TheHighwayman

By Alfred Noyes

Year 5 Project

HighwaymenA highwayman was a thief who usually travelled and robbed onhorseback. Highwaymen operated from the Elizabethan erauntil the early 19th century. The word 'highwayman' cameinto the English language in 1617.

Highwaymen ruled the highways; maps weren't available until1760, and sign posts simply didn't exist. For most travellerstheir biggest fear was encountering a highwayman.

Modern highwaymen were often Royalist officers who had noway to support themselves after their King, Charles l was exe-cuted in 1649. These men had no trade or skill other than sol-diering and so were forced to take to the road. They robbedto survive.

Today, the mention of a highwayman conjures up a romanticimage of a bygone age where men like Dick Turpin held upstage coaches and robbed their rich passengers.

Dick Turpin is perhaps the most famous of highwaymen -conjuring up images of a dashing and daring criminal. Thetruth is rather less impressive. Turpin's famous ride fromLondon to York in less than 24 hours on his horse Black Bessis likely to have been a myth. He became so famous however,that a bounty of £100 was placed on his head.

Alfred Noyes wrote his famous poem ‘ ‘ in1913. There follows some year 5 artwork based on the poem.

is anarrative poem* set in18th century England.

This narrative poem tellsthe story of the tragedythat befalls a notorioushighwayman who is in lovewith Bess, a landlord’sdaughter.

* Narrative poems tell stories.

It is a tragic tale of love,jealousy and bravery.

The nameless highwaymanis betrayed to theauthorities by a jealousostler (stableman).

The highwayman escapesambush when his love Besssacrifices her life to warnhim.

When the highwaymanlearns of her death, heseeks revenge.

The attempt at revenge isfutile however as he isshot down on the highwayand dies.

In the final stanza, theghosts of the lovers meetagain on winter nights.

Year 5, who have been reading hadmany questions to ask and discuss about this

The Highwayman poem uses vivid imagery for the background.The repetitious phrases create the sense of a horseman ridingthrough the rural darkness to a lovers' tryst or of soldiersmarching down the same road to ambush him.

Here is the first stanza of

The wind was a torrent of darkness upon the gusty trees,The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,The road was a ribbon of moonlight looping the purple moor,And the highwayman came riding--Riding--riding--The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn door.To read the whole of the poem, visit the school library or clickon the link below.http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-highwayman/

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End of slideshow

Find out more about some notorious highwaymen byclicking on the link below.http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/eastmidlands/series3/travellers_highwaymen_derbyshire_peakdistrict.shtml