Tuesday 7 May 1661
In the morning to Mr. Coventry, Sir G. Carteret, and my Lord’s to give them an account of my return. My Lady, I find, is, since my going, gone to the Wardrobe. Then with Mr. Creed into London, to several places about his and my business, being much stopped in our way by the City traynebands, who go in much solemnity and pomp this day to muster before the King and the Duke, and shops in the City are shut up every where all this day.
He carried me to an ordinary by the Old Exchange, where we come a little too late, but we had very good cheer for our 18d. a-piece, and an excellent droll too, my host, and his wife so fine a woman; and sung and played so well that I staid a great while and drunk a great deal of wine.
Then home and staid among my workmen all day, and took order for things for the finishing of their work.
And so at night to Sir W. Batten’s, and there supped and so home and to bed, having sent my Lord a letter to-night to excuse myself for not going with him to-morrow to the Hope, whither he is to go to see in what condition the fleet is in.
21 Annotations
First Reading
Josh • Link
"an ordinary by the Old Exchange, where we come a little too late"
Get to the buffet too late, and all the good vittles is gone.
dirk • Link
"we had very good cheer for our 18d. a-piece"
Taking into account a factor 90 (see earlier discussions), this would amount to approx £6.75 today. Cheap!
Australian Susan • Link
"staid among my workmen all day"
Sam is now on their backs again - no slacking now!
Vicente • Link
For 27 pounds and 7 shillings and the tanner a year, you could support one of the lesser families {there being 848,000 of them and only 1/2 a million families on the bright side of the coin got a bigger income}in style."...but we had very good cheer for our 18d. a-piece,..."[each that is?] for the Lad that only had a known income of less than 2 shillings a day, eighteen months past.
'Tis amazing how quickly one gets used to the Toffs life.
Working for the government, one had a subsidize meal at the MOD[& con] Cafeteria with ox tongue or liver & onions etc. for 2/- [1950's][oh! sweet memories]
Australian Susan • Link
"staid a great while and drunk a great deal of wine"
It seems that the host and his wife who ran this place made their money by keeping the customers entertained so they stayed on and drank after eating their meal (which was subsidised by the wine?)
Lawrence • Link
My Lady, I find, is, since my going, gone to the Wardrobe.
Per L&M... Sandwich, as Master, had the right of residence at the King's Wardrobe, near Puddle Dock.
Vicente • Link
What was the event? to close up shop today. "...being much stopped in our way by the City traynebands, who go in much solemnity and pomp this day to muster before the King and the Duke, and shops in the City are shut up every where all this day...."
Vicente • Link
Evelyn says nowt, just his experiments with the lads."...May 7: I waited on Prince Rupert to our Assembly, where we tried severall experiments in Mr. Boyles Vaccuum: a man thrusting in his arme, upon exhaustion of the ayre had his flesh immediatly swelled, so as the bloud was neere breaking the vaines, & unsufferable: he drawing it out, we found it all speckled: ..."
http://astext.com/history/ed_1662…
Interesting experiment , now we use the technique "called a hyperbaric chamber"Based in Aberdeen, Scotland, the Unit provides recompression treatment for decompression illness (DCI) and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) for carbon monoxide poisoning, osteoradionecrosis and other wounds and infections.
http://www.hyperchamber.com/
One of many interesting sites.
Vicente • Link
Events of the day from the Rev. of Essex:
"...May: 7. rode to London on which day the city forces mustered in Hide park where a remonstrance was got of the soldiers for restoring Bishops. found Mr Harlakenden pretty well. - {. no peeking.}. viz. May.5. the Duke of Yorkes only son died and was privately buried. 6: some were hurt in the view by scaffold breaking and one killed if not more: in the throng at the Commons door to go out to the King in the upper house Alderman Fowk was said to lose 50. links of his gold chain. I apprehend this Parliament. The convocation met in Pauls I saw 12 Bishops there etc. We returned to Colne with Mr H. {... ..}Veddy Strange, no comment from Sam on that, I wonder why?
Emilio • Link
"Sam is now on their backs again - no slacking now!"
I suspect Sam is enjoying supervising them--being in the middle of things, watching his ideas gradually come to life, making sure the work is done right. . . . Judging from the diary entries, he also doesn't seem the kind of supervisor who glorifies himself by complaining what a poor job the men would be doing "if I didn't watch them every second". If only we could all have such easy-to-please managers!
Emilio • Link
Does the last sentence mean Sandwich is going off on a ship, the Hope, and we thus won't be seeing him for a while? I imagine Sam wouldn't be eager to go on a sea voyage so quickly after returning from Portsmouth.
