0:46:55 > 0:46:58they turned to something that they thought would be safer -
0:46:58 > 0:46:59armed robbery.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04There was no glamour or panache to these outlaws.
0:47:04 > 0:47:06The gang was ruthless,
0:47:06 > 0:47:10with a reputation for violence, torture and rape.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13Far from the cheeky and respected thieves of popular fiction,
0:47:13 > 0:47:17they were housebreakers who preyed on the defenceless.
0:47:17 > 0:47:21And they were perfectly prepared to carry out their threats -
0:47:21 > 0:47:24beating, burning and slashing their victims.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27The gang turned to house robbery
0:47:27 > 0:47:32and in early 1735, this gang attacks an isolated farmhouse in Edgware,
0:47:32 > 0:47:34which was a village on the outskirts of London,
0:47:34 > 0:47:38which involves torturing a 70-year-old man
0:47:38 > 0:47:40who's the householder,
0:47:40 > 0:47:43to get him to reveal where valuables in the house are hidden.
0:47:43 > 0:47:47This involves sitting on the fire bare-buttocked, whipping him.
0:47:47 > 0:47:51While this is going on, one of the leaders of the gang is upstairs,
0:47:51 > 0:47:53raping a maid at pistol point.
0:47:53 > 0:47:54These are not folk heroes.
0:47:58 > 0:48:02The gang was eventually brought down by a Justice of the Peace
0:48:02 > 0:48:04and Turpin fled.
0:48:04 > 0:48:07But one of their members had been captured and confessed everything -
0:48:07 > 0:48:11and he even gave a description of Turpin, now a wanted man.
0:48:13 > 0:48:16"Richard Turpin - a butcher by trade -
0:48:16 > 0:48:18"is a tall, fresh-coloured man,
0:48:18 > 0:48:19"very marked with the smallpox.
0:48:19 > 0:48:23"About 26 years of age, about five feet nine inches high,
0:48:23 > 0:48:26"wears a blue-grey coat and a light, natural wig."
0:48:27 > 0:48:32After a time on the run, Turpin ended up in Epping Forest.
0:48:32 > 0:48:36A busy route from London, it provided the perfect location
0:48:36 > 0:48:38for his transformation into a highwayman.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45And an ideal hiding place for a man with a price on his head.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48For a short time, Turpin and his small gang of associates
0:48:48 > 0:48:53were prolific thieves, but inevitably, they got greedy.
0:48:53 > 0:48:55Turpin spotted a horse that he thought
0:48:55 > 0:48:57looked much finer than his own
0:48:57 > 0:49:00and forced the owner to hand it over at gunpoint.
0:49:01 > 0:49:03It was to be his downfall.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07The horse was an expensive racehorse named Whitestockings,
0:49:07 > 0:49:10for the white marks on its lower legs.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14And it wasn't long before the horse - and Turpin - were tracked down.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20They were found at a pub in Whitechapel.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23A local constable was summoned and a posse raised to set an ambush.
0:49:25 > 0:49:29In the ensuing melee, one of his gang was shot and mortally wounded.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33Accounts differ as to who pulled the trigger, and why.
0:49:33 > 0:49:37Some reports say that Turpin fired in order to silence his colleague.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40Others say he was trying to free him.
0:49:40 > 0:49:42Either way, his luck was running out.
0:49:44 > 0:49:48As the noose tightened, Turpin's notoriety came back to haunt him.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51Eager to claim the large reward on his head,
0:49:51 > 0:49:53a forest keeper's servant, Thomas Morris,
0:49:53 > 0:49:55set out to capture him.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59But Turpin wasn't going to go quietly and he shot Morris dead.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01GUNSHOT
0:50:02 > 0:50:04The reward was raised to £200.
0:50:07 > 0:50:12Turpin resurfaced in Yorkshire and changed his name to John Palmer.
0:50:12 > 0:50:13He then became a horse dealer -
0:50:13 > 0:50:17the 18th century equivalent of a second-hand car salesman -
0:50:17 > 0:50:21and of course, all of Palmer's horses were stolen.
0:50:23 > 0:50:25For a few years, he blended in,
0:50:25 > 0:50:28gaining a measure of respectability and friendship in the local area.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31But then, after a hunting trip with some locals,
0:50:31 > 0:50:34the man everyone knew as John Palmer
0:50:34 > 0:50:36made a bizarre and fatal mistake.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39To the utter bewilderment of the hunting party,
0:50:39 > 0:50:40he took out his pistol
0:50:40 > 0:50:43and blew the head off one of his landlord's chickens.
