Ralph Whitlock in one of his many books (over 100), Wiltshire Folklore And Legends, published in 1992 by Robert Hale, in a chapter titled ‘Black Dogs,’ noted:
” . . . a highwayman . . . who used to hold up coaches on Black Dog Hill [Chapmanslade]. He had trained his big black dog to jump on the coachman as he descended the steep hill, throwing everything into confusion during which the highwayman robbed the passengers. Eventually one coachman brought along a gunman who, when the dog attacked, shot it. Whereupon the dog became yet another ghost haunting the hill.”