The merry gang (as Andrew Marvell called them), or Wits flourished for about fifteen years after 1665. They included John Wilmot 2nd Earl of Rochester, Henry Jermyn, Charles Sackville Lord Buckhurst (later Earl of Dorset), John Sheffield Earl of Mulgrave, Henry Killigrew, Sir Charles Sedley, the playwrights Wycherley and Etherege, as well as George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, who straddled both circles.

Sedley was known to his contemporaries as "Apollo's Viceroy". He was the author of several plays as well as lyrics set to music by Purcell.