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The legend of the Wiltshire moonrakers is well known, but while the
outline of the story is well documented, filling in the details largely
depends on which book you read. The story is simple, though, and its
message clear.
A pair of Wiltshiremen, engaged in smuggling brandy, hide a barrel of the
contraband from the excisemen in a nearby pond and when they return at
some later time, in the dark, they are caught in the act of raking the
barrel back to land. They immediately claim that they are trying to rake
cheese - the reflection of the moon - from the pond and the excisemen,
amused by the apparently simple-minded rustics, leave them to it.
The moral of the story is that, despite their earthy accents, Wiltshire
folk are not as slow-witted as some would believe and, to this day, people
born in the county are proud to call themselves moonrakers.
Just when the incident took place is far from clear, particularly as
smuggling is by no means restricted to any one period in history, but at
least one historian has claimed it originated in the 18th century.
The site of the pond is a matter of fiercer conjecture, with any one of
the many Wiltshire towns and villages which boast a pond laying claim to
be the home of the original moonrakers at one time or another.
Whatever details the original story had have been twisted and lost as the
moonrakers' legend has been handed down from generation to generation. And
that's exactly as it always is with all the best legends.
http://www.moon-raker.co.uk/legend.asp
http://www.weirdwiltshire.co.uk/extra/moonraker.html
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