origin of moonshine

[Paul M. Johnson]

Don't have documentation for this but, was always told it came from the
1700's when smugglers would run duty free liquor into England from
Europe, Moonlight nights made the trip easier.

Anita Manning wrote:
>
> Good day:
> I am an  teacher in informal and lifelong learning classes.  I am leading a
> full-moon
> moonlight hike and doing some story telling about local history in the
> process.  There
> are some good stories illustrating various historical points and dealing
> with illegal
> distilling of liquor.  Obviously, the word moonshine is appropriate.  After
> several
> web, dictionary, encyclopedia and other reference type inquiries, I find no
> origin for
> the word moonshine.  Bootleg I already knew (carrying tax-free liquor in
> your boot,
> era Civil War and after) and verified.  Moonshine is proving harder to
> find.  One of
> my web searches turned up your list.  I'm hoping someone in your group has
> access to more tools for word origin.
>
> Any stories for origin of the word to describe illegally made liquor?
>
> Mahalo (thanks in Hawaiian).
>
> Anita Manning
>
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