Alfred Noyes Click to see full answer. Subsequently, one may also ask, when was the highwayman poem written? August 1906 Additionally, who is Tim in The Highwayman? The highwayman is an eighteenth century thief, who promises to return to his love Bess, the landlord’s daughter. Tim is a stableman who is also in love with Bess. He overhears the lovers and betrays his rival to the authorities. Keeping this in view, is the highwayman poem a true story? This poem is based on a true story that the poet heard while he was on vacation in that part of England where highwaymen used to lie in wait for stagecoaches.What does the poem The Highwayman mean?“The Highwayman,” a poem by Alfred Noyes published in 1906, tells the story of a highwayman who falls in love with Bess, a landlord’s daughter. The story ends tragically, but both are reunited again on winter nights in the afterlife. The poem opens on a winter night with a highwayman riding into town.