highwaymen

Highwaymen are more picturesque in fiction and retrospect than they were in reality. The heyday of the highwayman was from the Restoration, when coaches began to appear on the roads in large enough numbers to make the occupation profitable, to the end of the 18th cent., when stage-coaches travelled with armed guards and policing was better. Because of the density of traffic, the outskirts of London were particularly frequented by robbers, and Finchley Common, Hounslow Heath, Bagshot Heath, and Blackheath all acquired a bad reputation. Highwaymen soon became popular heroes. Their exploits sold well, often accompanied by a woodcut of the final gallows scene.

Presumably at the time they were active, highwaymen were as much dreaded and loathed by potential victims as street muggers are now, but time has softened and glamorized their image. The fame of Dick Turpin did not wholly eclipse various local figures, especially since the nature of their crime ensured that if caught they would be hanged at the roadside, not in a prison, and usually gibbetted, so their skeletons remained on view for many years. Various nameless roadside graves are said to be those of highwaymen, buried beside the gallows.