A person who lived by plundering property in the Scottish Borders during the 17th century.
〈史〉（17世纪苏格兰边境的）沼泽地强盗
Example sentencesExamples
He received a sum of money from the Prince of Orange for the mosstroopers and cattle-drivers from the middle marches whom he despatched to fight against Holland's enemies.
It was obviously written for the children or grandchildren of the mosstroopers whose exploits it glorifies, a generation to whom appeals to a higher code than their ancestors accepted would have been wholly unintelligible.
The Borders were a very dangerous place at that time because of mosstroopers, who were basically little different from the rustlers of the Old West.
The Union of the Crowns in 1603 largely brought about an end to such activities, though mosstroopers and horse thieves were still active in the borders throughout the seventeenth century.
Not far from this well is Tom Smith's Leap, so called from a legend of a mosstrooper who, when pursued, jumped down and was killed rather than fall into the hands of justice.
However, lawlessness remained a problem, with bandits known as mosstroopers, very often former Royalist or Covenanter soldiers, plundering both the English troops and the civilian population.
Synonyms
robber, raider, mugger
Definition of mosstrooper in US English:
mosstrooper
nounˈmôsˌtro͞opərˈmɔsˌtrupər
A person who lived by plundering property in the border region between England and Scotland during the 17th century.
〈史〉（17世纪苏格兰边境的）沼泽地强盗
Example sentencesExamples
The Union of the Crowns in 1603 largely brought about an end to such activities, though mosstroopers and horse thieves were still active in the borders throughout the seventeenth century.
He received a sum of money from the Prince of Orange for the mosstroopers and cattle-drivers from the middle marches whom he despatched to fight against Holland's enemies.
It was obviously written for the children or grandchildren of the mosstroopers whose exploits it glorifies, a generation to whom appeals to a higher code than their ancestors accepted would have been wholly unintelligible.
The Borders were a very dangerous place at that time because of mosstroopers, who were basically little different from the rustlers of the Old West.
Not far from this well is Tom Smith's Leap, so called from a legend of a mosstrooper who, when pursued, jumped down and was killed rather than fall into the hands of justice.
However, lawlessness remained a problem, with bandits known as mosstroopers, very often former Royalist or Covenanter soldiers, plundering both the English troops and the civilian population.