The Knavesmire was so named because, as a thick and patchy bog, it was difficult to traverse on horseback or on foot and therefore a welcome refuge to fugitives, petty criminals, and their ilk. While some were locals, and therefore knew the few shifting safe paths well, others sought it out in an attempt to evade pursuit or escape justice. Locals, who may or may not have been on the lam themselves, would hire out their services as Knavesmire Runners, guiding paying customers through the bog. Some would transit it fully, while others would alight on one of the small “islands” in the swamp, the largest and most notorious of which was Mirehollow, which occasionally reached the size of a small village.

A problem for any outsider attempting to cross the Knavesmire, regardless of their destination, was that not all Knavesmire Runners were honest. It was illicit work, so there was no guild to police the conduct as there was for the Most Noble Association of Bricklayers; while many claimed to be a member of the Sacred & True Old Runners brotherhood, it was unclear if such an organization actually existed, or ever had.

That left travelers with a classic dilemma. Sir Brenswick de Sutsom described it as “a three-headed serpent,” describing it as a choice between “the Honest Runner, who will take a Fare with noble Intent; the Highwayman, who will, once out of Sight of Civilization, will rob their poor Charge and possibly Murder them; and the Humbug, who, having Exaggerated their Knowledge of the Mire, will lead both themselves and their Fare to an unwitting Death.”

The dilemma was therefore known as Honest-Highwayman-Humbug or 3H, and became a popular game and logic puzzle. It was imagined that a Highwayman (represented by a fist clutching an imaginary dagger) would defeat a Humbug (represented by a pair of outstretched fingers to ‘point the way’), while a Humbug would defeat an Honest (represented by a flat palm, for the smooth and straight course they would lay), who would in turn defeat a Highwayman.