The Legend of The Moonrakers

I would like to share a story with you that one of the ladies in my workshop shared with me last week.  We were busy putting a mirror together when there was a commotion on the TV behind us.  An old movie called 'The Moonrakers' was playing and some sort of confrontation was occuring between the goodies and baddies.  'Oh dear', said I, 'not very friendly!'.  'That's a film about us,' said the twinkly-eyed lady in front of me, 'we're Moonrakers, us Wiltshire folk.'.  I asked her to elucidate which she was more than happy to do.  Back in the day (17th or 18th century) it is said that some Wiltshire smugglers were alerted to an approaching Excise man (revenue agent) on a clear and bright moonlit night. In order to assuage suspicion the smugglers dumped their contraband (usually barrels or kegs of French brandy) into a nearby pond. Once the Excise man had passed by they began to fish out the barrels with hay rakes. However, the Excise man had doubled back and seen them and so questioned their activity. They answered that it was surely obvious, they were raking out the gigantic white cheese they could see in the water. The Excise man laughed at them for being stupid and 'simple' country yokels and rode off. The "moonrakers" left off raking the moon, laughed at the Excise man's smug naivety and continued to recover their kegs.

Whether or not the story is true we may never know.  There is, apparently, little evidence to support it but that doesn't make it any less charming.  It is set in Wiltshire folklore and that, to me, is special.