Merry Gang facts for kids
The Merry Gang was a group of aristocrats associated with the court of Charles II of England during the Stuart Restoration. The gang was centred around John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester who stated their aim was to restore the idea of masculinity that had prevailed at the time on Henry II [r. 1154-1189]. They were also patrons of the arts, supporting the poet John Dryden and the dramatist Nathaniel Lee.
Members of the gang fought with constables and watchmen and were involved in a number of killings. Charles II was indulgent towards the gang, forgiving some of their crimes. The influence of the Merry Gang declined after the 1670s, with new ideals of masculinity calling for better behaviour.
Naming and members
The gang were known by various names; they were dubbed the Merry Gang by the contemporary poet Andrew Marvell, politician Samuel Pepys called them the "counsellors of pleasure" and the Lord Chancellor Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon called them the "men of mirth". Historian JH Wilson, writing in 1967, called them the "Court Wits". The leader of the gang, John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, referred to its members as "Rake-Hells"". Other members included George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, Richard Vaughan, 2nd Earl of Carbery, Charles Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, Sir George Etherege, Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet, Sir Fleetwood Sheppard, Henry Guy, Henry Killigrew, Henry Savile and William Wycherley; including many leading literary figures of the period. Historian Christopher Tilmouth, in his Passion's Triumph over Reason (2010), named James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth and John Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave as not members of the set but behaving in a similar manner to it. Buckhurst in particular enjoyed royal favour, his grandmother had been governess to Charles II and the king rewarded the family with numerous titles and land holdings.
Practices
Members of the gang asserted the right to behave as they pleased and their antics were intended to draw the attention and amusement of the king. Rochester claimed his aim was to halt "the strange decay of manly parts since the days of dear Harry the Second [r. 1154-1189]". The gang engaged in acts that were loud, outraged public decency and often included violence against women.
When Rochester was out of the country in February 1662 Buckhurst and his brother were imprisoned for the killing and robbing of a tanner in London. The two men claimed to have killed the tanner by mistake, whilst chasing a thief and were pardoned by Charles II in June. The Merry Gang often breached the peace in the streets and engaged in fights with constables.
In 1666 Buckingham became a lover of Anna Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury (she had earlier been involved with Killigrew). Two years later Buckingham fought Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury in a duel over the affair. Buckingham mortally wounded the Earl and afterwards took the countess into his home, sending his own wife to live with her father. Around this time Killigrew circulated a falsified paper purporting to be from the countess and testifying to his virility. Charles II pardoned Buckingham over the killing of Shrewsbury. In 1675 members of the gang, including Buckhurst, Savile, Rochester and Sheppard destroyed a valuable pyramidical glass sundial in the Privy Garden of the Palace of Whitehall.
In 1676 Rochester and Etherege were involved in a brawl with the watch in Epsom that left a Captain Downs dead. At different times Sedley and Buckhurst both paid Nell Gwyn, long-time mistress of the king, £100 a year to live with them, she also spent a period living with Rochester. Gwynn's 1679 funeral was attended by all of the gang.
The gang were sometime patrons of the arts. The poet John Dryden benefitted from their patronage and the dramatist Nathaniel Lee was an associate. The activities of the Merry Gang often featured in anti-Stuart propaganda. The influence of the gang, and other rakes, at court declined after the 1670s, as a new standard for masculinity became defined by better manners.
