Annotation:Temple Rakes (The)
X:1 T:Temple Rakes, The M:12/8 L:1/8 B:Thompson’s Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 1 (London, 1757) Z:Transcribed and edited by Fynn Titford-Mock, 2007 Z:abc’s:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:G G3 BGB dBd g3|A3 cAc ece a3|G2 BGB dBd gab|afd ge^c d3 D3:| |:d3 =f3 egB c3|e3 g3 fa^c d3|A3 =c3 BdF Ggf|dBG cAF G3 G,3:||
TEMPLE RAKES, THE. English, Jig (12/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The melody first appears in print in John Johnson’s 200 Favourite Country Dances (London, 1756). The Temple Rakes, or Innocence Preserved by 'anonymous' was published in 1735, "being the adventures of Miss Arabella R....y. A narrative dounded on some late extraordinary matters of fact." The title referred to unruly gatherings of young gentlemen of social standing, who generally engaged in drinking and whoring but who also could gather in organized gangs who committed street crimes, vandalized property and perpetrated assaults. The Mohocks (who took their name from the 'savage' Native North Americans) were on such group that terrorized the populace around Charing Cross beginning around the year 1712.
The Temple Rakes caused a panic among the people of London for a time, but in general their depredations were exaggerated by broadsides, newspapers and periodicals, feeding the overheated public imagination. There were a very few young men who were captured and convicted of crimes, but there is little evidence that there actually was an organized group called the Mohocks. In any case, within a year the predations and panic subsided.
