Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
Within all the morning. About noon comes one that had formerly known me and I him, but I know not his name, to borrow 5l. of me, but I had the wit to deny him. There dined with me this day both the Pierces and their wives, and Captain Cuttance, and Lieutenant Lambert, with whom we made ourselves very merry by taking away his ribbans and garters, having made him to confess that he is lately married. The company being gone I went to my lute till night, and so to bed.
Sunday 27 January 1660/61Friday 25 January 1660/61
“with whom we made ourselves very merry by taking away his ribbans and garters, having made him to confess that he is lately married.”
How different from the undignified behavior, last year, of our friends the—-oh, fie, what was the name of the couple who made a spectacle of themselves over their ribbons &c., and when?
“About noon comes one that had formerly known me and I him, but I know not his name, to borrow 5l. of me, but I had the wit to deny him.”
Kafka ou Beckett, avant la lettre.
“but I had the wit to deny him” If a “friend” borrows money from you, you probably will lose the “friend” and the money; it follows that you have to have the wit to deny it, in which case you will lose just the “friend”.
Here’s the scene, from Tuesday 24 Jauary 1659/60. The difference in Sam’s sense of ease in the two entries is worth pondering — the young man of a year ago uncertain about his dignity vs. the confident Sam of today.
There when we came we found Mrs. Carrick very fine, and one Mr. Lucy, who called one another husband and wife, and after dinner a great deal of mad stir. There was pulling off Mrs. bride
I guess the Pierces had more fun with the ‘lefttenants’ ribbons and other pieces of linen than displaying their own dirty linen.
“…within all morning…” No gastric problems and no spliting head?
“to borrow 5
5L was a “bloody fortune”. the first time I had a five Pound note in me hand was when I took out my savings to go on a trip to Roma.
Sam did get for sub letting his old place on the axe.”…This afternoon I agreed to let my house quite out of my hands to Mr. Dalton (one of the wine sellers to the King, with whom I had drunk in the old wine cellar two or three times) for L41…”
31st. aug
P.s. considering a flat in London goes from 300L a week [let alone a house], and up, then (1660) 16/- a week ? so 6 weeks at L300 =? roughly
Lambert shorn.
And maid married. But Pierced or Cuttanced up? Such ribanditry from Sam, who, at the end of the day, has got hold of the loot, and ol’ Whatsisname didn’t burrow himself into Sam’s pockets. And so to bend …
It can’t be much of a “friend” if you don’t even know his surname. But it must be a little embarrassing for Pepys: if you’ve known someone for years it’s way too late to ask who the devil are they.
Regarding weddings: have Sam and Elizabeth been invited to any over the past year? Several of their friends and acquaintances have got married but I don’t remember them being invited to any of them. Were weddings more private and smaller affairs in those days?
Vincent’s exchange rate
Vincent makes a convincing case that the pound in Sam’s day was worth 60L today, at least insofar as central London rents are concerned. It would be interesting to accumulate such comparisons for other transactions Sam records.
Value of pound?
See Background - Money
“…one that had formerly known me and I him, but I know not his name…”
I assumed that the would-be borrower’s opening gambit would have been something like “Hi Sam, remember me, Joe Blow”, and that Sam’s “I know not his name” meant that he didn’t recognize it, but I am still no nearer to understanding this entry. Oh well, at least Sam is not a fiver poorer.
..one that had formerly known me ….
Sam and this fellow apparently knew one another by sight at some time in the past, but were not really acquainted. Perhaps they were both up at Cambridge at the same time and crossed one another’s paths then? If so, the ‘other man’ is unlikely to have been a Magdalene man (the college had only 30 undergraduates during Pepys’ time) but a member of one of the other colleges. Now that Pepys is clearly a rising man, his better acquaintance (and money) are worth pursuing than they were in the days when he was a ‘sizar’, a poor student with no social standing.
All speculation, of course, but plausibe