Saturday 7 April 1660

Annotations

• N sam on Mon 7 Apr 2003, 11:19pm. Flag this

  Well, it would seem that Sam does come to need caudle after all!
  Funny how it should come up in an entry so soon after the previous ’ knotted cane ’ discussions. Do we think again i wonder.

• N jack on Mon 7 Apr 2003, 11:30pm. Flag this

  Since caudle is a cane he might have slept on it to keep from rolling out of his bunk, he has to try a lot of them to find the right one

• N WKW on Mon 7 Apr 2003, 11:41pm. Flag this

  “squeamish”: not our more prevalent “extremely fastidious or easily disgusted,” but the older primary sense of “queasy” or, as the Companion (citing the OED, citing Pepys as first example) says, “slightly affected with nausea.”

• N A. De Araujo on Mon 7 Apr 2003, 11:47pm. Flag this

  methinks caudle comes from “Caldo”portuguese=clear soup;by the way reformado also comes from portuguese meaning retired, not on active duty

• N Lance on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 12:09am. Flag this

  Oysters and Sea Sickness.
  I’m turning green just reading about it.

• N Jenny Doughty on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 12:27am. Flag this

  Actually, I think the use of ‘caudle’ here makes a contrast with the previous usage. Pepys has to go and bespeak one (from the galley?) - this makes it even clearer that the captain would be unlikely to act in the capacity of a servant to bring him one.

• N Pauline on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 12:50am. Flag this

  Unless the captain brought him the ingredients and now someone has made it up for him (added water? or added the medicinal agent to a clear soup?). Frankly, I don’t want to give up the knotted cane. We learned too much about canes not to have one lying around in the “story.” So I’m listening to Jack and Jenny or anyone who can get us out of this.

  It would be good to know if this “caudle” is also written in long hand in the diary and looks like the previous “cane.”

  Anyone from the Pepys Library at Magdalene quietly reading along? Any reader live close enough to go to the library and snag us a scholar?

• N David Quidnunc on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 01:09am. Flag this

  caudle

  This time, Latham & Matthews is in agreement with our version of the diary. L&M just says “caudle” and there’s no note.

  It’s interesting that here, as on 5 April, Pepys immediately mentions sleeping after the word “caudle” comes up (if, that is, it was a “caudle” on 5 April). Could the rolling of the ship be affecting his handwriting?

  According to the L&M index (p 128), this is the one and only time the word “caudle” shows up in the diary. Savor it!

• N Todd Bernhardt on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 01:24am. Flag this

  re: caudles as sleepaids

  I noted that, too, David, and wondered if the juxtaposition of caudles and sleepiness in each case (the 5th and the 7th) might mean that Sam did indeed mean a caudle on the 5th.

  Still, I think I’m with Pauline on this one. Let’s go with a cane for the 5th and a nice, warm, stomach-settling caudle for the 7th.

• N Emilio on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 02:32am. Flag this

  Speaking again for the cane party, there is a slight difference between the 2 appearances of ‘caudle’: Today it is obviously related to his falling asleep - the “it” links to the previous phrase, referring back to ‘caudle’ or (conceivably) ‘bed’. One the 5th, however, there is a full stop between, leaving open the possibility that the juxtaposition is a coincidence.
  From this point of view, the later appearance of ‘caudle’ might also be the very reason the word appears on the 5th. With a doubtful word to find some reading for, Wheatley could have taken the easy path, seeing a similar word in a similar position a couple days later and assuming they’re the same.
  All entirely speculative, but logical at least.
  

• N Jason Hutchens on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 02:36am. Flag this

  Could it not simply be that the use of “caudle” in today’s entry precipitated the interpretation of Thursday’s “knotted Cane” as a “noted caudle”?

• N Pauline on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 02:43am. Flag this

  Emilio and logic
  Yes, I was going to point out that we’re a bit thrown by coming upon caudle again two days after more or less rejecting it; but without the transcription of cane as caudle on the 5th, we wouldn’t have made any link between these two nouns. Wheatley may well be the one introducing the link.

• N alex on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 03:32am. Flag this

  Why not just admit we don’t know what the word on the 5th was? When evidence is thin, it’s best to suspend judgement rather than try to force the evidence to say more.

• N michael f vincent on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 04:03am. Flag this

  a)” and got a caudle made me,and sleep upon it very well”
  b)” , and Captain Clerke brought me a noted caudle. “
  It could be a case of two,to,too or
  four for, i.e, sounds versas spelling and content.
  a: is in s/h b: in l/h (must be a reason)

  b) It would be veddy rare for High ranking Hofficer to bring a secretary a remedy (unless he is known family friend), still think it was a nice reward or bribe or incentive
  c) noted caudle a recipe? unlikely.
  alex has a point! what “jtc”, speculate is todays way, what evidence? do we need any….? just kidding.
  

• N Michael f vincent on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 04:07am. Flag this

  a) is the invalid drink
  b ) is the bribe

• N Mary on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 09:01am. Flag this

  The sands

  Perhaps the Blythe Sands, close to the north Kent coast, just to the west of the Isle of Grain.

