Thank you for sharing this re highway men. It is really interesting to see both the romanticization of their crimes and how harshly they were dealt with. It is striking that the argument from deterrence was invoked given that these practices clearly did not deter everyone.
Thank you for those kind words. It most certainly is a fascinating aspect when exploring. I think I mentioned in the podcast a Captain James Whitney (a title and rank he gave himself.) Everything about his story and case is intriguing. Here was a man who was the landlord of an inn who used his position to also rob people on the road. Who would later have a bungled robbery when the person he tried to rob declared themselves a highwayman as a means of escaping robbery. Whitney let him go and then heard him later bragging in the inn as to how he conned the highwayman to escape. Whitney then stalked and robbed him. Was later caught and arrested and offered a reprieve from execution by the judge if he gave up other names of highwaymen who robbed alongside him. He gave up names to try and avoid the noose and the reprieve was then revoked. The differences with his execution ballad compared to others is striking.
Thank you for sharing this re highway men. It is really interesting to see both the romanticization of their crimes and how harshly they were dealt with. It is striking that the argument from deterrence was invoked given that these practices clearly did not deter everyone.
Wonderful read !
Thank you for those kind words. It most certainly is a fascinating aspect when exploring. I think I mentioned in the podcast a Captain James Whitney (a title and rank he gave himself.) Everything about his story and case is intriguing. Here was a man who was the landlord of an inn who used his position to also rob people on the road. Who would later have a bungled robbery when the person he tried to rob declared themselves a highwayman as a means of escaping robbery. Whitney let him go and then heard him later bragging in the inn as to how he conned the highwayman to escape. Whitney then stalked and robbed him. Was later caught and arrested and offered a reprieve from execution by the judge if he gave up other names of highwaymen who robbed alongside him. He gave up names to try and avoid the noose and the reprieve was then revoked. The differences with his execution ballad compared to others is striking.