The Real History of Highwaymen in Georgian England | With Mike Loades

'The Real History of Highwaymen in Georgian England | With Mike Loades'
Mike Loades goes behind the mask to uncover the brutal truth about the myth of the highwayman. Unlike many other criminals, they've been glamorised and idolised, their names enduring as legends. They are considered by many as dashing romantic heroes, courageous adventurers and champions of the underdog in an unjust society.
The reality was very different. Between the end of the English Civil Wars and the first decades of the 19th century, there was an epidemic of highway robbery in Britain. It was a crime wave that lasted over 100 years.
To carry out his investigation, Mike gets his hands on the tools of the Highwayman's trade, the horse and the pistol, and explores the huge part popular fiction has played in glorifying these so-called "gentlemen of the road".
And finally, Mike discovers how society finally got the scourge of highway robbery under control.
Sit back and enjoy an exciting canter through the fascinating real story of highwaymen!
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[@rikremmerswaal2756]

Anything with Mike Loades in it, is worth watching

[@jimplummer4879]

Definitely

[@jonser20cent68]

100%

[@historyismetal2187]

Absolutely

[@davidtownsend6092]

My fav is the one with peasants revolt of 1381. Tony hosts it and has frickin Mike loades and Toby capwell and his brother LARPING the peasants journey in the background the entire time it's like an avengers assemble of history docs

[@t.j.payeur5331]

I concur.

[@7Cherubim]

Mike Loades is simply wonderful. His enthusiasm would make any subject riveting. More please!

[@thomaszaccone3960]

Interesting. Another factor that contributes to the success of a highway man or road agent is an unarmed victim.

[@SuperParatech]

@Susan James - it’s a tad late for me, but I wish my chemistry teacher had such enthusiasm as Mr Loades, all those many moons ago. I might have actually learned something.

[@CMillz884]

Can I just say that the outstanding variety of presenters on history hit is what makes it such a brilliant channel. Mike Loades is perfect for this. Thanks History Hit team 👍🏻

[@cleverusername9369]

Those horses are truly beautiful, magnificent animals. Good heavens they look healthy and well taken care of. You love to see it.

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

I love the way the horse swings his heard around into Mike when he stops brushing him. "I didn't say you could stop brushing me! Get back to work!"

[@robertboyle2573]

Adam Ant was my favourite highwayman!

[@IntrepidFraidyCat]

Ah-HA! I knew I'd find an Adam Ant fan in the comments! 👍🏻😀 Love it!

[@britishginge4474]

Brings history to life this guy!🇬🇧

[@robnewman6101]

It shows & tells us why living in the 21st Century is a lot Safer.

[@williamrobinson7435]

Well done Mike! You are absolutely right to highlight the over glamourisation of this type of acquisitive crime.. The sobriquet 'gentlemen of the road' is absurd given the nature of what they did. Well presented as ever! Happy New year everyone. 🌟👍🎉

[@iapetusmccool]

I've heard that a lot of highwaymen _were_ gentlemen - in the literal sense of minor nobility. Particularly after the Civil War, when those who had backed the wrong side had their lands confiscated and had to find an alternative source of income. But to a noble, actually getting a job was seen as beneath them, so they turned to armed robbery as a more "respectable" alternative.

[@stacksmalacks8826]

Id never seen Loades before his amazing chat with Dan about Agincourt and archery etc and hes now one of my favourite history presenters. His passion is infectious

[@eldorados_lost_searcher]

Did you see the one where he trained a small phalanx of pikemen, then tested their resolve by charging at them? Granted, he was alone, on foot, and unarmed; but a screaming Mike Loades at full speed is still nothing to sniff at.

[@nathanielnettey5827]

I watched that too.

[@nathanielnettey5827]

​@@eldorados_lost_searcherkindly send me the link to that one. Thanks in anticipation.

