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

Because 'some of the comic songs 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'. The Society came to an end after the Duchess of Devonshire attended one of its meetings. 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. Its members, who consisted mainly of wealthy men of high social rank, would meet on Wednesday evenings to combine musical appreciation with eating and drinking. In existence from approximately 1766 to 1792, the Society was dedicated to the ancient Greek poet Anacreon, who was renowned for his drinking songs and odes to love. The Anacreontic Society was a gentlemen's club of the kind that was popular in London in the late eighteenth century. The Anacreontic Society A bust of Anacreon The combination of Key's poem and Smith's composition became known as ' The Star-Spangled Banner', which was adopted as the national anthem of the United States of America in 1931. These included two songs by Francis Scott Key, most famously his poem 'Defence of Fort McHenry'. Composed by John Stafford Smith, the tune was later used by several writers as a setting for their patriotic lyrics. ' The Anacreontic Song', also known by its incipit ' To Anacreon in Heaven', was the official song of the Anacreontic Society, an 18th-century gentlemen's club of amateur musicians in London.

Lyrics to star spangled banner song