The CrammerNATIVE-BORN Wiltshire people are known as moonrakers and there are many versions of the legend that led to this soubriquet.

This is just one of them. In the 18th century, Government duty on certain imports, such as brandy, tea and coffee, was so heavy a lucrative trade in smuggling grew up.

A group of men from Bishops Cannings, near Devizes, were returning from Orcheston, on Salisbury Plain, with barrels of brandy that had been landed illicitly on the south coast.

They were warned excise officers were lying in wait for them at Bishops Cannings so, when they came to the Crammer pond in Devizes, they unloaded their contraband, wrapped it in oil cloth and sank it in the dark waters.

Later they went back to the pond and tried to recover their merchandise but a troop of excisemen arrived, demanding to know what they were up to.

One of their number had a brainwave.He pointed to the reflection of the full moon on the surface of the pond and said: "We're trying to rake that gurt big cheese out of the water."

The excisemen roared with laughter and went off, still giggling and shaking their heads over the idiocy of these country yokels. The Bishops Cannings men succeeded in raking out their barrels and quietly went home.