[@johnslaughter5475]

One of my favorite poems is "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes. Let me quote you part 1. The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees. The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas. The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, And the highwayman came riding- Riding-riding- The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door. He’d a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin, A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin. They fitted with never a wrinkle. His boots were up to the thigh. And he rode with a jewelled twinkle, His pistol butts a-twinkle, His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky. Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard. He tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred. He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter, Bess, the landlord’s daughter, Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair. And dark in the dark old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked Where Tim the ostler listened. His face was white and peaked. His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy hay, But he loved the landlord’s daughter, The landlord’s red-lipped daughter. Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say- “One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I’m after a prize to-night, But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light; Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day, Then look for me by moonlight, Watch for me by moonlight, I’ll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way.” He rose upright in the stirrups. He scarce could reach her hand, But she loosened her hair in the casement. His face burnt like a brand As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast; And he kissed its waves in the moonlight, (O, sweet black waves in the moonlight!) Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the west. If I've piqued your interest, go read the rest at www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43187/the-highwayman. BTW, I learned this entire poem when I was in grade school and recited it to my class. I can't do that anymore, it's 60 years in the past. I still love to read it.

[@mwallace2628]

Loreena McKennitt wrote music for the poem and released it entitled The Highwayman. It's one of my favorite songs.

[@johnslaughter5475]

@@mwallace2628 I'll have to look that up. Thanks. 😊 I just listened and it was great. A 2nd thank you. 😊😊

[@sirandrelefaedelinoge]

Phil Ochs sang a lovely rendition...

[@russward2612]

My family had an illustrated book of poetry with this poem in it when I was a child 5 and a half decades ago. I loved this one. It always made me sad when Bess sacrificed herself to warn her lover, the Highwayman.

[@johnslaughter5475]

@@russward2612 Doubly sad because her sacrifice wasn't in time and he, too, was killed.

[@GhostRider247]

Love Mike Loades he just loves what he does and you can tell !!! fantastic !!!!

[@nathanhouck2403]

Mike is a treasure

[@bilindalaw-morley161]

How have I never seen this presenter?His enthusiasm and narration are so engaging. I thought Tony Robinson was the only one to impart knowledge with so much entertainment value! That's my day sorted - I'm going in a binge..not feeling well anyway so now I have the perfect distraction.

[@h____hchump8941]

He's in a lot of documentaries, although I can't actually think of any. He likely has an IMDB with the info though. He was definitely a historian helped on that historical tv game show where two teams fought each other as controllers of fighting armies, also can't remem.The name

[@davidwong9230]

@@h____hchump8941 I believe that the game show was called Time Commanders, and they used the software and gameplay now widely available for a while as the computer strategy game, Rome Total War.

[@bilindalaw-morley161]

@@h____hchump8941 Thanks, I'll look out for him.

[@Harrier_DuBois]

Mike Loades is always enjoyable to watch

[@jackbrowning8013]

The most enthusiastic man on the planet. Love Mike's videos!

[@jacobmarley2966]

I was a highwayman Along the coach roads i did ride With sword and pistol by my side Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade, many a soldier shed his lifeblood on my blade The bastards hung me in the spring of '25, but i am still alive.

[@Briselance]

You stole, harmed, killed. You deserved jail, but you had it coming too.

[@Briselance]

Good short poem, though.

[@txgunguy2766]

@@Briselance It's the first verse of 'The highwayman', a song by a group called The Highwaymen, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash.

[@Etymon-jt3zw]

The whole time I keep watching this I get the Metallica song whiskey in a jar stuck in my head.

[@Etymon-jt3zw]

@@txgunguy2766 But that's a good song too I like Willie Nelson far more than I do Metallica. I actually got to meet him once back in 1976

[@chivalricmedia]

Mike smashing it again!

[@keithscott1255]

Captain Feeney from Barry lyndon.

[@dbabakh8911]

Yes! I love Mike Loades.

[@midnightblack07]

This was so fascinating, and Mike Loades's enthusiasm makes it all the more so! Please keep the Georgian/Regency content with such fabulous presenters coming. :)

[@Lewdog.]

Mike Loades is the man!

[@kieran2221]

Loved this whole documentary - it was great and held me rapt throughout the whole show.

[@SteveAubrey1762]

Mike Loades is one of my all time favourites!

