y , ▁and ▁feed ing ▁them ▁en ▁route ▁over ▁several ▁weeks ▁or ▁months ▁required ▁expert ise ▁and ▁authority . ▁There ▁was ▁lic ens ing ▁under ▁the ▁legisl ation , ▁introduced ▁in ▁ 1 5 6 3 , ▁intended ▁to ▁control ▁'" bad gers " ▁of ▁gra in ▁and ▁dro vers ▁of ▁cattle , ▁although ▁it ▁seems ▁to ▁have ▁been ▁less ▁rig or ously ▁applied ▁to ▁dro vers . ▁They ▁were ▁also ▁ex empt ed ▁from ▁the ▁Dis arm ing ▁Act s ▁of ▁ 1 7 1 6 ▁and ▁ 1 7 4 8 , ▁which ▁were ▁passed ▁after ▁Jacob ite ▁ris ings . ▁They ▁were ▁not ▁necessarily ▁liter ate ▁but ▁were ▁respect ed ▁as ▁exper ts ▁in ▁their ▁trade . ▁ ▁Early ▁history ▁ ▁Some ▁form ▁of ▁dro vers ' ▁roads ▁existed ▁in ▁Rom ano - B rit ish ▁times ▁and ▁certainly ▁throughout ▁the ▁Early ▁Middle ▁A ges . ▁ ▁For ▁example , ▁the ▁old ▁east - west ▁dro vers ' ▁road ▁connecting ▁the ▁Dor set / Ex eter ▁region ▁with ▁London ▁and ▁th ence ▁Su ff olk ▁is ▁along ▁a ▁similar ▁alignment ▁to ▁the ▁Roman ▁road ▁of ▁the ▁same ▁route . ▁Many ▁lengths ▁of ▁the ▁Wel sh ▁Road ▁through ▁the ▁English ▁Mid lands ▁co inci de ▁with ▁man orial ▁or ▁parish ▁boundaries , ▁suggesting ▁that ▁it ▁pred ates ▁them ▁and ▁probably ▁had ▁pre - R oman ▁orig ins ▁as ▁an ▁ancient ▁track way . ▁ ▁Med ieval ▁dro vers ' ▁roads ▁In ▁Great ▁Britain , ▁Dro ve ▁as ▁a ▁pla c ename