The Macaroni Downs on the outskirts of the village of Eastleach get the name ‘Macaroni’ from an exclusive eighteenth century London gentleman’s club.
Members of the ‘Macaroni Club’ often referred to as Macaronis or Dandies, regularly travelled to Cheltenham to see the horse racing, stopping en-route at Paul’s Castle to watch the Bibury meet. It has been suggested that the area around the racecourse was named in their honour in a bid to increase attendance amongst the wealthy elite; and to establish a reputation as the place to be seen.
Macaronis came about toward the late 18th century and were dubbed as such due to their taste in anything “exotic” including rare Italian cuisine. They travelled in groups; wore extremely tight, feminine clothing; are extremely egocentric, and basically annoyed everyone else with their flamboyant presence.
The Macaronis rivalled the ladies of that time with their tall wigs and were even known to powder it different colours like blue, pink and purple. At The Macaroni club in London they would gamble, womanize, sodomize, gossip, and wasted countless amounts of money of frivolous things.
Charles Fox was once known as a macaroni, despite him being a tad too overweight to look decent in his tight clothing.
Fun Fact: Oh course we all know Yankee Doodle’s sad attempts at becoming a macaroni but more interesting is that Macaroni Penguins received their name from these fops.
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