[@DJJinxC2006]

I love anything with Mike and Ray in, thanks.

[@raypurchase801]

Thanks.

[@PSDuck216]

A dreaded aftermath of being wounded by a flintlock pistol was have the doctor poke around inside one’s body trying to locate the bullet, and complicate matters by mangling the wound. Once located, then there’s the withdrawal of the ball. And all this before germ theory. Many a time, the operation was a success, but still the patient expired. (Blood loss, shock, pain, and acute infection were the usual.) Cheers!

[@Scrapper.]

This is fascinating. More Mike Loades please.

[@YourTypicalMental]

I'm happy to see Mike Loades is still at it. Man must be in his 70s.

[@lordofuzkulak8308]

The tip about a highwayman singling out a traveller that wasn’t really part of the group to victimise just gives me the image of him accidentally singling out another highwayman trying to pull the same trick with neither knowing the other is a rival highwayman, lol. 😆

[@shishiwakamaru4]

Sounds like a scene from Blackadder or Horrible Historys

[@DidntKnowWhatToPut1]

This actually happened! Drunk history covered this kzbin.info/www/bejne/enSWmphqotZ7qMk

[@mnk9073]

That reminds me of the neonazi cell in Germany that only contained 2 actual neonazis but 6 different undercover agents from various law enforcement agencies all oblivious to each other's ongoing operation.

[@originallyham]

@@mnk9073 this is usually the case with extremists. outnumbered 2:1 by undercover agents who egg them on, as any violence commited by them is grounds to increase the funding of security forces

[@chrisprescott2273]

I love this video because all l could think about while watching was that old song Stand and Deliver by Adam and the Ants. A song about a dandy highwayman with a great video.

[@graveyardghoul8482]

Runescape flashbacks intensify.

[@DickTurpinEsq]

Absolutely compelling-both the subject matter, and the presentation by Mr Loades. Superb.

[@robnewman6101]

A Tragedy Period!

[@robnewman6101]

Policeless times!

[@bradleybeckstead9674]

I love this guy!

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

But are they dandy highwaymen? Mike channeling his inner Adam Ant :)

[@carolferguson]

Fascinating. Thanks!

[@carolescutt2257]

What a wonderfully detailed and comprehensive documentary ❤ i as many ladies live the idea & fantasy of "The Highwayman" but as the gentleman correctly states making a lady dance af gunpoint is an act of sadism& terror xx

[@bradfry5403]

I remember as a kid watching the TV show Dick Turpin staring Richard O'Sullivan, Turpin was a Hero a good guy but when I got older and found out the truth Turpin was an absolute monster.

[@akiva2112]

I’m a simple man, I see mike loads I watch

[@joshuaDstarks]

Mike Loades is the man. Always nice seeing him in something.

[@jasonmarshall771]

Absolutely fantastic probably the best guy to present a historical documentary he certainly knows his stuff excellent as always 👍

[@kitty-lydiadye9922]

Such a great video. Entertaining and full of everything I needed for the story I'm currently researching :D

[@54mgtf22]

Love your work 👍

[@dargon1084]

Gotta love Mike, he's always on it

[@Emthe30something]

Very interesting!

[@onlyme219]

'the devil take your stereo'

[@versebuchanan512]

AND your record collection

[@onlyme219]

@@versebuchanan512 The way you look and qualify :)

[@raypurchase801]

I happen to know this is the Lupin Express. An obscure reference but somebody might get it.

[@richypoos]

@@raypurchase801 Dennis Moor etc etc..

[@aatirehrarsiddiqui8894]

Mike Loades is a gem 💎

[@TCK71]

Fascinating!

[@robnewman6101]

Interesting.

[@robnewman6101]

Law & Order of the Century.

[@JohnMacbeth]

Mike Loades! Fantastic chap. Look forward to watching this later, when I've got some peace and quite and when the kids are asleep lol.

[@nickthenoodle9206]

Got to love Mike Loades.

