I'm going to agree with Pauline, who wrote in 2003 regarding the L&H footnote for "Much company I found to come to her....", as follows:
"I don't think he is referring to Mrs. Pierce. The description (wanton) just doesn't fit for describing a friend's wife or a friend. The sentence seems to indicate the proprietress or barmaid at The Bell, or something major to its meaning has been dropped or excised."
Sam is out gallivanting with Pierce and Sheply. No one else is mentioned, certainly not Mrs. Pierce. After meeting up at Montagu's, they head over to The Bell, a tavern and stableyard on King Street, Westminster, and after admiring Montagu's new ponies, they belly up to the bar for a few rounds of Hull ale. He means to mention the proprietess or barmaid, but neglects to do so in his hurry to say how very pretty and wanton she is, and how much business that is bringing her.
L&M jump to a conclusion that "her" is "Mrs. Pearse", but that makes no sense, even if she's tagging along, because Mrs. Pierce is not in the business of attracting "much company" to The Bell.
"I want to know who owned the horses and where they were kept. If it was a stable at the back of the Navy Office, why doesn't Pepys ride more often?"
Just a wild guess: The economics of renting horses may have been such that they only made sense for longer trips such as this one out to Batten's. Sort of like if you live downtown in a city, taking cabs makes sense (like Pepys takes a carriage or water taxi), but renting a car to go across town does not, both in terms of expense and convenience, even if you're going to return to where you started. But if you're heading out into the country somewhere, you rent a car, Sam rents a horse.
Dick Wilson 2013: "I'm missing something here. What was the purpose of this visit? Did Pepys & Pen have business with Batten, or he with them, that could not wait until all met at the office? Or did Batten just invite the two to come have drinks with some of his country buddies?"
The purpose appears to have been purely recreational, an all -day bender with lots of mutual entertainment. But at the same time, Sam well knows that he is building up relationships, particularly with Batten, who will be quite important to him going forward.
"he did take us into the King’s closet, and there we did stay all service-time" after dining with my Lady.
Consider the arc of Sam's journey so far this year — on January 1, he was living in a garret, and dined upon "the remains of a turkey, and in the doing of it [Elizabeth] burned her hand." If he dined at Montagu's at all, it was in the servants' hall, not with my Lord or my Lady in the dining room. And now, he's worshiping with gentry in the King's own "closet." He rightly feels honoured.
Linguistic question: Here Sam says he "did give" his father something. Elsewhere (especially when paying for someone's lunch) he says he "gave" them something.
Is there an actual distinction in the meanings between "gave" and "did give", or is the usage just random? Was "did give", even in Sam's day, a bit more formal, reflecting language used in legal settings rather than everyday talk?
"I found a box of Carpenter’s tools sent by my cozen, Thomas Pepys, which I had bespoke of him for to employ myself with sometimes."
Sam and Liz stopped by Thomas's place on October 15 "for some things that we wanted." Perhaps this is when Sam bespoke the set of tools. We shall see how he employs himself with them.
Here in New England, "lights" is still used quite commonly, especially among older rural people, to mean individual panes in a window divided by muntins. A neighbor told me: "Some kid threw a rock at the window and broke one of the lights."
"From thence I took my Lord’s picture, and carried it to Mr. de Cretz to be copied."
After Sam got permission for the copying, I rather imagined that Mr. De Critz would show up at Montagu's to do the copying there, this being a valuable painting and all. But apparently it was OK for Sam to hoist it off the wall and carry it off through the streets (maybe by carriage). Today it would not be transported unless in a crate, by professional art movers.
Again no mention of the 80 quid the boss owes Sam, but presumably he brought it up during their nice evening chat, along with his wish to have the portrait copied, and other topics.
Sam does not mention today whether he discussed with My Lord the 80L that he figured last night he is owed. Presumably a dinner with My Lord and My Lady together was not a good time to discuss business. (And, between turds in the cellar and limbs on the Aldersgate, his mind may have been elsewhere.) Let's see how long it takes him to get reimbursed.
