The Highwayman: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
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At times, highwaymen were seen as glamorous. For various reasons (including the fact that they often rode horses) they were considered a cut above common bandits. A proper highwayman, instead of being scruffy and furtive, was dashing and debonair - truly the [[Gentleman Thief]] of armed robbery. Some of them were built up as folk heroes ("...[[Just Like Robin Hood|just like Robin Hood!]]"), and they have also been stock [[Love Interests]] in romance novels (perhaps because [[All Girls Want Bad Boys]]?). In certain types of story, it's also quite likely that [[Secret Identity|secret identities]] will be involved - voluminous cloaks and nocturnal tendencies make it relatively easy for a prominent [[Rich Idiot With No Day Job]] to conceal who they are, or for a [[Sweet Polly Oliver|woman to avoid being known as such]]. Popular in [[The Cavalier Years]], where the English Civil War is often blamed for their being ''forced'' to take up the occupation.
Highwaymanning became less attractive as a career with the development of toll roads (which are [[Older Than They Think|older than some people realise]]), steam trains (which get robbed under [[Train Job|a different trope]]), and [[British Coppers|organised police forces]]. In works written recently, highwaymen tend to appear as [[Parody|parodies]] or [[
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== Folklore ==
* Sometimes [[Robin Hood]] has some of the qualities that make a highwayman, but on the whole, he's generally in a class of his own (and is a bit early for the highwayman fad in any case).
* In the ballad "Sovay", the title character dresses as a highwayman and robs her lover to [[Fidelity Test|test if he'll give up the ring she gave him]]. He
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