The Highwayman of Kent: A Christmas Eve of Revenge
This chilling tale from Kent, dating back to the late 18th century, speaks of a Christmas Eve encounter filled with tragedy, revenge, and a lingering ghostly presence.
A man and his daughter were traveling by horse-drawn coach from Marden to Hawkehurst on Christmas Eve. Their journey was interrupted by a menacing figure, a highwayman in a dark cloak and wide-brimmed hat, who suddenly appeared in front of the coach, forcing the driver to halt. The highwayman ordered the man and his daughter to step out onto the road.
As the daughter complied, a frightening turn of events unfolded. The horses, startled by the sudden stop and the highwayman's presence, bolted, taking the coach and the girl's father with them. The young woman was left alone on the dark, deserted road with the highwayman.
Looking into the highwayman's face, she was struck with a chilling realization. She recognized him as the infamous highwayman, Gilbert, who had murdered her brother some years prior. Overwhelmed by a surge of grief and rage, she drew a knife from her bag and, without hesitation, stabbed him. He collapsed and died at her feet.
Consumed by horror at her own actions, the young woman fled into the nearby woods. Meanwhile, the horses, eventually calmed, returned with the coach. The men who found the abandoned coach soon discovered the highwayman's bloody body on the road. They then set out to search for the young woman and found her wandering aimlessly in the forest, her mind broken by the traumatic events of the night.
The legend of this tragic Christmas Eve persists to this day. It is said that every Christmas Eve, the horrifying scene is silently replayed for any traveler who happens to pass by on that lonely stretch of road. The ghostly figures, the panicked horses, and the fatal confrontation are all said to reappear, a chilling reminder of the night a daughter took revenge on her brother's killer.
Check out our Christmas episode with Jimmy the Welsh Viking for this and more ghost stories here