The Personal is Political. The Political is Personal.

 
a Riotous sort of Creatures

A's parents have one of those gorgeous, old fashioned dictionaries that is a foot thick.

I wanted to look up the word "mummer," to show that the word predates these guys.

Which it does.

But instead, I stumbled onto the word "Mohock."

Who were the "Mohocks"? These people:

In the early months of 1712, rumours began to circulate in London that a club of wealthy rakes, who called themselves the Mohock Club in emulation of a tribe of violent `savages' in America, were roaming the streets of the capital at night, blackguarding, assaulting and beating innocent passers-by.

It was said that they slit people's noses, tumbled old women down hills in barrels, and overturned carriages using long weighted poles. They stuck fish-hooks through people's cheeks and dragged them about using fishing-lines, and tied ropes to the feet of women, suspended them upside down, and did them unspeakable mischief.

John Gay even wrote a play about them.

Which leads to an obvious question. What punk band will be the first to perform a cover version of this song?

Come fill up the Glass,
Round, round, let it pass,
'Till our Reason be lost in our Wine:
Leave Conscience's Rules
To Women and Fools,
This only can make us divine.

Then a Mohock, a Mohock I'll be,
No Laws shall restrain
Our Libertine Reign,
We'll riot, drink on, and be free.

We will scower the Town,
Knock the Constable down,
Put the Watch and the Beadle to flight:
We'll force all we meet
To kneel down at our Feet,
And own this great Prince of the Night

I suggest the Mekons.
posted by TiR at 10:34 PM