Adventurers in the popular mind were stoked by picture-based art works such as those. The star of. was perhaps the most famous among these stories.
Were it highwaywomen in the real world?
Yes, state conference court trials’ records contain reliable records of highwaywomen.
The Newgate Calendar, a amount of crime stories from the 18th and 19th centuries that was once as common in American homes as the Bible, also features highwaywomen.
In side ballads, there are also stories. These were one inexpensive paper sheets with only one part printed, whose name emphasizes the connection to well-known story songs.
At least two songs from 1640 tell of, who is said to have enjoyed a 20- year job “in women attire … upon a Mare stout” before being recognized and executed.
That said, we need to be cautious about believing speculation, as the history of Katherine Ferrers illustrates.
Ferrers, a wealthy Hertfordshire nurse who was born in 1634, lost her money because her teenage husband’s family cheated on her for the sake of the upheaval and its aftermath.
As some tales have it, Ferrers turned to murder, and was suspected to be the’ Nasty Lady’, a highwaywoman who terrorised Hertfordshire on horseback. Ferrers fit into the common theme of a man with a genteel qualifications and dwindling wealth who turned to bridge robbery to support themselves.
Ferrers is said to have perished in 1660 from bullet wounds sustained in a robbery. The reports of her brain being discovered by her master at Markyate Cell, where a bloody dark horse was found wandering the grounds, have been passed down through the generations.
Despite the popular myth, the idea that Ferrers was a highwaywoman is difficult to justify.
Did highwaywomen actually show signs of masculinity?
Stories of therefore- called’ mix- dressing’ recur in the ballads, and would have been surprising to modern readers. According to Rogue Nell mask artist Tom Pye, dress was greatly gendered at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries.
He tells HistoryExtra,” I think it would have been just completely unanticipated that a person would have become a man.” ” Nothing would have seen that coming”. As a result, he says, a number such as Nell “would had passed very quickly” as a person.
What did world think of women who donned the same as men?
The songs suggest a sense of cross-dressing and a fascination with it being a terrible thing. The Female Highway Hector and The Female Frollick, two highway women’s ballads from 1690, both depict a woman being sexually assaulted by a man, a destiny that is thought to have been the result of her rebellious behavior.
How some highwaywomen were it?
It’s nearly impossible to know. All offenders have good reason to be mysterious. If an exact figure were to ever be identified, it would surprise to learn that it would add to the stigma surrounding people who don’t conform to cisgender norms.