[@Lame_Duck]

What about Dennis Moore ? 😅

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

I happen to know this is the Lupin Express…

[@Lucius1958]

@@bob_the_bomb4508 "Blimey, this redistribution of wealth is more complicated than I thought."

[@greghelms4458]

Great Channel

[@George_M_]

Those dueling pistols are particularly beautiful, for flintlocks.

[@clairebarrett3048]

Mike is awesome as usual 😮

[@erifretrats378]

more than just a historian, Mr Loades knows his stuff, he knows the weapons and knows how to use them, he can ride and knows horses, and he looks the part and is absorbed in it, lives it, becomes part of the history himself it is infectious.......... in a way I am jealous........ long live Mr Mike Loades......... and many thanks for all I have learned from watching you..... I am 60, never too old to learn, and you can teach an old dog new tricks........ hahahaha....... good luck mate

[@bunyipdragon9499]

Loved it but wasn't long enough 🙂

[@brenda1378]

Thank you really good. Desperate times calls for desperate measures. Their MASTERS. Life was terrible for anyone not wealthy.

[@oscarosullivan4513]

In Ireland there is a song called whiskey in the jar about a ropairí who robs a captain.

[@johngranahan6102]

Mike is great

[@nevermindthebollocks1171]

Brilliant

[@murkyseb]

That was really interesting

[@Sean-fb7cy]

Mike is brilliant

[@althesmith]

I do recall hearing of one highwayman who told a noble lady to hand over her jewelled earrings, saying "A wench as damned handsome as y'are has no need of such baubles." Later she refused to give evidence against him, saying it was a better compliment than she had gotten from her husband in a year.

[@brocknspectre1221]

Wow, that horse LOVES you! 8:15

[@NT-qj1sy]

Stand and deliver!

[@vinceblasco]

One particularly famous Highwayman would go on to become a Dam Builder, and then a Sailor, and then a Starship Pilot!

[@lukab0i]

As I was going over the Cork and Kerry mountains...

[@oscarosullivan4513]

Good song

[@nicolekuek7358]

I like that Mike pointed out although people might have found the story of the lady being forced to dance amusing, it was, in fact, a horrible thing to do.

[@LaHayeSaint]

Mike was really interesting and bought the subject alive. He actually held a stage coach up using his pistol and horse and was caught by the camera just before a serious robbery took place. He was able to produce a book which gave one step-by-step instructions on how to be a good highwayman. An interesting demonstration showed how a pistol ball could lace the inside of the body with dirty pieces of clothing (in addition to the shot becoming more jagged on impact), leaving the victim mortally wounded, who would subsequently die from sepsis. You also need a good quality , stabled horse which could run fast and had stamina, to escape yeomanry/redcoats. A stabled horse was in much better condition than one which had just been tethered outside.

[@rikwilliams6352]

Excellent production, well done. Ref the point on debris being carried into the wound from a pistol shot, this was in a time without antibiotics don't forgert.

[@tooyoungtobeold8756]

Excellent video. However, Hemel Hempstead is also a very old town with a medieval church and old buildings, a coaching inn etc.

[@stevenpremmel4116]

I want to see a Mike Loades documentary on smugglers and the riding officers. Make it happen please, Dan!

[@fandangofandango2022]

Dear Sir, What a Great Factual Doco Thank You.

[@alexwilliamson1486]

Disappointing…..the fact that it wasn’t any longer….Mike Loades is fab!

[@bishwatntl]

Nice to have the cameo by Vicki Pipe at the start

[@veedubbya]

Do you watch her fella's stuff too?

[@michaelwant8501]

@@veedubbya Rather tragically, it's her ex-fella's stuff. While the relationship seemed so great in 'All the Stations', it came off the rails (so to speak) afterwards and they separated not long after getting married. Awfully sad.

[@cyankirkpatrick5194]

I'm curious about their stolen property that wasn't recovered by the law of the day. Where is it?

[@Zumbs]

I suspect that there was a very simple reason that highwaymen were popular: The class nature of British society. The main targets of highwaymen would naturally be the upper middle class and richer (due to risk vs reward considerations) and these people were really nasty to the common and lower classes. So, commoners could easily consider a highway robbery a just punishment for the evil of the rich.

