He claims the two original moonrakers were from this village, which is a stone's throw from Devizes and its suitable pond. Local people certainly seem to favour Devizes as the site of the pond. Perhaps there are some clues in the verses written by Edward Slow, which are reproduced below. Published in 1894, this is at least closer in time than the modern versions of the story, though that, too, has surely been coloured by time. At the end of the day, there isn't even any evidence that the story is based on fact.
Most fables are fiction.
Whatever details the original story had have been twisted and lost as the moonrakers' legend has been handed down from generation to generation. When smuggal'n wur nuthen new, An people wurden nar bit shy, Of who they did their sperrits buy. An his neam wur Ikey Perritt. Tho a course, twer done in iggerance. One winter, Crismis time about, Thease lanlords tubs as ael ran out.