.... my guest this week: Cryssa Bazos
Rogues, pirates and scoundrels. Why are we so
fascinated by them? Is it the sense of
adventure or living vicariously through those who are not confined by rules? Since
you’re following Helen’s blog, you know all about pirates, so I’m here instead
to wax poetic about a different type of pirate, one that ruled the dark byways and
wooded trails—the highwayman.
Also called highpads and knights of the road,
highwaymen have seized the public’s imagination for nearly four hundred years.
They’ve been celebrated for their cunning and daring, often considered the aristocrats
of the criminal world; a cut above the common criminal.
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| Attribution: British Library via Visual Hunt [Public Domain] |
Before engaging in their nefarious profession, it was
not uncommon for many of these highwaymen to have been reasonably educated and employed
in influential households, so they knew a thing or two on how to converse with
polite society.
While the 18th century experienced a golden
age for highwaymen, similar to pirates (who hasn’t heard of Dick Turpin?), the
public’s fascination with these rogues goes back even further, to the 17th
century, and there were a surprising number of infamous ones, including Captain
Hind, Charles Duvall, and the Wicked Lady, highway(woman) Katherine Ferrers.
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| Attribution: The British Library via Visual Hunt [Public Domain] |
The 17th century was a time of political turmoil not
just in England - the Thirty Years War, War of the Three Kingdoms, specifically the
English Civil War. Even during the latter part of the century, when the English
crown changed hands peacefully through the Glorious Revolution, you had the
ousted Jacobites to contend with. After the English Civil War, many Royalist
soldiers couldn’t return to their sequestered estates and found themselves bankrupt.
For these men, highway robbery was a matter of survival; for others, it was a
way to avenge themselves against an enemy who had executed their king.
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| Attribution: NPG D29229; James Hind published by John Scott (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) |
A highwayman who became famous for harassing
Roundheads was Captain James Hind. Though Hind had been engaged in highway
robbery with the Bishop Allen gang before the war, he gained notoriety for his
activities during the war. Hind became a bit of a folk hero - charming, witty, entertaining
his “clients” in exchange for relieving them of their purses. He couldn’t resist
harassing barristers, tax collectors and pompous wealthy merchants, so you can
appreciate why the masses loved this guy. There were even stories of him taking
pity on the destitute by giving them back some of his “earnings”.
One of my favourite Captain Hind stories involves a
bailiff, an innkeeper and a usurer. Once in Warwickshire, Hind came upon a
disturbance in front of a public house which blocked traffic. The innkeeper
owed £20 to the usurer, but because business was poor, he couldn’t repay the
debt on time, and the officials had come to arrest him and seize what they
could.
Hind felt sorry for the man. He settled the bond, paid
the innkeeper’s debt and the bailiff’s fees from his own funds. Everyone was
happy - the bailiffs toddled off and the usurer left the innkeeper in peace. The
man’s goods had been saved.
The grateful innkeeper invited Hind to be his guest
for as long as he desired, but Hind excused himself, claiming he had a matter
to attend first. Hind rode after the usurer, and when they were far enough away
from the town, held him up. Not only did Hind retrieve the £20 he had given to
settle the bond, he stole another £20. Later than night, Hind returned to the
innkeeper and gave him the cancelled bond along with £5, saying, “he had good
luck by lending his money to honest men.”
[Helen says: 'I'm laughing here - what a wonderful man!']
When the English Civil War broke out, Captain Hind
chose the King (rather surprising considering he lived outside the law). He
fought as a Foot soldier under William Compton, the Governor of Banbury, and
received his commission from him at Colchester during the second Civil War.
The legend of Captain Hind grew into the 18th century, until he became a Royalist beacon of resistance, robbing the
Roundheads and leaving good Royalists unmolested. In particular, he targeted
the regicides, those responsible for the King’s trial and execution. He
out-sermoned Hugh Peters, robbed the King’s judge, John Bradshaw, and nearly
succeeded in holding up Oliver Cromwell’s coach. All tall tales, but the public
ate them up.
His service record, however, was rooted in fact, not
myth. After King Charles I was executed, Hind left England and travelled to The
Hague, where the new king, Charles II, lived in exile. Curiously, he stayed a few days
before sailing for Ireland on a ship that carried the “king’s effects.”
Cromwell’s men were engaged in fierce fighting in Ireland, and it’s possible
that the ship carried supplies, and very likely dispatches for King Charles II’s
supporters. Hind spent several months there fighting with the Royalists, and
when Charles made an alliance with the Scots to support him against the English
Parliament, Hind followed him to Scotland where he pledged him his sword.
A year later, Hind with the King’s army, returned to
England. The King got as far as Worcester before being penned in at all sides
by Cromwell’s army. On September 3, 1651, the final battle of the Civil War was
fought.
It was a disaster, with Royalists fleeing for their
lives. Being an enterprising fellow and an expert at finding hidden trails, Hind
managed to escape and made it back to London, where he lived incognito for five
weeks until he was caught.
Hind was never tried for highway robbery. Instead,
Parliament wanted him for treason, for they believed that he had been
responsible for the King’s escape from Worcester. Eventually, Hind was found
guilty and was hanged, drawn and quartered. His last words on the scaffold were
a reaffirmation of his loyalty to the King.
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| Attribution: Captain James Hind, via Visual Hunt |
Captain Hind, highwayman, rogue and
keen wit remained an unrepentant Royalist to the very end.
About
Traitor’s Knot
England 1650: Civil War has given way to
an uneasy peace in the year since Parliament executed King Charles I.
Royalist officer James Hart refuses to
accept the tyranny of the new government, and to raise funds for the
restoration of the king’s son, he takes to the road as a highwayman.
Elizabeth Seton has long been shunned
for being a traitor’s daughter. In the midst of the new order, she risks her
life by sheltering fugitives from Parliament in a garrison town. But her
attempts to rebuild her life are threatened, first by her own sense of
injustice, then by falling in love with the dashing Hart.
The lovers’ loyalty is tested through
war, defeat and separation. James must fight his way back to the woman he
loves, while Elizabeth will do anything to save him, even if it means
sacrificing herself.
Traitor's Knot is
a sweeping tale of love and conflicted loyalties set against the turmoil of the
English Civil War.
Praise for Traitor's Knot
"A hugely satisfying read that will
appeal to historical fiction fans who demand authenticity, and who enjoy a
combination of suspense, action, and a very believable love story. Five
stars." Elizabeth St. John, bestselling author of The Lady of the Tower
“A
thrilling historical adventure expertly told.” – Carol McGrath, bestselling
author of The Handfasted Wife
“Cryssa
Bazos is equally at home writing battle scenes as writing romance, and the pace
keeps the reader turning the pages.” - Deborah Swift, bestselling author of The Gilded Lily.
Cryssa Bazos is
a member of the Romantic Novelist Association, the Historical Novel Society,
the Writers' Community of Durham Region and the Battle of Worcester Society.
Her articles and short stories have been featured in various publications, both
in Canada and the UK. She is a co-editor and contributor of the English
Historical Fiction Authors site and blogs as the 17th Century Enthusiast.
Her
debut novel, Traitor's Knot, was placed 3rd in Romance for the Ages in 2016 (Ancient/Medieval/Renaissance).
Social
media and buy link:
Website: http://cryssabazos.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cbazos/
Twitter: @CryssaBazos
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cryssabazos/
Traitor’s Knot is available
through Amazon. http://mybook.to/TraitorsKnot
And as an extra bonus: Loreena McKennitt The Highwayman ...
