smugglers

   There are two levels on which smugglers appear in folk tradition. On the first level, their tricks and exploits are a topic for storytelling; local history recalls routes they followed, places where they fought the Revenue men; local legend alleges they had secret *tunnels. On the second level, people wanting to explain away a supernatural tradition often claim it was encouraged, or even invented, by smugglers to frighten people away from churchyards and lonely houses where they hid contraband. While it is possible that 'smugglers' fakelore' did sometimes occur, no references to it have been found in contemporary documents; anecdotes about it only appear much later, and are couched in general terms. They sound like folklore themselves.