The life of the vagrant--untethered by ties to family or community--was romanticized even in contexts where vagrants themselves were shunned and persecuted, such as the early 17th century that is the focus of this article. There are many points on which the modern western mindset--and therefore the fiction that it produces and desires--is vastly misaligned with the historic eras the fiction intends to represent. Attitudes toward independence and individualism are one such disjunction.