Vicente • Link
The Hope, a basin where the good fleet doth lie[ no biblical thougths now]"... having sent my Lord a letter to-night to excuse myself for not going with him to-morrow to the Hope, whither he is to go to see in what condition the fleet is in...."
ref:"... Scull the waterman came and brought me a note from the Hope from Mr. Hawly with direction, about his money, he tarrying there till his master be gone. ..."
http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive…
'...This morning, the wind came about, and we fell into the Hope,1 and in our passing by the Vice-Admiral, he and the rest of the frigates, with him, did give us abundance of guns and we them, so much that the report of them broke all the windows in my cabin and broke off the iron bar that was upon it to keep anybody..."
http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive…
"...A reach of the Thames near Tilbury.
It seems to me that they are in an anchorage ("roads") off what is now _Leigh_ on sea. This is at the mouth of the Thames, out into in the estuary….”
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap…
‘…The name could have changed or Peyps got the name verbally and misspelled it.
This link shows both Tilbury (to the right of Grays) and Leigh. Northfleet Hope ("The Hope"), where the day began, is the reach upstream (left) of the bend in the river at Tilbury….”
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap…
steve h on Sun 6 Apr 2003, 2:29 am | Link
http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive…
“…1664 PEPYS Diary (1879) III. 4 Come to the Hope about one and there..had a collacion of anchovies, …”
http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive…
Now I’m confused…
“…Mr. Hill that married in Axe Yard and that was aboard us in the Hope…. “[a ship or a pub of the same name and location, or be it anchored in the Hope?]
http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive…
Finally, scanned many ships lists, not a Hope in site of a ship of that name.
Pedro. • Link
The Hope and the Sick Note.
I had always read this to be a ship, but with Vincente's information I now lean towards a place name. Around the area there are also Stanford-le-Hope and Hope's Green.
Sandwich, I think, is preparing to go to check out Tangier and maybe Sam is trying to avoid this in case he gets asked to go?
Kevin Sheerstone • Link
The Hope - Pedro and others.
The Hope (or Hope Reach) is shown on the endpaper maps of my "Everybody's Pepys" as being that stretch of the Thames between Tilbury and the mouth of the Medway, at which point the estuary begins. I used to live in Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, which is on a diminutive stream named the Hope. Stream is the word: we used to jump it without getting wet. It enters the Thames about two miles south of Stanford and three miles east of Tilbury.
Vicente • Link
For a visual of Hope and Mucking [they do say, where theres Muck there is money or as Sir Bacon did quote: money like muck should be spread.]
http://www.multimap.com/map/brows…
Phil • Link
I've realised that Wheatley gave a footnote to the first time 'The Hope' was referred to (27 March 1660), describing it as "A reach of the Thames near Tilbury." So I've created a background page for it now. Thanks for all the detective work!
Second Reading
Bill • Link
"and an excellent droll too, my host, and his wife so fine a woman"
A DROLL, a merry Fellow, a boon Companion; a Buffoon; also a Sort of Farce or mock Play.
---An Universal Etymological English Dictionary. N. Bailey, 1675.
Bill • Link
"being much stopped in our way by the City traynebands, who go in much solemnity and pomp this day to muster before the King and the Duke"
May 7. [1661] A General Muster of the Forces of the City of London, in Hide-Park, consisting of two Regiments of Horse, and twelve Regiments of foot.
---A Chronological History of England. J. Pointer, 1714.
Tim • Link
Any particular reason why the Trainbands have a muster on 7 May - leading to the closure of shops in the city, so obviously not a regular military exercise. Why that date? During the Civil War they were strongly parliamentarian - Is this a special event to demonstrate their newly-acquired loyalty to His Maj?
Terry Foreman • Link
Tim, perhaps a 1661 review. "'In April, 1660,' says Mr. Allen, in his 'History of London,' 'about six weeks before the restoration of Charles II., and when the artful management of General Monk had disposed the citizens to countenance the measures he was pursuing in favour of royalty, a muster of the City forces was held in Hyde Park: the number of men then assembled amounted to about 18,600—namely, six regiments of "trained bands," six auxiliary regiments, and one regiment of horse; the foot regiments were composed of eighty companies, of two hundred and fifty men each; and the regiments of cavalry of six troops, each of one hundred men. The assembling of this force was judged to have been highly instrumental to the success of the plan for restoring the monarchy. Within a few months afterwards the king granted a commission of lieutenancy for the City of London, which invested the commissioners with similar powers to those possessed by the lords-lieutenants of counties; and by them the 'trained bands' were new-modelled, and increased to 20,000 men; the cavalry was also increased to 800, and divided into two regiments of five troops, with eighty men in each. The whole of this force was, in the same year, reviewed by the king in Hyde Park." (fn. 1)
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘droll, n. < French drôle, originally a noun ‘a good fellow, boone companion, merrie grig, pleasant wag; one that cares not which end goes forward, or how the world goes’ (Cotgrave) . .
1. A funny or waggish fellow; a merry-andrew, buffoon, jester, humorist.
. . 1665 S. Pepys Diary 7 June (1972) VI. 119 Very merry we were, Sir Thomas Harvy being a very drolle . . ‘