Having spent a considerable amount of time in and about the celtic music scene, I have encountered my fair share of “Rakes of” tunes… And so I’ve decided to make this inquiry on the good old Chiff and Fipple forum:
What exactly is a rake anyway???
(I can only assume that these wonderful old tunes were not being written
about lawn care equipment.)
I’ve heard a few different theories, but I’m hoping that someone can give me a definite answer, and help me put this mystery to rest…!
a rake usually plays by ear,
a rake won’t listen
a rake usually gets drunk
a rake won’t tell you 
“As I was at the Fair of Athy
I saw an old petticoat hung out to dry
I took off my trousers and hung them to dry
To keep that old petticoat warm.”
To the tune of the Rakes of Kildare…
\Rake, n. [OE. rakel rash; cf. Icel. reikall wandering, unsettled, reika to wander.] A loose, disorderly, vicious man; a person addicted to lewdness and other scandalous vices; a debauchee; a rou['e].
An illiterate and frivolous old rake. --Macaulay.
Source: Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Pretty much the same as a “buck”, a “hellraiser” or a “bit of a boyo”. From its frequent occurrence in tune names, I would take it to be meant more affectionately (enviously?) than Webster’s censorious tone suggests.
That pretty much describes many of us, right?! “Rakish Kevin” 
Irish redneck maybe?
Have you ever heard the redneck suicide cry?
“Hey, guys, watch this!”
For a dramatic demonstration, rent Dangerous Liaisons. The character played by John Malkovich is an excellent example of a restoration period rake. Not the kind of guy you want your daughter hanging out with.
Hmmm…Rakish Valmont… just doesn’t sound right 
-No E
Rakish Glencnoc?
Rake can also be a verb in Ireland… & not just a lawncare verb.
To Rake: Wild, fast and irresponsible action eg driving
…the sort of thing your “rednecks” would probably do all the time.
By the way, in Ireland a Redneck is a “culchie”
The equivalent in Scotland is a “choochter” [pronounce 2nd ch as they do in loch]
Boyd
Culchie, and proud of it, sir.
One of them there things that done gathers leaves in the fall?
les rateaux de guimauve
If he’s a dedicated party animal and does his level best to not keep it in his pants, he’s a rake.
It was also the custom amongst country dwellers to go, from time to time, for a bit of a ramble to hit as many pubs and hospitable farms as one could find and get rip-roaring drunk, with all the subsequent trouble (craic) one could get into. This was called “going on a rake”, and the one who was doing so was called a “rake”.
Lots of tunes are named after supposedly memorable binges in various localities, e.g. The Rakes of Westmeath, The Rakes of Mallow, etc. But if it really was that good of a rake, who the hell could remember anything?
djm
Hey lixnaw,
On your avatar, you have written “Raven’s Medicine”. The bird on the shield looks more like an anhinga than a raven.
Ted