0:50:43 > 0:50:45Then, when a neighbour complained,
0:50:45 > 0:50:48Palmer threatened to do the same to him.
0:50:48 > 0:50:52A constable was summoned and John Palmer was sent to the local gaol.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55The authorities began to suspect
0:50:55 > 0:50:58that there was more to this strange "John Palmer" chap.
0:50:58 > 0:51:00No-one knew anything about him
0:51:00 > 0:51:03before he arrived a few years earlier, or how he earned a living.
0:51:03 > 0:51:06From his accent, he clearly wasn't local.
0:51:08 > 0:51:12Enquiries were made in Lincolnshire, where "John Palmer" had lived before
0:51:12 > 0:51:15and sure enough, they recognised the man.
0:51:15 > 0:51:19He'd been arrested for the theft of livestock and horses
0:51:19 > 0:51:21and had since escaped.
0:51:21 > 0:51:23Realising they had a bigger case on their hands,
0:51:23 > 0:51:26they brought him here, to York Gaol.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36But they still didn't know his true identity.
0:51:36 > 0:51:39In 1739, the man known as John Palmer
0:51:39 > 0:51:41wrote a letter to his brother-in-law,
0:51:41 > 0:51:44Pompr Rivernall back in Essex, asking for his help.
0:51:45 > 0:51:47But when Rivernall looked at the letter,
0:51:47 > 0:51:49he claimed not to know anyone from York
0:51:49 > 0:51:51and refused to pay the postal charge.
0:51:52 > 0:51:54By a bewildering coincidence,
0:51:54 > 0:51:57the letter was seen by a man called James Smith,
0:51:57 > 0:52:01the very man who had taught Richard Turpin how to write.
0:52:01 > 0:52:05Recognising the handwriting, he went straight to the authorities.
0:52:05 > 0:52:07John Palmer had been rumbled.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11At York Assizes in 1739,
0:52:11 > 0:52:14Richard Turpin was put on trial for horse theft.
0:52:17 > 0:52:19Despite repeated denials,
0:52:19 > 0:52:23at the trial, John Palmer was identified as Dick Turpin
0:52:23 > 0:52:25and he was found guilty.
0:52:25 > 0:52:28When asked by the judge why he had failed to bring
0:52:28 > 0:52:30any character witnesses to his defence,
0:52:30 > 0:52:32Turpin said that he had been told
0:52:32 > 0:52:35that his trial would be moved to Essex
0:52:35 > 0:52:37and that he was unable to bring anyone here,
0:52:37 > 0:52:39where he was a stranger.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42It seemed he never even expected it to get this far.
0:52:50 > 0:52:54In the end, Turpin was condemned as a simple horse thief
0:52:54 > 0:52:57and he was hanged here, at York racecourse.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01And in an irony that can't have escaped him,
0:53:01 > 0:53:03the hangman was a fellow highwayman,
0:53:03 > 0:53:07who'd been spared the noose for carrying out the day's executions.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14Perhaps the only act that Turpin carried out
0:53:14 > 0:53:16that was anything close to the legend
0:53:16 > 0:53:20was when he was standing on the cart with the noose around his neck
0:53:20 > 0:53:24and he stamped his shaking leg, until it was still.
0:53:24 > 0:53:26And then, he jumped off into oblivion -
0:53:26 > 0:53:28before he could be pushed.
0:53:32 > 0:53:37During his life, Turpin was reviled by Walpole's weak administration.
0:53:37 > 0:53:39He was ammunition for their opponents,
0:53:39 > 0:53:44who suggested that they were not being tough enough on law and order.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47But the public would remember men like Turpin differently.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50As memories of the real man faded,
0:53:50 > 0:53:52the myth took over.
0:53:52 > 0:53:54A few decades after his death,
0:53:54 > 0:53:59Turpin reappeared in song as a much-rehabilitated character.
0:54:10 > 0:54:12# Said Turpin
0:54:12 > 0:54:16# He'd never find me out I've hid my money in my boot
0:54:16 > 0:54:17# The lawyer says
0:54:17 > 0:54:22# There's none can find I hid my gold in my cape behind
0:54:22 > 0:54:27# O rare Turpin hero O rare Turpin O
0:54:32 > 0:54:35# As they were riding past the mill
0:54:35 > 0:54:37# Turpin commands him to stand still
0:54:37 > 0:54:39# He says
0:54:39 > 0:54:43# Your cloak I must cut off My mare she needs a saddle cloth
0:54:43 > 0:54:49# O rare Turpin hero O rare Turpin O. #
0:54:58 > 0:55:00It's such a fantastic song,
0:55:00 > 0:55:02but it's one of so many about highwaymen.
