Anacreontic Society

These barristers, doctors, and other professional men named their club after the Greek court poet Anacreon, who lived in the 6th century B.C.

While the society's membership, one observer noted, was dedicated to "wit, harmony, and the god of wine", their primary goal (beyond companionship and talk) was to promote an interest in music.

Because "some of the comic songs [were not] exactly calculated for the entertainment of ladies, the singers were restrained; which displeasing many of the members, they resigned one after another; and a general meeting being called, the society was dissolved.

"[3] It is not clear exactly when this incident occurred, but in October 1792 it was reported that "The Anacreontick Society meets no more; it has long been struggling with symptoms of internal decay".

[1] Each meeting began at half past seven with a lengthy concert, featuring "the best performers in London", who were made honorary members of the Society.

[1] The members, who paid a subscription fee of three guineas, were generally of "fashionable society" including "several noblemen and gentlemen of the first distinction".