"Captain" James MacLaine (occasionally "Maclean", "MacLean", or "Maclane") (1724 – 3 October 1750) was a notorious highwayman

Highwayman

A highwayman was a thief and brigand who preyed on travellers. This type of outlaw, usually, travelled and robbed by horse, as compared to a footpad who traveled and robbed on foot. Mounted robbers were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads...

 with his accomplice

Accomplice

At law, an accomplice is a person who actively participates in the commission of a crime, even though they take no part in the actual criminal offense. For example, in a bank robbery, the person who points the gun at the teller and asks for the money is guilty of armed robbery...

 William Plunkett

William Plunkett (highwayman)

William Plunkett was a highwayman and accomplice of the famed "Gentleman Highwayman," James MacLaine.Plunkett lived during the mid-eighteenth century in London, on Jermyn Street, and was said to have been an apothecary who was also presumed to be a gentleman...

. He was known as the "Gentleman Highwayman" as a result of his courteous behaviour during his robberies. He famously robbed Horace Walpole

Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford

Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford was an English art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician. He is now largely remembered for Strawberry Hill, the home he built in Twickenham, south-west London where he revived the Gothic style some decades before his Victorian successors,...

, and was eventually hanged at Tyburn

Tyburn, London

Tyburn was a village in the county of Middlesex close to the current location of Marble Arch in present-day London. It took its name from the Tyburn or Teo Bourne 'boundary stream', a tributary of the River Thames which is now completely covered over between its source and its outfall into the...

. The film Plunkett & Macleane

Plunkett & Macleane

Plunkett & Macleane is a 1999 British historical action comedy film directed by Jake Scott, and starring Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller and Liv Tyler. It follows the story of Captain James Macleane , and Will Plunkett , two men in eighteenth century Britain who are both struggling to survive...

was based loosely on his exploits.
MacLaine was the second of two sons of a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 Presbyterian minister who moved to Monaghan

Monaghan

Monaghan is the county town of County Monaghan in Ireland. Its population at the 2006 census stood at 7,811 . The town is located on the main road, the N2 road, from Dublin north to both Derry and Letterkenny.-Toponym:...

 in the north of Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.