Half-Hours with the Highwaymen - Vol 2picturesque Biographies and Traditions of the "Knights of the Road
Half-Hours with the Highwaymen - Vol 2picturesque Biographies and Traditions of the "Knights of the Road
In 18th-century England, the highwayman was more than a criminal. He was a folk hero, a dashing figure who robbed the wealthy on moonlit roads and, according to legend, sometimes shared his spoils with the poor. Charles G. Harper resurrects these legends with a writer's flair for drama and a historian's attention to detail. This volume centers on John Nevison, famously called 'Swift Nicks,' whose legendary ride from Gad's Hill to York to establish an alibi after a robbery became one of the most famous exploits in English outlaw history. Harper presents Nevison as a complex figure, charismatic and morally ambiguous, navigating the line between criminal and accidental hero, even returning stolen money to victims on occasion. The book invites readers to reconsider the mythology surrounding these 'Knights of the Road' and understand how class, poverty, and the harshness of the times shaped their legends. For anyone fascinated by the darker corners of English folklore, this book offers a vivid glimpse into a romanticized past where the roads belonged to those daring enough to defy the law.
