Friday 8 June 1660

Out early, took horses at Deale. I troubled much with the King’s gittar, and Fairbrother, the rogue that I intrusted with the carrying of it on foot, whom I thought I had lost. Col. Dixwell’s horse taken by a soldier and delivered to my Lord, and by him to me to carry to London. Came to Canterbury, dined there. I saw the minster and the remains of Becket’s tomb. To Sittingborne and Rochester. At Chatham and Rochester the ships and bridge. Mr. Hetly’s mistake about dinner. Come to Gravesend. A good handsome wench I kissed, the first that I have seen a great while. Supped with my Lord, drank late below with Penrose, the Captain. To bed late, having first laid out all my things against to-morrow to put myself in a walking garb. Weary and hot to bed to Mr. Moore.

Saturday 9 June 1660Thursday 7 June 1660

Also on this day

Temperature: 14°C / 57°F

(Average for June 1660)

In Parliament

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Annotations

N Colin Gravois on Sun 8 Jun 2003, 11:48pm. Flag this

Well, the horse is smelling the stable, as goes an old English saying, and with London beckoning, Sam is chomping at the bit and getting back in the saddle, so to speak, with the wenches. Now back to reality, what’s the reference to drinking below (decks??) and to the captain, aren’t they on the road? Pls can someone parse.
N Paul Brewster on Mon 9 Jun 2003, 12:06am. Flag this

drank late below with Penrose, the Captain
L&M Companion identifies him(?) as Capt. Thomas Penrose “A captain in the Commonwealth navy, he held two commands 1665-7. He was arrested for debt in 1660, and Conventry’s comment on him c. 1667 was ‘grows debuached’.”

I suspect that below is now in reference to the inn they were staying at and not a shipboard term of art.
N Judith Boles on Mon 9 Jun 2003, 01:46am. Flag this

Is there an estimate of the miles that would have been traveled on this day?
N Alan Bedford on Mon 9 Jun 2003, 02:43am. Flag this

Judith asked: “Is there an estimate of the miles that would have been traveled on this day?”

The distance would have been roughtly 75 air miles, or more. Canterbury was the first town of any size. I imagine that the roads would have not been arrow-straight, so it was probably a long, uncomfortable ride.
N David Bell on Mon 9 Jun 2003, 06:24am. Flag this

The day’s journey, on the current roads, from Deal to Gravesend, is 60 miles, according to Autoroute. From Canterbury onwards this follows the modern A2, one of the English roads which, apart from new bypass sections around towns and villages, is pretty much unchanged in line since the days of the Romans.

This is certainly a pretty direct route on the map. There’s no great diversion anywhere.

Compare the distances to Sam’s trip to Cambridge. It isn’t so different.

From Gravesend, Sam will enter London along the Old Kent Road, famed in song.
N vincent on Mon 9 Jun 2003, 06:27am. Flag this

On monday 24/ june 1650 : J Evelyn by coach left Dover at 4 am for Canterbury then on to Gravesend dining at Sittinburne arriving late at Gravesend then on to Depford arriving 4 am next morning. He did it again by horse on 29th of feb 1652? Dover,Canterbury,Sittenburne Rocheste nextday To Gravesend then by pair of Oares to Says Court.
One site did say mileage (today 2003) 44.4 miles Gravesend to Dover: Gravesend to London Bridge 23 miles:
For the ambitious try the bicycle 2 day trip from the Cutty Sark(Greenwich) to Dover :
N vincent on Mon 9 Jun 2003, 06:41am. Flag this

http://uk2.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=590000&Y=160000&scale=500000&width=700&height=400&gride=&gridn=&coordsys=gb&db=&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&advanced=map of kent
N Matthew on Mon 9 Jun 2003, 10:43am. Flag this

Inn or ship?
The reference to “Penrose, the Captain”, rather than “Captain Penrose”, seems to indicate that he went on board ship when he got to Gravesend. The entry is quite sketchy so it is likely to omit such details.
N Paul Brewster on Mon 9 Jun 2003, 01:15pm. Flag this

Inn or ship?
One of the reasons that lead me to believe that “below” refers to an inn is a sentence from tomorrow’s entry: “Paid the house and by boats to London, six boats.” Yes, I cheated and looked ahead.
N M.Stolzenbach on Mon 9 Jun 2003, 02:17pm. Flag this

“Mr. Hetly’s mistake”

One has to wonder what it was.

“To bed to Mr. Moore” points to the old custom of sharing beds; as he is weary and hot, Sam probably wishes he had the whole bed to himself.

Notice that seeing “the minster and … Becket’s tomb” is rather tourism than pilgrimage.
N helena murphy on Mon 9 Jun 2003, 02:27pm. Flag this

In this era the dining area in an inn was often upstairs, or the guests would request supper in their rooms upstairs.In 1651, Charles II and Henry Wilmot, later Lord Rochester stayed at The George in Brighton just before Charles set sail for the continent and into exile. In the given accounts of the escape,the dining room is clearly situated upstairs. The locals or the revellers would have drunk downstairs. Often travellers would just stop at an inn still on horseback for bread and beer, a sort of 17th century take away.

Ollard,Richard. The Escape of Charles II. Hodder& Stoughton 1966
N JonTom Kittredge on Mon 9 Jun 2003, 03:08pm. Flag this

Minster
For those who are confused (as I was), “minster” is not a misspelling of minister, but a term meaning (according to dictionary.com) “a monastery church, often used even when the monastery no longer exists.” Here it refers to Canterbury Cathedral, presumably.
N gerry on Mon 9 Jun 2003, 03:35pm. Flag this

Re jontom’s annotation if you click the map in the Sittingbourne anno. you will see the town of Minster-in Sheppey. The abbey there, still a going concern, originally dates from the 7th century.
N Glyn on Mon 9 Jun 2003, 04:26pm. Flag this

From which I guess that JonTom K is not in England: “Minster” isn’t that an uncommon a name. The most famous nowadays would be York Minster, but let’s also not forget “Westminster”.
N Glyn on Mon 9 Jun 2003, 04:32pm. Flag this

and Fairbrother, the rogue

Samuel doesn’t really consider Fairbrother to be a rogue: he’s just exasperated with him. Not only did he NOT take responsibility for the King’s guitar, but he also managed to get himself lost as well, leaving Samuel to find him and do the job himself when he’s got enough to do already.

Incidentally, we’ve met Mr Fairbrother before: he’s the man who wrote the god-awful verses back in February (I wonder if they helped get him this job?).

http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive/1660/02/26/index.php
N ML Bobryk on Mon 9 Jun 2003, 07:16pm. Flag this

What is “the King’s gittar?” Was the guitar known in England at this time? If so, I’m guessing that the hard shell case has not yet made its appearance - Is Sam having trouble keeping it from hard knocks as he travels?
N Kevin Peter on Tue 10 Jun 2003, 12:57am. Flag this

“A good handsome wench I kissed”

I wonder what the story behind this could have been? I wonder what Sam was like when socializing with women. It’s too bad there isn’t any more detail.
N Colin Gravois on Tue 10 Jun 2003, 08:55am. Flag this

Isn’t he wonderful, though, stealing a kiss at any opportunity and not bashful to tell all about it. Suspect he practicing up for London!!!