"[My Lord, the 1st Earl of Sandwich] had lately lost a great deal of money at cards, which he fears he do too much addict himself to now-a-days."
This addiction apparently runs in the family for generations to come, and was the reason that My Lord's great-grandson, the 4th Earl, would invent the sandwich.
"I was angry with my wife for her things lying about"
'Twas ever thus. At this point, Elizabeth is still 19 (her 20th birthday is coming up on October 23). Apparently she hasn't quite grown out of that teenage stage where you leave stuff lying around. Sam needs to cut her some slack.
The Leg — one of Sam's favorites. I realize it probably has something like a carving of leg of mutton hanging outside and therefore is so named, but every time the place is mentioned in the diary, I get this vision of a proverbial "hollow leg," meaning a prodigious capacity for alcoholic drinks, something Sam and his friends seem to have.
"We two," the L&M version as noted above, makes a lot more sense than "at 2." If it was 2 p.m. already, then a detour to the Raindeer for oysters, that would mean dinner at 3 p.m., not likely.
Under the entry for Sept. 26, I speculated why Sam is spending so much time with his workmen — my guesses were that (a) a lot of decisions about specifications and design had to be made on the fly and he didn't want to leave it to them, and (b) that he might have had security concerns leaving them on their own in the house with all his stuff.
But today we learn a third possibility, (c) that he really does enjoy hanging out with them, being "very merry" with them. Clearly he likes being there, and is enjoying their drollery, not complaining about it.
For a fellow moving up in the world like Sam is, it is useful to maintain your ability to work with and relate to the working men and women who make the world go round.
"she having been abroad today to buy more furniture for her house"
I believe this is the first time Sam has referred to the house as "her house", rather than "my house". Quite a significant statement for its day, both for the fact that he trusts his wife to purchase furnishings for their house, and for referring to the house as belonging to her.
"At home with the workmen all the afternoon" — as he has been for frequently for hours at a time. Why?
Surely Sam is not helping out by plastering and doing finish carpentry himself. Nor is he particularly qualified to supervise the workers in his house. And I doubt he is shooting the breeze with them and keeping them from their labors. So why is he hanging out with them?
A few possibilities: Most likely there are no architectural drawing and specifications for this job. Decisions are made on the fly: "Mr. Pepys, how high would you like this wainscoting to be?" "What kind of moulding would you like where the walls meet the ceiling?" "Do you like this color stain, or should it be a tad darker?" Etc. You would want to be around for this, so the crew doesn't start guessing.
There is also the question of security — he might want someone to be around while they are in his house where all his worldly good now are, and if Liz is out shopping or visiting, the duty falls to Sam.
"though I am wholly ignorant in the duty of a justice of peace" ... and after all these years, we have not touched on that question, either.
But here's a start: Per Wikipedia, during Sam's time: "Being an unpaid office, undertaken voluntarily and sometimes more for the sake of renown or to confirm the justice's standing within the community, the justice was typically a member of the gentry. The justices of the peace conducted arraignments in all criminal cases, and tried misdemeanours and infractions of local ordinances and bylaws. Towns and boroughs with enough burdensome judicial business that could not find volunteers for the unpaid role of justice of the peace had to petition the Crown for authority to hire a paid stipendiary magistrate."
Since there's no money in it, it's doubtful Sam will exert himself very much as a JP.
Comments
Third Reading
About Sunday 4 November 1660
MartinVT • Link
I'm going to agree with Pauline, who wrote in 2003 regarding the L&H footnote for "Much company I found to come to her....", as follows:
"I don't think he is referring to Mrs. Pierce. The description (wanton) just doesn't fit for describing a friend's wife or a friend. The sentence seems to indicate the proprietress or barmaid at The Bell, or something major to its meaning has been dropped or excised."
Sam is out gallivanting with Pierce and Sheply. No one else is mentioned, certainly not Mrs. Pierce. After meeting up at Montagu's, they head over to The Bell, a tavern and stableyard on King Street, Westminster, and after admiring Montagu's new ponies, they belly up to the bar for a few rounds of Hull ale. He means to mention the proprietess or barmaid, but neglects to do so in his hurry to say how very pretty and wanton she is, and how much business that is bringing her.