[@JohnMacbeth]

Mike Loades! Fantastic chap, look forward to watching this later when the kids are in bed.

[@commiesarentcool2]

They weren't robbing the poor, I'm team highwayman.

[@krashd]

They were still thieves.

[@gorillaguerillaDK]

@@krashd So we’re the rich, morally!

[@MrLordSandwich]

In Australia, Highway men were known as "Bushrangers" and is said to not be exclusive to men. The most famous Bushranger gang was "the Kelly Gang" lead by Ned Kelly who had the highest bounty for a Bushranger in Australian history.

[@raypurchase801]

This video deserves more information about lupins.

[@PhsykoOmen]

Masks with those outfits are one of the absolute coolest looks

[@stevoplex]

Excellent video. Before I ever heard any of this, I thought highway robbery was when I paid $1 per gallon more for petrol I-95 than in town. 😃

[@MichaelmaxxxxX]

You from US? I live by I-95 too. It goes from florida all the way past new york where I live.

[@stevoplex]

@@MichaelmaxxxxX LOL Yes, I'm in Connecticut, just off I-95. 20 years after living in Boston for 20 years, also just off I-95. The great thing about that was that on hot days and horrible traffic from Billerica to Boston, I got off and went swimming in Walden Pond, a place I only knew about from Highh School literature class.

[@CarlosRodriguez-dd4sb]

Bring the Tricorn back!

[@Mooocheropordis]

Brilliant, his horse was so beautiful

[@jerrymiller276]

We still have highwaymen here in several states in the US. They are known as Highway Patrol, State Police, Police, or Sheriff's Deputies and they do their dirty work under an absurd legal doctrine called Civil Asset Forfeiture. They stop motorists for any of several real or imagined reasons, check if they are carrying large sums of cash and, if so, seize it under the theory that it MIGHT be used for illegal purposes. Even if no charges are ever filed the victim has to sue to get the money back, often with little success. Very often the amounts taken make the expenses of hiring an attorney more than what they may (or may not) recover.

[@lauriejones4507]

Way to be a typical American and try to make an episode about English history about YOU…No wonder we have such notorious reputation in Europe and the UK. 🤨 I guarantee you that everyone is sick to death of our politics when they're just trying to enjoy some content about their own country.

[@cleverusername9369]

Scotland here That sounds completely bogus. Actually, it sounds like you're just bitter because you got nicked by the cops and got in trouble. If you got pulled over and were charged with a traffic offense serious enough to require you retaining legal counsel instead of just using a public defender or paying a fine, that sounds like a you problem, mate. Also nobody cares.

[@jerrymiller276]

@@lauriejones4507 Who licked the red off your candy?

[@oscarosullivan4513]

In Ireland there is a song called whiskey in the jar about a ropairí who robs a captain.

[@krashd]

@@lauriejones4507 Sadly Laurie, he was telling the truth. Also what on Earth did he say that was political?

[@GreatWestern175]

Very interesting documentary to watch. I dress up as a Highwayman at pirate festivals in the UK, its fun to do that stand out differently amongst the crowds of pirates.

[@frankmithra6140]

I heard on a talk radio show warning " adventurous tourists" to beware of " highwaymen" on Mexican roads.God bless your work 😇

[@Lucius1958]

_"Let us take the Road;_ _Hark, I hear the sound of Coaches!_ _The hour of Attack approaches;_ _To your arms, brave boys, and load!_ _See the Ball I hold;_ _Let the Chymists toil like asses;_ _Our Fire their Fire surpasses,_ _And turns all our Lead to Gold!"_ - "Beggars' Opera"

[@ianhow100]

Nowadays they operate on motorway service stations. The prices are astronomical

[@TheRiverPirate13]

So fascinating! I had no idea that Highwaymen ruled the roads for so long in England! I often wonder if there were ever documented females committing these crimes during this time period?

