gangsman

But at all events the gangsman was a local preacher, and so the poor soul who took him for husband had effected a compromise with her cherished ideal.

A Son of Hagar A Romance of Our Time Hall Caine 1892

The sailor's well-known partiality for drink was constantly turned to account by the astute gangsman.

The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore

No jury thereafter ever found him guilty of a capital felony if by chance he killed a gangsman in self-defence.

The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore

Suppose, instead of his killing the gangsman, the gangsman killed him?

The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore

Here the gangsman marked his victim, whose steps he dogged into the country when his business was done or his pleasure ended, never for a moment losing sight of him until he walked into the trap all ready set in some wayside spinny or beneath some sheltering bridge.

The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore

Every sailor had not the pluck to fight, and even when he had both the pluck and the good-will, hard drinking, weary days of tramping, or long abstinence from food had perhaps sapped his strength, leaving him in no fit condition to hold his own in a scrap with the well-fed gangsman.

The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore

For the average gangsman was as void of sentiment as an Admiralty warrant, pressing you with equal avidity and absence of feeling whether he caught you returning from a festival or a funeral.

The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore

Pressing consequently introduced the gangsman to some strange weapons.

The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore

In his efforts to swell the returns of pressed men the gangsman was supposed -- we may even go so far as to say enjoined -- to use no more violence than was absolutely necessary to attain his end.

The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore

Hence, the gangsman pressed on the strength of a warrant which in reality gave him no power to press.

The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore