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The Whiskey Still at Lochgilphead, Sir David Wilkie, 1819
Moonshine Day
Jun 5
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"The whisky still, a lurking place,
A hidden spot in Scotland's face,
Where nature's secrets come to light,
And moonshine gleams in silent night.
Through mist and peat, the secret's kept,
The smuggler's path, in silence stepped,
A tale of risk, of art, of skill,
The legacy of the whisky still.
~ The Whisky Still, Annabel Innes
Beginning with a set and cross—cheekily reminiscent of the iconic "X"s marked on old moonshine jugs—this lively dance is a spirited tribute to untaxed liquor that will have you reeling in more ways than one!
Whether you know it as shine, rotgut, white lightning, firewater, skullpop, mountain dew, white whisky, or in Scotland, “peatreek,” moonshine is the legendary catchall for illegally distilled spirits. Its roots stretch back to the 15th century, when the term “moonshine” came to describe unaged liquor secretly made by the light of the moon. The name itself may be linked to the tale of the “moonrakers”—canny smugglers said to have hidden barrels of brandy in ponds, only to feign innocence by pretending they were foolishly trying to rake cheese from the moon’s reflection.
Unlike traditional whiskies, which must adhere to strict regulations regarding ingredients, distillation, and aging, moonshine is wild and lawless. Anything fermentable—fruit, sugar, grain, even milk—can be used to produce it, with no required aging and no limit on its potent alcohol content. Those notorious “XXX” marks? They signal three trips through the still, yielding a dangerously pure concoction.
So lace up your dancing shoes and keep an eye out for the excise men—this one’s going to burn all the way down! 🥃 🥃 🥃 ✖️✖️✖️ 🌔
Moonshine
The word "moonshine" is believed to be derived from the term "moonrakers," early English smugglers who distilled untaxed spirits by night to avoid discovery.
Moonshine refers to any untaxed liquor. Over time it has also been known as Mountain Dew, White Lightning, Rotgut, Skullpop, and Firewater, with every country having its own special term, such as Scotland, where it is sometimes referred to as "peatreek."
Ulster-Scots brought their recipes with them to the American colonies, and their "white whisky", which was not aged, became the traditional method of distilling spirits in the Appalachian Mountains. Stills had been commonplace on Scottish farms since the mid-1500s, usually little more than barrel-size (or smaller) enclosed copper pots with a metal pipe that emerged from the top and coiled down to a receptacle that caught the condensed spirit. The “XXX” seen in illustrations of barrels and jugs signifies how many times a moonshine batch has been run through the still.
Two of the more popular American spirits during the first century and a half of colonization were peach brandy and applejack (a brandy distilled from cider).
The still popular Laird’s Applejack traces its roots to highlander William Laird who settled in Monmouth County, New Jersey, in 1698 and set about applying his knowledge of distillation to apples rather than barley malt.
As settlers moved west, rye and corn became the preferred grains for the production of American moonshine.
Moonshiners have a long history of flouting authority and avoiding the excise men. Since the Revolutionary War, distilled spirits have been taxed at a higher rate, incensing the corn growers who used excess grain for distillation as whisky was also easier to transport. In 1791, George Washington approved an excise tax on liquor, just four years after Britain had introduced a similar prohibitive tax on Highland stills in Scotland. This was the first tax on a domestic product under the newly formed government leading to the violent Whiskey rebellion of 1794.
For more on alleged Scots origins of Appalachian cultural terms such as "hillbilly," "redneck" and "cracker", click the photo of The Moonshiner's Daughter, c. 1900-1910, from the Library of Congress. Or, read here.
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
