This is the text of a public talk given at Abbey House Museum, Kirkstall, Leeds on 1 March 2015 to complement their Crime and Punishment Exhibition.
The Victorian Underworld
Charles Johnson’s ‘Lives of the Highwaymen’ (1734)
Johnson’s Lives of the Highwaymen was part of one of the most popular genres of early eighteenth-century literature: the criminal biography.
Joseph Ritson (1752-1803)
An atheist, monarchy-hating, Robin Hood scholar.
Rogues in Early Modern England
The word ‘rogue’ was not invented until the 1560s.
Sir John Falstaff, the Notorious Highwayman
Criminal biographers were so committed to historical accuracy that they gave us The Life of the notorious highwayman, Sir John Falstaff.
Christmas in Newgate Gaol
In 1863 a reporter decided to experience what it was like to spend Christmas Day amongst the felons in Newgate.
John Dryden’s “A Ballad of Bold Robin Hood, Shewing his Birth, Breeding, and Valour”
John Dryden (1631-1700) is a significant figure in the literary history of the 17th century. In the Sixth Part of his Miscellany Poems he included an old ballad of Robin Hood. This post seeks to explain why he did this.
Captain James Hind (1616-1652): The Royalist Highwayman
William Harrison Ainsworth’s novel Rookwood (1834) is the work which, along with Edward Bulwer Lytton’s lesser novel Paul Clifford (1830) imbued eighteenth-century highwaymen to legendary status. Ainsworth wanted to write a novel […]
The Rogue Academic: William Dodd, L.L.D. (1729-1777)
Dr. William Dodd: A learned academic who turned to crime to pay his debts.
James MacLean (1724-1750): The Gentleman Highwayman
James Maclean (1724-1750) – the last ‘heroick’ highwayman.
Walter Scott’s Influence Upon 19th-Century Medieval Scholarship
Examining how Scott’s fictional interpretation of the Middle Ages, in particular the notion that Robin Hood was a Saxon yeoman, influenced historical scholarship in the early-to-mid nineteenth century.
Jack Sheppard (1702-1724)
16 Nov 1724 Jack Sheppard was executed. Here is a brief overview of his life and legend.
Daniel Defoe’s “The History and Real Adventures of Robin Hood”
I recently came across an obscure little book entitled The History and Real Adventures of Robin Hood and his Merry Companions. Written by Captain Charles Johnson. To Which are added, some of the most favourite ballads from an old book, entitled Robin Hood’s Garland (1800). The archival entry lists the author as Daniel Defoe (c.1660-1731),
Dick Turpin (1705-1739)
Dick Turpin (1705-1739) is perhaps the most famous highwayman in English history after Robin Hood. He is remembered today as a heavily romanticised noble, gallant figure, having allegedly rode his horse from London to York in one day upon his trusty horse, Black Bess, the real Dick Turpin, as you would expect, was a wholly different man. This post gives a brief overview of his life and the legend which grew around him.
The Birth of Robin Hood
in 1800 the story of Robin Hood’s birth appeared.
Female Highwaymen
Did any women ever rob people in the 17th and 18th centuries?
“A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode” (c.1450): Alleviating the Fear of Crime in Late Medieval & Early Modern England?
Did people *need* the myth of a good outlaw?
Last Dying Speeches
‘The morning dawned…the clock had just struck eight, when the voice of a man in the street fell upon his ear. He heard the following announcement:-
Here is a full account of the horrible assassination committed by the miscreant William Bolter upon the person of his wife…only one penny! The fullest and most perfect account – only one penny!’
Henry Fielding’s “Joseph Andrews” (1742)
The Man who served the Booby but loved the Fanny.
What is a book?
Do we read ‘books,’ or do we read texts? What is a book?
Robin Hood the Brute: The Outlaw in Eighteenth-Century Criminal Biography
This is a copy of the paper that I presented at the International Association for Robin Hood Studies ‘Outlaws in Context’ Conference, 30 June – 1 July 2015.
Robin Hood: Illustrating an Outlaw
This is a copy of the paper I gave at the British Association for Romantic Studies International Conference, 19 – 19 July 2015.
Greatness vs. Goodness in Henry Fielding’s “Jonathan Wild” (1743)
In Henry Fielding’s novel, there was no difference between the great men in high life and those in low life.
The Worst Novel I’ve Ever Read: Samuel Richardson’s “Pamela” (1740)
I feel bad writing about something like this, like I’m betraying my eighteenth-century roots.