Moonrakers

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

1- 8 1M followed by partner cast 1 place, 1s dance up followed by 3s, 1M followed by partner cast to 3rd place and cast to own side as 3s end at top. (3)(2)(1)
9-16 1s set to 2s set on sides and change places RH, 1s set and cross LH. 3(1)2
17-24 3s+1s+2s dance 3 Couple Men's Chain:
 All 3 Men dance RH across ½ way while partners cast left to meet approaching Man, all turn LH (1M+1L, 2M+3L and 3M+2L), Men dance RH across ½ way while partners cast to meet approaching Man and all turn LH (1M+2L, 2M+1L and 3M+3L) to end as bar 16
25-32 3s+1s+2s dance ½ reels of 3 on sides (1M RSh to 3L and 1L RSh to 2M), 1s turn RH 1½ times

(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)

Keith Rose's Crib Diagrams

Moonrakers - Full Size And Key To Symbols

Dance Information

Moonrakers is the colloquial name for people from Wiltshire, a county in the West Country of England.

The name originates from a legend or folk tale set in a time when smuggling was a major activity in rural England, particularly in Wiltshire, which lay on the secret routes used by smugglers between the south coast and inland buyers. According to the story, some local residents hid barrels of French brandy, smuggled in to avoid customs duty, in a village pond. While attempting to retrieve the barrels under the cover of night, they were caught by revenue officers. To explain their actions, they pointed to the reflection of the moon in the water and claimed they were merely trying to rake in a round cheese.

The excise men, thinking they were simple yokels, laughed at them and went on their way. But, as the story goes, it was the moonrakers who had the last laugh. In the words of an anonymous Wiltshireman who recounted the story to writer Arthur Granville Bradley: "Zo the excizeman 'as ax'd 'n the question 'ad his grin at 'n,... but they'd a good laugh at 'ee when 'em got whoame the stuff."

Mural, Belle Vue Road, Swindon, Showing The Moonrakers, 2021

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