Buckstones Moor #2 - Stand and Deliver Traditional Geocache
Buckstones Moor #2 - Stand and Deliver
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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The following is a mystery which I am sure has a logical explanation. If someone reading this has an answer I would be interested to hear it.
The season was autumn, it was a fine but windy night with a full moon scudding between the clouds and a myriad of twinkling stars in the clear parts of the sky.
I was placing a number of hidden trinkets along the A640, a moorland road which crossed the high Pennines. The route would take visitors via the Nont Sarah's Hotel, across Buckstone's Moor, past the isolated Buckstone's Lodge and then eventually into the small village of Denshaw.
Nights like this, when crossing the moor, always brought back memories of my school days and my favourite poem that had to be learned and recited,
'The Highwayman' by Alfred Noyes.
The wind was a torrent of Darkness among the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over, the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding, riding, riding,
And the highwayman came riding up to the old inn door.
To fully enjoy this scenario I pulled into the layby just beyond the Nont Sarah's Hotel and switched my headlights off, in the moonlight, coming towards me, four horses, three with riders. My first thoughts were why should equestrians be out at this time of night without stirrup lights.
As they got closer the second verse of the poem came vividly back to me as the first two riders fitted the description to a "T".
He'd a French cocked hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,
A coat of claret velvet and breaches of brown doe skin,
They fitted with never a wrinkle, his boots were up to his thigh,
And he rode with a jewelled twinkle, his pistol buts a twinkle,
His rapier hilt a twinkle, under the jewelled sky.
The third rider was in the dress of a serf, rough homespun shirt and trousers, leggings, leather doublet, and neckerchief, and he was leading a heavily laden packhorse.
As they slowly approached, the leading horseman acknowledged me by bowing as he touched his right hand to the brim of his hat. At this point a cold shiver ran down my spine and I decided that discretion was the better part of valour. There was no way I was going to stay within striking distance of their swords or pistols, so I pushed my foot down on the accelerator and made a rapid departure towards civilisation, home and safety.
The following morning I contacted the news desk at the "Huddersfield Examiner" and related my sightings of the apparitions with a view to solving the mystery, also to suggest it may make an interesting little story. I was later told that they, the newspaper reporters, had been unable to find any record of sponsored rides, fancy dress parties or anything else that would have caused three riders to cross a lonely moorland road in the dead of night, dressed in the style of clothing that would have been appropriate in the reign of King Charles.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Onfr bs srapr cbfg haqre fgbar 4" orybj tebhaq yriry.