The wor highwayman is first attested from the year 1017. Robbers operated in Great Britain and Ireland from the Elizabethan period until the early 19th century. The term 'highwayman' is mainly applied to robbers who travelled on horseback, as opposed to those who robbed on foot (foot-pads). Mounted robbers were widely considered to be socially superior to foot-pads. Slang names for them included 'knights of the road' and 'gentlemen of the road'. In the mid to late 19th century American West, highwaymen were known as road agents.