![\"Commemorative](\"https:\/\/e-gen.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/220px-Wiltshire_Moorakers_postcard_detail.jpg\")
<\/a>Commemorative Moonrakers postcard (1903)<\/p><\/div>\n
(Note:<\/strong> please check this page periodically as it may be updated with additional timely internet links, including fact sheets, YouTube travelogues, and computer streaming tours. By all means, if you discover something that might fit this page, send it along to<\/p>\n ” LRYPEARCE@GMAIL.COM<\/a> .”)<\/p>\n I would bet that you never heard of poet Edward Slow<\/a>\u00a0or, for that matter, know what a \u201cMoonraker\u201d is. I belong to an internet group called Moonrakers that originates in Wiltshire County, UK, and recently the group\u2019s leader, John Feltham, reminded us where the moniker came from and shared with us the works of Wiltshire poet Edward Slow. What does this all have to do with our Pearce family? We\u2019ll get to the specifics of the poet and the moonraker in a minute, but first, some background. In our \u201cOriginal Family Narrative (OFN)\u201d<\/a>, its various commentaries, and other posted articles, \u201cNew Information on the Pearces of Old England\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and \u201cPearces & Chaucer\u2019s \u2018The Miller\u2019s Tale,\u2019\u201d<\/a>\u00a0it\u2019s been reported that our patriarch Richard Pearce and his twin sister Sarah were born in Bromhall (or Broomham), Wiltshire on October 25, 1785. They eventually moved to the Greater London area, found spouses, and emigrated to America. They left behind a land of rich history, perhaps even \u201cmagic and mystique,\u201d if you allow room for your imagination. The \u201cOriginal Family Narrative (OFN)\u201d identifies Richard as a \u201cmiller by trade,\u201d and that could only mean that his homeland had mills, and to have mills meant that it had to have water, rivers and ponds in this case. Wiltshire has the rivers Bourne and Avon and their many tributaries to be sure. For a look and listen, try the YouTube series \u201cWiltshire Voices\u201d<\/a>\u00a0(18:09) and other treasures listed at the right of the video. But come back, because a Wiltshire moonraker offers much more.<\/p>\n Wiltshire County,\u00a0Southwest UK (Click to enlarge image\/use back arrow to return)<\/p><\/div>\n Besides rivers and streams, Wiltshire also has many man-made water collectors called \u201cdew ponds,\u201d small, shallow, earthen structures intended to hold liquid from a river or creek or the 30 to 40 inches of rainfall the region sees each year, just enough to supply a small mill, perhaps like one with which our Richard Pearce was familiar. Here\u2019s where Edward Slow (1841-1925), the poet from Wiltshire, comes in. He captured the folk lore and dialect of the region for posterity in several collections called \u201cWiltshire Rhymes\u201d in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. According to biographer Ben Sloper, Slow\u2019s poem \u201cThe Wiltshire Moonrakers\u201d is a prime and delightful example of a dew pond being used for an illicit purpose:<\/p>\n It tells how two village [rum\/brandy] smugglers outwitted the Devizes [Wiltshire town] excises-man, when their donkey bolted and [had] tipped the barrels into the pond, by telling the official they were “reakun var a cheese [raking up cheese]”. He believed them!<\/em><\/p>\n Legendary Moonrakers mural An online post by the Salisbury Museum <\/a>\u00a0goes into a litle more detail:<\/p>\n It seems that smugglers were carrying illegal brandy about the countryside when they spied a party of revenuers, or whom the British would call excisemen. The bad guys quickly threw their containers into a nearby pond and began raking motions on the water with long-handled tools they had grabbed from a farmer. When the lawmen saw them and stopped to ask what they were doing, the clever crooks replied, \u201cRakin\u2019 up the cheese.\u201d Apparently, it was a bright full moon, and the reflection looked like a round container of the delicious dairy product. At this, the revenuers were convinced that the \u201cmoonrakers\u201d were absolutely crazy and headed with haste down the road to get away from them. The moonrakers fished their bounty out of the pond with their long-handled tools and proceeded to their illicit affairs.<\/em><\/p>\n Pond at Devizes, Wiltshire, where the Moonrakers legend may have occurred<\/p><\/div>\n Now, I\u2019m not suggesting that our early Pearces were ever in any way involved in this kind of law breaking or deceit. But, I find it fascinating that we can go back and \u201clook in\u201d on the life and times of 19th century Wiltshire, when our Pearces lived there. This article contains a series of recently discovered internet links that provides a brief glimpse into the sights – and sounds – of the land that produced our early Pearces. You might want to begin by reading Edward Slow\u2019s biography by Ben Sloper<\/a>, then perhaps listen to a rendering by Alan Doel of Slow\u2019s 1881 poem \u201cThe Wiltshire Moonrakers\u201d<\/a>\u00a0(9:03). After that, time permitting, you can indulge yourself in other Slow poems and\/or local YouTube features from Wiltshire. Here is a brief list of Slow poems complete with many visuals:<\/p>\n \u201cWoak apple day\u201d<\/a> (8:57) And here are a few curiosities recorded from real people who still live in Wiltshire:<\/p>\n \u201cWiltshire accent\u201d<\/a> (3:09) by Buttercup Joe In conclusion, you are invited to enjoy the various Wikipedia fact sheets, Youtube travelogues, and computer streaming tours that include Wiltshire\u2019s Salisbury Cathedral<\/a>, Old Sarum<\/a>, Stonehenge<\/a>, and more. By all means, read or re-read my earlier articles on the trade of milling: \u201cPearces & Chaucer\u2019s \u2018The Miller\u2019s Tale.\u2019\u201d<\/a>, \u201cPearce\u2019s & Chaucer\u2019s \u2018The Reeve\u2019s Tale,\u2019\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and \u201cThe Pearce Milling Company.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0As you read, watch, and listen, just imagine your Pearce ancestors, how they lived and talked and the company they may have kept over 200 years ago.<\/p>\n Credits:<\/p>\n John Feltham. \u201cMoonrakers.\u201d e-mail 11 Feb. 2016 Ben Sloper. \u201cEdward Slow Biography.\u201d 2010. 13 Feb. 2016 \u201cEdward Slow.\u201d Wikipedia. 13 Feb. 2016 \u201cMoonrakers.\u201d Wikipedia. 13 Feb. 2016 Last revised 3\/24\/22<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Larry Pearce 3\/3\/16 (Note: please check this page periodically as it may be updated with additional timely internet links, including fact sheets, YouTube travelogues, and computer streaming tours. By all means, if you discover something that might fit this … Continue reading <\/a><\/a>
Trowbridge, Wiltshire<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a>
\n\u201cBin an bit apast it\u201d<\/a> (:55)
\n\u201cTravellin athout ar ticket\u201d <\/a>(1:56)
\n\u201cMy Vust Bit a Gunpowder<\/a>”\u00a0(4:53)<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAccent challenge\u201d<\/a> (5:48) by Awesome Carrot Girl
\n\u201cSausage sandwiches & the Wiltshire accent\u201d<\/a> (1:19)<\/p>\n
\nmoonrakers@lists.mythic-beasts.com<\/p>\n
\nhttps:\/\/edwardslow.wordpress.com<\/a><\/p>\n
\nhttps:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Edward_Slow<\/a><\/p>\n
\nhttps:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Moonrakers<\/a><\/p>\n