The Rogues and Vagabonds of Shakespeare's Youth: Awdeley's 'Fraternitye of vacabondes' and Harman's 'Caveat'

In Short

This volume collects two sixteenth-century treatises—John Awdeley's Fraternitye of Vacabondes and Thomas Harman's Caueat or Warrening for Commen Cvrsetors—alongside supplementary Tudor rogue literature. Through categorized lists, narrative anecdotes, and glossaries of canting slang, the texts expose the organized underworld of early modern itinerant tricksters. The collection endures because it preserves the authentic street vocabulary, socio-economic anxieties, and cultural anxieties of Elizabethan England, offering an indispensable historical baseline for the dishonest archetypes that frequently populated Shakespearean drama.

The Story

The collection opens with editorial prefaces mapping how Elizabethan rogue literature developed. John Awdeley’s early work cataloging vagrant types set the precedent, but Thomas Harman’s extensive Caueat established the foundation for the genre. Harman, a Kentish magistrate and gentleman, frames his work as an act of civic duty dedicated to Elizabeth I. He sets out to systematically expose the fraudulent tricks of beggars and thieves to preserve order in the realm.

The narrative of Harman’s text moves from taxonomies of deceit to real-world encounters. He breaks down the vagabond population into distinct ranks. The "Upright Man" sits at the top of the criminal hierarchy, wielding authority over subordinate tramps. Below him range specialized deceivers: "Hookers" or "Angglers" who use notched poles to fish goods through open windows; "Abraham Men" who feign lunacy; and "Palliards" who apply harsh chemicals like arsenic to create artificial sores for charity. Harman details the deceptive methods of "Doxies," "Mortes," and "Irish Toyles," outlining how each role exploits domestic hospitality or community sympathy.

To substantiate his warnings, Harman integrates vivid personal cases. He recounts tracking down Nicholas Genings, a "dissembling Cranke" who smeared fresh blood onto his face to feign falling sickness while begging around London’s Inns of Court. Harman sends his servant to Bethlem Hospital to verify Genings’s story, uncovers the fraud, and secures the beggar's confiscated funds for the parish poor. In another instance, an hosteler pursues a vagrant woman who stole his mistress's silver whistle, only to be ambushed by her "Upright Man" companion. Harman also describes his personal conversations with a veteran Doxie at his own gate, drawing out the fates of her former companions, most of whom ended on the gallows.

The collection expands with supplementary texts, including Parson Haben’s satirical sermon praising thieves and excerpts from later Elizabethan writers who adapted Harman’s material. Harman appends a glossary of canting vocabulary—the secret trade dialect of English thieves—alongside a directory of real vagrants operating in the region. The volume closes by demonstrating how these mid-sixteenth-century surveys were repeatedly reprinted, plagiarized, and adapted, shaping the popular imagination of Shakespeare’s contemporaries.

How It Unfolds

Mapping the underworld taxonomy Awdeley and Harman open their treatises by listing the specific categories of Tudor vagrants. They catalog each cheat's title, defining how "Upright Men," "Curtalls," and "Palliards" divide territory and exploit rural households.

Exposing the night-time tricksters Harman details the operational methods of specialized thieves like the "Hookers." He describes how they scope out rural homes by day and return at night with five-foot iron-hooked poles to snatch clothes off sleeping inhabitants through open windows.

Hunting the fake mendicants The narrative turns to direct investigations of fraudulent beggars in and around London. Harman tracks Nicholas Genings, a counterfeit lunatic, sending servants to verify his claims against hospital records before apprehending him near Temple Bar.

Recording the secret tongue Harman lays out an extensive glossary of "Pedler's French" alongside a list of active criminals. He collects terms for stolen goods, alehouses, and law enforcement, documenting how vagrants communicate without revealing their intentions to honest citizens.

