] ] If there was a full or nearly full moon, it would be easier to be out in the evening for the simple reason that you could still see to drive your carriage or whatever.

] I thought neighbors were giving excuses, similar to 'I have to wash my hair.. or I have a hangnail...' :)

LOL! I must confess that I thought that too before I read this note at the back of my book:

'...The difficulty of transport after night-fall in the country made people prefer moonlit evenings for engagements away from home. Lamps were used on carriages, but it is clear from Felton that they were not satisfactory: "oil has proved objectionable by the smoke it creates', and the candle "soon gutters away, or gives but a small glimmering light..."(Felton, i. 197-8.) Even the best candles, with reflectors behind them, illumined the road only a small distance ahead.'