L&M jump to a conclusion that "her" is "Mrs. Pearse", but that makes no sense, even if she's tagging along, because Mrs. Pierce is not in the business of attracting "much company" to The Bell.
About Thursday 1 November 1660
MartinVT • Link
"I want to know who owned the horses and where they were kept. If it was a stable at the back of the Navy Office, why doesn't Pepys ride more often?"
Just a wild guess: The economics of renting horses may have been such that they only made sense for longer trips such as this one out to Batten's. Sort of like if you live downtown in a city, taking cabs makes sense (like Pepys takes a carriage or water taxi), but renting a car to go across town does not, both in terms of expense and convenience, even if you're going to return to where you started. But if you're heading out into the country somewhere, you rent a car, Sam rents a horse.
About Thursday 1 November 1660
MartinVT • Link
Dick Wilson 2013: "I'm missing something here. What was the purpose of this visit? Did Pepys & Pen have business with Batten, or he with them, that could not wait until all met at the office? Or did Batten just invite the two to come have drinks with some of his country buddies?"
The purpose appears to have been purely recreational, an all -day bender with lots of mutual entertainment. But at the same time, Sam well knows that he is building up relationships, particularly with Batten, who will be quite important to him going forward.
About Sunday 28 October 1660
MartinVT • Link
"he did take us into the King’s closet, and there we did stay all service-time" after dining with my Lady.
Consider the arc of Sam's journey so far this year — on January 1, he was living in a garret, and dined upon "the remains of a turkey, and in the doing of it [Elizabeth] burned her hand." If he dined at Montagu's at all, it was in the servants' hall, not with my Lord or my Lady in the dining room. And now, he's worshiping with gentry in the King's own "closet." He rightly feels honoured.
About Friday 26 October 1660
MartinVT • Link
"I did give him money to pay several bills."
Linguistic question: Here Sam says he "did give" his father something. Elsewhere (especially when paying for someone's lunch) he says he "gave" them something.
Is there an actual distinction in the meanings between "gave" and "did give", or is the usage just random? Was "did give", even in Sam's day, a bit more formal, reflecting language used in legal settings rather than everyday talk?
About Wednesday 24 October 1660
MartinVT • Link
"I found a box of Carpenter’s tools sent by my cozen, Thomas Pepys, which I had bespoke of him for to employ myself with sometimes."
Sam and Liz stopped by Thomas's place on October 15 "for some things that we wanted." Perhaps this is when Sam bespoke the set of tools. We shall see how he employs himself with them.
About Wednesday 24 October 1660
MartinVT • Link
Light=window
Here in New England, "lights" is still used quite commonly, especially among older rural people, to mean individual panes in a window divided by muntins. A neighbor told me: "Some kid threw a rock at the window and broke one of the lights."
About Tuesday 23 October 1660
MartinVT • Link
"From thence I took my Lord’s picture, and carried it to Mr. de Cretz to be copied."
After Sam got permission for the copying, I rather imagined that Mr. De Critz would show up at Montagu's to do the copying there, this being a valuable painting and all. But apparently it was OK for Sam to hoist it off the wall and carry it off through the streets (maybe by carriage). Today it would not be transported unless in a crate, by professional art movers.
About Monday 22 October 1660
MartinVT • Link
Again no mention of the 80 quid the boss owes Sam, but presumably he brought it up during their nice evening chat, along with his wish to have the portrait copied, and other topics.
About Saturday 20 October 1660
MartinVT • Link
Sam does not mention today whether he discussed with My Lord the 80L that he figured last night he is owed. Presumably a dinner with My Lord and My Lady together was not a good time to discuss business. (And, between turds in the cellar and limbs on the Aldersgate, his mind may have been elsewhere.) Let's see how long it takes him to get reimbursed.