• N Glyn on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 12:53pm. Flag this

  Coddling and Mollycoddling Samuel

  “Caudle” is so similar in sound to “Coddle” (i.e. comfort) that the words must surely be related (that correct Language Hat?)

  Caudle has to be the comforting drink rather than a cane - since he’s having one made for him every day to help him get to sleep (is he also a little queasy from sea-sickness so it settles his stomach). The cane was a nice idea but I think we have to discard it - he wouldn’t need more than one and it would last more than a day. Just as readers in future centuries will think we had special “nightcaps” sewn for us every night.

• N Mary on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 12:54pm. Flag this

  Bardsey

  L&M Companion cross-refers this place to Bawdsey, Suffolk, a very small spot just north of the Deben Estuary. I can well believe that good oysters might have been obtained there (Colchester, in particular is still well-known for its oysters and there may have been other good spots along the Essex/Suffolk coast) but do we know when Pepys might have visited the place? It’s not on the way to anywhere at all.

• N Glyn on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 01:06pm. Flag this

  I do hope you’re wrong, Mary! As a patriotic Welshman, I insist that Pepys means exactly what he says, so that Bardsey is the Holy Island of Bardsey off the coast of North Wales. It’s not too far away from Montagu’s lands in Worcestershire - is there any Welsh connection with the Pepys family?

  If this is correct, then it is an example of this site being more exact than the “Latham Companion”, which cannot be 100% accurate. That may be a long shot, but I live in hope.

• N Mary on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 02:15pm. Flag this

  caudle/coddle

  I quote the OED.
  CAUDLE derives from Old Norman French CAUDEL (chaudel in central France of the time).

  The origins of CODDLE (meaning to pamper, cherish etc.) are obscure. The word appears in no dictionary before 1818. It might derive from an obsolete French verb CADELER, which means to pamper, cherish, make much of. An alternative explanation is that it may derive from a dialectal variant of CAUDLE, where the long vowel-sound represented by ‘au’ could be shortened to ‘o’. You pays your money and takes your choice.

  As for Bardsey/Bawdsey, what sort of reputation for oysters does the Welsh location have?

• N Alan Bedford on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 02:33pm. Flag this

  A cane’s a cane, and according to my dictionary (not the OED, sadly,) a caudle’s “a warm drink for sick people.” I’m inclined to think that if Sam wrote out the word “cane” on the April 5 entry, that’s what he meant there. I think Pauline’s correct: the juxtaposition is confusing. At least, it was to Bright and/or Wheatley.

  Incidentally the word “caudle” derives (through French, actually) from “caldum”, Latin for a “hot drink”, which is probably the same root for the Portuguese “caldo.”

• N Mary on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 02:55pm. Flag this

  Bardsey/Bawdsey; second thoughts.

  Bawdsey certainly looks isolated on the road map, but Pepys could well have put in either there or close by (e.g. Felixstowe) when on his pre-diary trip to Mountagu’s Baltic fleet with letters for the commander.

• N Nix on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 05:39pm. Flag this

  “Why not just admit we don

• N Peter on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 06:17pm. Flag this

  Caudle;

  Could be a Cordial - sounds similar, and in this latest context could mean something that was mixed for Sam to get him to sleep.These days it usually means a fruit based concentate but with some alcohol added it would certainly help.

• N Laura Brown on Tue 8 Apr 2003, 09:57pm. Flag this

  More about caudle

  Caudle is the drink traditionally served at christenings, and I would imagine that nowadays most people know the word in this context if they know it at all. Emily Post, writing in 1922, said: ‘Although according to cook-books caudle is a gruel, the actual “caudle” invariably served at christenings is a hot eggnog, drunk out of little punch cups.’ (http://www.bartleby.com/95/23.html )

  The tradition of serving caudles at christenings probably stems from the use described by Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: ‘Any sloppy mess, especially that sweet mixture of gruel and wine or spirits once given by nurses to recently confined women and their “gossips” who called to see the baby during the first month.’ (http://www.bartleby.com/81/3243.html )

  In Pepys’ day, caudle was drunk from special vessels called caudle cups. They were two-handled cups with a cover, sort of like a modern baby’s cup. Here’s one from 1659:
  http://www.rom.on.ca/art-design/silver/caudlecup2.html
  The lid would have been helpful on board ship.

  I wonder if the associations with birth and christening made the drink bittersweet for childless Pepys.

• N fimm on Wed 9 Apr 2003, 08:45am. Flag this

  Do you think Peyps likes the alliteration of

• N Pauline on Wed 9 Apr 2003, 02:54pm. Flag this

• N Laura Brown on Wed 9 Apr 2003, 10:58pm. Flag this

  Mr Sheply went to Sheppy

  Would the rhyme ‘Dr Foster went to Gloucester’ have been known at this time?

  (I have seen various explanations of the rhyme’s origin, but these things aren’t always reliable.)