The consensus is that 'The Highwayman' is not a true story. It's more of a literary composition crafted to entertain and engage readers through fictional characters and events.
It's about a highwayman who might have met an unfortunate end and now haunts a particular place. Maybe he was killed while robbing people on the highway, and his spirit lingers there, perhaps still seeking something he lost in life, like a hidden treasure or revenge.
The Highwayman poem is purely fictional. The author used imagination and literary devices to craft the tale. It doesn't have roots in real events or people.
There are three main characters in 'the highwayman short story'. First, there is the highwayman, who is the main male character and is involved in a romantic relationship. Then there is the landlord's daughter, the love interest of the highwayman. And lastly, the soldiers, who play the role of the antagonists in the story as they disrupt the relationship between the other two characters.