A Ruffler went with a weapon to seek service,
saying that he was a servitor in the wars, but his chief "trade"
was to rob poor wayfaring men and market women. A Prigman went
with a stick in his hand like an idle person, but stole clothes
off hedges. A Whipjack begged like a mariner, but with a
counterfeit license (called a "gibe"); he mostly robbed booths in
fairs or pilfered ware from stalls, which was called "heaving of
the booth". A Frater had a counterfeit license to beg for some
hospital, but preyed upon poor women coming and going to market. A
Quire Bird was a person recently let out of prison, and was
commonly a horse stealer. An Upright Man carried a truncheon of a
staff and called others to account to him and give him a share or
"snap" of all that they had gained in one month, and he often beat
them. He took the chief place at any market walk and other
assemblies. Workers at inns often teamed up with robbers, telling
them of wares or money travelers were carrying so the robber could
profitably rob them after they left the inn.
Violence was still a part of the texture of everyday life. Private
armories and armed gangs were not uncommon. Agricultural laborers
kept sword and bow in a corner of their fields in the first part
of Elizabeth's reign. Non-political brutal crime and homicides
were commonplace. There were frequent local riots and
disturbances, in the country and in the towns.
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