John Austin (highwayman) of London by cart to the gallows. The 2½ mile journey along Tyburn Road would have taken up to three hours. Standing shackled in the cart, he would have been accompanied by two guards and a chaplain. They would traditionally stop on the way at St Sepulchre-without-Newgate and two public houses where drinks would be served. On arrival at Tyburn, Austin's cart would have been positioned under a beam and a noose attached around his head. He would then be permitted to address the crowd, his last words were: However, for Austin the noose slipped up the back of his
The Highwayman (poem) The Highwayman (poem) "The Highwayman" is a narrative poem written by Alfred Noyes, first published in the August 1906 issue of "Blackwood's Magazine", based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The following year it was included in Noyes' collection, "Forty Singing Seamen and Other Poems", becoming an immediate success. In 1995 it was voted 15th in the BBC's poll for "The Nation's Favourite Poems". The poem, set in 18th century rural England, tells the story of an unnamed highwayman who is in love with Bess, a landlord's daughter. Betrayed to the authorities by Tim, a jealous ostler, the highwayman escapes ambush when Bess