The mounted robber disappeared from English roads in the late 1820s and the last prosecution for highway robbery was heard at the Old Bailey in 1897.
Stand and deliver trial#
Highway robbery cases are no longer brought to trial in the UK - armed robberies are tried as such regardless of where they are committed. The Old Bailey records show that Robert Jackson, James Abbot and James MacLaine were all hanged for their crimes. Like most of his compatriots, Abbot came to a sticky end. I will have your money or your life before you wag a step farther. When we came into Hyde Park the prisoner, Abbot, came up to me, and put a pistol to my breast, and said, D - n you, deliver to me this moment, and make no noise, for if you do I will shoot you dead. An early example, also from the proceedings of the Old Bailey, is found in the trial of James Abbot for highway robbery on 27th February 1754. Just in case people didn't get the idea, from the 1750s onward the 'stand and deliver' command was extended to include 'your money or your life'. MacLaine was also the source of the 'Dandy Highwayman' imagery used by Adam Ant in his 1981 song Stand and Deliver. He became something of a celebrity and was the model for Macheath, the antihero of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera and of Mack the Knife in Brecht's Threepenny Opera. He developed a taste for finery (most of it stolen from his victims) and text below the picture states that MacLaine was 'A tall young fellow and commonly very gay in his dress'. The accompanying picture, helpfully titled ' An Exact Representation of Maclaine the Highwayman Robbing Lord Eglington on Hounslow Heath on the 26th June. MacLaine was a notorious and prolific highwayman who specialised in robbing from the rich and famous. For an example of the mounted 'gentleman of the road' we need to look to "Captain" James MacLaine. That's an example of the common pedestrian highwayman. The Prisoner clapt a Pistol to a Child's Head and said, G - d D - n you, stand and deliver your Money and Watch and that he saw the Prisoner clap a Pistol to Andrews's Breast, and take his Watch that he is sure the Prisoner is the same Person. Jackson was indicted for " Assaulting John Andrews on the High Way, putting him in Fear, and taking from him a Silver Watch value £4 10s".
That record lists an early use of the term 'stand and deliver' in the case of Robert Jackson, tried for Highway Robbery on 7th September 1720. The Old Bailey was and is England's primary criminal court and, fortunately for the etymological community, it houses an invaluable documentary resource, the largest body of text detailing the lives of the common people of England, namely The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913. The expression 'stand and deliver' must have been established in the language by 1714, as Alexander Smith included it in his reference work The History of the Lives of the Most Noted Highwaymen: "Stand sir, and throw us that you have about'ye." Shakespeare used it in Two Gentlemen of Verona, 1591: So, why 'stand and deliver'? The word 'stand' has been used to mean 'come to a halt' since the 16th century. It was viewed as a particularly serious crime because it interfered with the freedom of movement, which was considered a fundamental right. Highway robbery was defined by the English legal system as any robbery which took place on the King's Highway. Nor was 'stand and deliver' an invention of screenwriters, but a very real threat heard by 18th century travellers.
Likewise, as we shall see, highwaymen were often little more than what we would now call muggers, although some highwaymen did fit into the 'gentleman of the road' persona that dramatists later portrayed. The image is far from the reality pirates didn't bellow ' shiver me timbers' or desport themselves with the obligatory eye-patches, peg-legs or Johnny Depp style braids and earrings. Their flamboyant and audacious image provides ready-made stock characters.
Highwaymen are up there with pirates as the anti-heroes of literature and B-feature films.
‘Pulling Yourself Up by Your Bootstraps’ Origin What's the origin of the phrase 'Stand and deliver'?
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