[@phil8821]

Well there was Joan Bracey, who worked with her husband. She was caught and hanged at the age of 29. Her husband was shot while attempting to escape some time after. Then there's Katherine Ferrers, although most of her story is legend, she was supposedly found dead at the age of 26, in 1660 with a bullet wound, still wearing her male highwayman clothes. They made a movie about her in 1945 called "the Wicked Lady"

[@TheRiverPirate13]

@@phil8821 wow! That is so interesting! Thanks mate!

[@bulwinkle]

"Stand and deliver", a cry oft heard in NHS hospitals.

[@chrisbwhittle]

Standing unobtrusively on Boxmoor Common, Hemel Hempstead, a white stone is said to mark the grave of James Snooks, reputedly the last highwayman in England to hang. Snooks was born in 1761, at Hungerford. Before he was forty he was well established in his career as a highwayman, and became a wanted man, forever on the run. In May, 1801, Snooks robbed a postboy, John Stevens, who was carrying the mail between Tring and Hemel Hempstead. He then fled to London. The robbery was reported to High Constable John Page, of Berkhamsted, who posted ‘Wanted - £300 Reward’ notices for Snooks’ capture. Snooks remained at liberty until December, when he was captured and taken to Newgate Prison, thence to Hertford Assizes for trial. Snooks was sentenced to death, whereupon the High Constable, who obviously also had high powers, stipulated that he should be hanged as close to the scene of the crime as possible. So James Snooks was hanged and buried at Boxmoor, an event reputedly witnessed by thousands of people who came from far and wide especially for the occasion. Evidently the officials at the ‘ceremony’ repaired to the Swan public house, by the side of the old A41, a fitting location, since this was the road where highwaymen would accost the stagecoach on its journey between London and Markyate. Strangely, the white stone-marker on Snooks’ grave bears the name ‘Robert’, possibly deriving from ‘Robber Snooks’. This is fitting, too. After all, that’s what he was.

[@Kendro311]

Saw the title and all I could think was "Your Lupins or your life!". Oh Dennis Moore, still making me giggle.

[@Redplant99]

Was looking to see if anyone mentioned Dennis Moore and his attempts at redistributing wealth in Georgian England. 😄

[@cyankirkpatrick5194]

I'm a bit sad you didn't mention the lady highwaymen or the wicked lady. Yes I learned about her about two years ago.

[@mickharrison9004]

Well said we need to know the full story luv 😃

[@stuartandrews4344]

@@mickharrison9004 Katherine Ferrers interesting story..

[@Finvarra]

I found out a little while ago that my great great great great great great great grandfather was Dick Turpin. I was wondering about a career move, thanks for all the tips.

[@robnewman6101]

Tragic Periods of Highwaymen!!

[@rule3036]

Dream job🙃

[@streetcop157]

In the movie master and commander you see them searching the wound and laying the material over the shirt to make sure they found it all….

[@faeembrugh]

Have you seen 'Trafalgar Battle Surgeon'?

[@streetcop157]

@@faeembrugh no I’ll have to find it.

[@GreenBrowne.]

One more thing I'd add on the matter of muzzleloaders - they used lead balls. Modern ammo is often times jacketed for better penetration, while lead is soft and when it hits anything it deforms and flattens on impact, delivering much more force than if it were to go right through. Somewhat out of proportion and a bit absurd, but it's the difference between getting hit by a really fast going needle and getting hit by a car.

[@davidcunningham2074]

the truth is far more fascinating than the fantasy,

[@robertshows5100]

What was the line in Tom Jones that was an answer to stand and deliver? "Deliver what. I'm no traveling midwife." A great line delivered by Edith Evans.

[@bigblue6917]

It's interesting how good disguising yourself could be for a highwayman. One highwayman stopped a man on horseback only to have the man exclaim that he was a fellow highwayman and therefore should not be robbed. Letting him go the highman retired to a nearby inn only to find the man he had stopped earlier telling everyone how he had fooled the highwayman. As the highwayman was no longer in disguise the man did not recognise him. The highwayman slipped out at dawn and waylaid the man a second time but this time he was wearing a different disguise. When the man again claimed to be a fellow highwayman he was told he would not get away with that a second time and was robbed.