0:55:02 > 0:55:04Why was it so popular?
0:55:04 > 0:55:08Well, people just love to have their own rogue, their own supervillain,
0:55:08 > 0:55:11especially their own local one - and someone to stand up to authority.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13When you look at it as a historian,
0:55:13 > 0:55:17it's very clear that the myth and the reality are not the same.
0:55:17 > 0:55:20And in real life, these people were very unpleasant.
0:55:20 > 0:55:22They were violent, armed robbers.
0:55:22 > 0:55:24Often, when these ballads were originally sold,
0:55:24 > 0:55:26they were telling the news.
0:55:26 > 0:55:28They told the truth, so they would say what actually happened
0:55:28 > 0:55:30to these characters - usually hung -
0:55:30 > 0:55:34but as soon as these songs got into the mouths of the people,
0:55:34 > 0:55:38the stories were very different and usually, they'd get away scot-free.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41The songs took these legends around the country
0:55:41 > 0:55:44and if you had a fantastic story,
0:55:44 > 0:55:47- coupled with a really catchy tune... - Yes!
0:55:47 > 0:55:50..then that's just going to spread like wildfire.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55In the early 1800s, captivated by the old tales of highwaymen
0:55:55 > 0:55:59was a young writer called William Harrison Ainsworth.
0:55:59 > 0:56:03It was largely through his writing that Dick Turpin and all highwaymen
0:56:03 > 0:56:07came to be the heavily-romanticised mythical rogues we know today.
0:56:10 > 0:56:14Through Ainsworth's 1834 novel Rookwood,
0:56:14 > 0:56:16Turpin became associated with Black Bess
0:56:16 > 0:56:19and the famous escape ride to York.
0:56:19 > 0:56:24He was remodelled with the virtues of an 1830s gentleman fit for a new age -
0:56:24 > 0:56:28an icon of Englishness and manly, imperial pride.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31With Ainsworth, highwaymen were transformed
0:56:31 > 0:56:34from the exciting but ultimately doomed criminal
0:56:34 > 0:56:37to the fantasy hero of Boys' Own adventures.
0:56:39 > 0:56:43But the fictional highwayman could only become a proper hero
0:56:43 > 0:56:48because the real thing was no longer around to spoil the illusion.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51By the 1800s, mounted robbers had long since ceased
0:56:51 > 0:56:52to be a threat to society.
0:56:54 > 0:56:56The age of the highwayman was over.
0:56:59 > 0:57:01The world around them had changed.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05The enclosure of fields and open countryside
0:57:05 > 0:57:08had limited their movement.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11Faster coaches travelled on smoother roads,
0:57:11 > 0:57:14which were, in turn, policed by mounted patrols.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17Railways were perhaps the final nail in their coffin,
0:57:17 > 0:57:20as the wealthy simply ceased to travel by road.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24Writers seized upon the idea of highwaymen
0:57:24 > 0:57:26as lovable and misunderstood rogues
0:57:26 > 0:57:29who did as they liked and did it with style -
0:57:29 > 0:57:31and they developed these ideas
0:57:31 > 0:57:34just as the highwaymen were fading into the past.
0:57:35 > 0:57:38They became the star attraction of Penny Dreadfuls,
0:57:38 > 0:57:42cheap theatre shows and children's toys.
0:57:43 > 0:57:47And one day, Ainsworth's story would find its ultimate expression
0:57:47 > 0:57:51on Hollywood's silver screens.
0:57:51 > 0:57:53As the prospect of violence disappeared,
0:57:53 > 0:57:58so did the darker, unsavoury aspects of the highwayman's story.
0:57:58 > 0:58:03As Victorian heroes, highwaymen became fancy dress outlaws,
0:58:03 > 0:58:07with straightened-out morals and a firm sense of social justice.
0:58:07 > 0:58:11They also brought a hint of danger, rebellion and free spirit
0:58:11 > 0:58:13to a very strait-laced age.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16But they were outlaws who would accompany us on adventures
0:58:16 > 0:58:20rather than steal our wallets - and it was a potent mix.
0:58:20 > 0:58:22The real thing may have gone,
0:58:22 > 0:58:25but in our imagination, they were here to stay.
0:58:25 > 0:58:26GUNFIRE
0:58:26 > 0:58:29Next time, from the highways to the high seas -
0:58:29 > 0:58:32the British outlaw turns to piracy.
0:58:32 > 0:58:35Their plunderings threaten a fledgling maritime empire
0:58:35 > 0:58:40and the bloody exploits of swashbucklers like Captain Kidd and Blackbeard
0:58:40 > 0:58:43make them into the most hunted renegades in history.