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Moonshining In Rockingham County: A Case Study On Oral Traditions And Folkways, Tiffany W. Cole

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Known as the second oldest profession, moonshining has had a significant presence in Rockingham County since the influx of Scots-Irish settlement in the Shenandoah Valley in the mid-1700s. Once used as a commodity for barter and sale and an ingredient in home remedies, a limited number of people still continue to make moonshine. But the practice is most widespread as the subject of oral histories and folklore as told by Rockingham County residents. Often framed as an honorable tradition whose practitioners were heroes and at times even martyrs in their communities, the collective narrative of those closest to moonshining—the sons, …