Awdeley's Fraternitye of Vacabondes, Harman's Caueat, Haben's Sermon, &c.

Step into the shadowy world of sixteenth‑century England, where beggars, rovers and their secret slang roamed the streets. This collection brings together three of the era’s most vivid pamphlets, each a snapshot of a society trying to understand—and control—their itinerant underclass. The texts are presented with careful scholarly notes that illuminate the original language and the cultural backdrop without drowning the listener in academic jargon.

The first tract sketches the “Fraternity of Vacabondes,” cataloguing the ranks and rituals of wandering bands, while the second, Harman’s famous guide, offers a gritty handbook on the tricks of “cunning‑catchers” and the punishments awaiting them. The third surprises with a paradoxical sermon that extols thieves, revealing how even moral authorities grappled with the allure of the outlaw life. Together they expose the raw attitudes, fears, and curiosities of Tudor officials and common folk alike.

Listeners will hear the cadence of period cant, the vivid descriptions of street life, and the uneasy humor that colored contemporary debates about poverty, crime, and survival. It’s a rare auditory journey into a world that shaped the foundations of modern law‑order narratives.