WILTSHIRE MOONRAKERS 249 



peasantry have named ' Bloody Shard,' while the 

 wood itself is known as ' Blood-w\ay Coppice.' 



Cranborne Chase was also at this time a haunt of 

 smugglers, who found its tangled recesses highly 

 convenient for storing their 'Free Trade' merchan- 

 dise on its way up from the sea-coast. Whether or 

 not the original ' Wiltshire moonrakers ' belonged to 

 the Wilts portion of the Chase or to some other part 

 of the county, tradition does not say. 



That Wiltshire folk are called ' moonrakers ' is 

 generally known, and it is usually supposed that 

 they obtained this name for stupidity, according to 

 the story which tells how a part}' of travellers 

 crossing a bridge in this county observed a numl)er 

 of rustics raking in the stream in which the great 

 yellow harvest-moon was shining. Asked what they 

 were doing, the reply was that they were trying to 

 rake ' that cheese ' out of the water. The travellers 

 went on their way, laughing at the idiotcy of the 

 yokels. One tale, however, only holds good until 

 the other is told. The facts seem to be that the 

 rustics were smuofSflers who were rakino- in the river 

 for the brandy-kegs they had deposited there in the 

 gray of the morning, and that the ' travellers ' were 

 really revenue-officers ; those ' gangers,' or ' preven- 

 tive men ' who were employed to check the smug- 

 gling which was rife a hundred years ago. It may 

 be thought that the seaside was the only place where 

 smuo-Sflino; could be carried on, but a moment's reflec- 

 tion will show that the goods had to be conveyed 

 inshore for inland customers. Smuggling, in fact, 

 w^as so extensive, and brought to such a perfection of 