About Tuesday 16 October 1660
MartinVT • Link
"[My Lord, the 1st Earl of Sandwich] had lately lost a great deal of money at cards, which he fears he do too much addict himself to now-a-days."
This addiction apparently runs in the family for generations to come, and was the reason that My Lord's great-grandson, the 4th Earl, would invent the sandwich.
About Saturday 13 October 1660
MartinVT • Link
"I was angry with my wife for her things lying about"
'Twas ever thus. At this point, Elizabeth is still 19 (her 20th birthday is coming up on October 23). Apparently she hasn't quite grown out of that teenage stage where you leave stuff lying around. Sam needs to cut her some slack.
About Thursday 11 October 1660
MartinVT • Link
The Leg — one of Sam's favorites. I realize it probably has something like a carving of leg of mutton hanging outside and therefore is so named, but every time the place is mentioned in the diary, I get this vision of a proverbial "hollow leg," meaning a prodigious capacity for alcoholic drinks, something Sam and his friends seem to have.
About Saturday 6 October 1660
MartinVT • Link
catch/ketch
We still have ketchup/catsup, which according to Wikipedia entered print in English around 1790 as catchup, followed by ketchup in 1711.
About Thursday 4 October 1660
MartinVT • Link
"We two," the L&M version as noted above, makes a lot more sense than "at 2." If it was 2 p.m. already, then a detour to the Raindeer for oysters, that would mean dinner at 3 p.m., not likely.
About Friday 28 September 1660
MartinVT • Link
Under the entry for Sept. 26, I speculated why Sam is spending so much time with his workmen — my guesses were that (a) a lot of decisions about specifications and design had to be made on the fly and he didn't want to leave it to them, and (b) that he might have had security concerns leaving them on their own in the house with all his stuff.
But today we learn a third possibility, (c) that he really does enjoy hanging out with them, being "very merry" with them. Clearly he likes being there, and is enjoying their drollery, not complaining about it.
For a fellow moving up in the world like Sam is, it is useful to maintain your ability to work with and relate to the working men and women who make the world go round.
About Wednesday 3 October 1660
MartinVT • Link
"she having been abroad today to buy more furniture for her house"
I believe this is the first time Sam has referred to the house as "her house", rather than "my house". Quite a significant statement for its day, both for the fact that he trusts his wife to purchase furnishings for their house, and for referring to the house as belonging to her.
About Wednesday 26 September 1660
MartinVT • Link
"At home with the workmen all the afternoon" — as he has been for frequently for hours at a time. Why?
Surely Sam is not helping out by plastering and doing finish carpentry himself. Nor is he particularly qualified to supervise the workers in his house. And I doubt he is shooting the breeze with them and keeping them from their labors. So why is he hanging out with them?
A few possibilities: Most likely there are no architectural drawing and specifications for this job. Decisions are made on the fly: "Mr. Pepys, how high would you like this wainscoting to be?" "What kind of moulding would you like where the walls meet the ceiling?" "Do you like this color stain, or should it be a tad darker?" Etc. You would want to be around for this, so the crew doesn't start guessing.
There is also the question of security — he might want someone to be around while they are in his house where all his worldly good now are, and if Liz is out shopping or visiting, the duty falls to Sam.
About Monday 24 September 1660
MartinVT • Link
"though I am wholly ignorant in the duty of a justice of peace" ... and after all these years, we have not touched on that question, either.
But here's a start: Per Wikipedia, during Sam's time: "Being an unpaid office, undertaken voluntarily and sometimes more for the sake of renown or to confirm the justice's standing within the community, the justice was typically a member of the gentry. The justices of the peace conducted arraignments in all criminal cases, and tried misdemeanours and infractions of local ordinances and bylaws. Towns and boroughs with enough burdensome judicial business that could not find volunteers for the unpaid role of justice of the peace had to petition the Crown for authority to hire a paid stipendiary magistrate."
Since there's no money in it, it's doubtful Sam will exert himself very much as a JP.
About Friday 14 September 1660
MartinVT • Link
SDS: I wish this site had a "like" button or something, I "like" your description of Sam's morning routine very much!