 Mary Smith, owner of the Black Swann inn is in debt to Sir John Glutton. Her son Nicholas tries to gather together the money by taking up the guise of the infamous highwayman Dick Turpin. Unfortunately for him, his first victim turns out to be the actual Turpin. When Nicholas is captured by Captain Spiker his mother, an old acquaintance of Dick, asks Turpin to take her son under his wing. The highwayman rescues the lad and gives him the nickname Swiftnick, after another rogue.