 Jesse James and many old "Wild West" bank robbers and train robbers of the 19th century used horses to get way from the scene of their larceny.The etymology of two common terms for peace officers in premodern times indicates that their major role may have been to prevent horse theft—or escape by horse.These are constable (from the Latin "comes stabuli" -- attendant to the stables), and marshall, a loanword from Old Norman French, which in turn is borrowed from Old Frankish *"marhskalk" "stable boy, keeper, servant", cognate with Germanic "*marha-" "horse" (cf.