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Legend of Moonraker
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.
BBC Moon-raking Legend
Fantastic Moonraking section on the BBC website. Explore the folklore of Wiltshire
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