The legacy of rogue satire The volume concludes with Parson Haben’s ironic sermon in praise of thievery alongside literary borrowings by later writers. These additions demonstrate how historical reports of vagrancy transitioned into popular Elizabethan print and theatrical entertainment.

The People

• Thomas Harman wants to protect his rural community from theft while systematically exposing vagrant frauds. He faces constant deception from clever tricksters and the indifference of local hosts, ending up as the definitive chronicler of Tudor crime.
• Nicholas Genings wants to earn a lucrative living by shamming violent fits as a "Counterfeit Cranke." He is thwarted by Harman’s methodical checking of institutional records, ultimately having his illicit earnings seized for parish relief.
• The Upright Man wants to command authority over lesser tramps, extract tribute, and claim first rights to vagrant women. He maintains his position through physical force, clashing violently with local hostelers and constables who attempt to intervene.
• The Doxie wants to navigate a transient life by trading small wares or sexual favors for food and shelter. She faces severe poverty and the constant threat of execution, resigning herself to a precarious existence where most of her companions die on the gallows.

In Its Own Voice

Harman introduces his mission by noting the plain truth of his observations over refined rhetoric:

"AL though, good Reader, I wright in plain termes--and not so playnly as truely--concerning the matter, meaning honestly to all men, and wyshe them as much good as to myne owne harte; yet, as there hathe bene, so there is nowe, and hereafter wylbe, curyous heds to finde fauttes..."

He exposes the night-time methods of "Hookers" who draw garments directly off sleepers:

"...this hoker with his staffe plucked of their garments which lay vpon them to kepe them warme, with the couerlet and shete, and lefte them lying a slepe naked sauing there shertes, and had a way all clene, and neuer could vnderstande where it became."

In his dialogue with an aged vagrant woman, Harman reveals the harsh mortality rate of the criminal trade:

"She paused a whyle, and sayd, 'why do you aske me, or wherefore?' 'For nothinge els,' as I sayde, 'but that I woulde knowe them when they came to my gate.' 'Nowe, by my trouth' (quoth she) 'then are yea neuer the neare, for all myne acquayntaunce, for the moste parte, are deade.'"

What It's Really About

Underneath its colorful lists of rogue slang, the volume examines early modern anxieties over social mobility, order, and public charity. Harman and Awdeley write out of a conviction that masterless men and women threaten the stability of the Commonwealth. The text argues that vagrancy is not merely unfortunate poverty, but an organized alternative society with its own language, laws, and leadership. By categorizing every trick—from fake madness to forged begging licenses—the authors seek to draw a hard line between the deserving poor and professional scoundrels. Ultimately, the collection reveals how Elizabethan society struggled to balance Christian charity with moral panic during an era of rapid economic change.

Why Read It Today

Readers interested in Tudor history, historical linguistics, or Shakespearean context will find this collection fascinating. It offers a gritty, unvarnished view of daily life far removed from royal courts and high politics. The prose retains its sixteenth-century spellings and archaic syntax, which requires slow reading, but the vivid anecdotes read like early true-crime reporting.

What lingers is the unexpected sophistication of the rogue subculture. The canting glossaries and precise job descriptions reveal an underground economy operating right alongside respectable society. Despite the authors' moralizing tone, the voices of the vagrants themselves provide an authentic glimpse into early modern survival.

<ElicitationsGroup message="Explore related context and themes:"> <Elicitation label="Analyze the canting language and slang" query="Analyze the canting slang and thief dialect preserved in Awdeley and Harman's texts, detailing its linguistic origins and social function."/> <Elicitation label="Compare Tudor rogue literature to Shakespeare" query="How did the rogue archetypes in Harman and Awdeley influence Shakespeare's portrayal of thieves like Falstaff and Autolycus?"/> <Elicitation label="Examine Tudor poor laws and vagrancy punishment" query="Provide an overview of the 16th-century legal statutes and punishments for vagrancy mentioned in Harrison and Harman's works."/> </ElicitationsGroup>