Thursday 1 August 1661

Annotations

• N A. De Araujo on Sun 1 Aug 2004, 11:47pm

  “Who indeed is known to leave her her estate” Am I missing something? Amazing how Sam is listening to the nurse’s husband badmouthing his Lady Batten and seems to agree with him.

• N Bradford on Mon 2 Aug 2004, 12:01am

  Any foodies out there keeping a running count of the venison pasties?

• N Sjoerd on Mon 2 Aug 2004, 01:22am

  I don’t understand the Lady Batten line either, but maybe this helps:
  “man’s whore” could mean “kept woman”.
  Maybe a remarried widow who was allowed to keep her own “estate” (as opposed to let her husband have it and run it) could give rise to these (male) comments.

  From http://www.walnet.org/csis/news/world_2000/gandm-001118.html :

  “Since her brothel days, Nell had been the mistress of several men, but only one at a time. “I was but one man’s whore,” she said, using a word that in those times also meant “kept woman” or “adulteress.”

• N vicente on Mon 2 Aug 2004, 03:05am

  “…nurse

• N dirk on Mon 2 Aug 2004, 03:09am

  “had a venison pasty, brought hot from London”

  Brought hot from London: sounds very modern, like having a pizza. Would have been “slightly” bigger though.
  

• N vicente on Mon 2 Aug 2004, 03:48am

  strange today I read_”…The medical profession is in danger of losing its power and influence because too many women are scaling its ranks, according to the female head…”
  http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/story.jsp?story=546980
  

• N Bullus Hutton on Mon 2 Aug 2004, 06:23am

  nurse

• N andy on Mon 2 Aug 2004, 08:56am

  Plus

• N niamh on Mon 2 Aug 2004, 03:18pm

• N Jenny Doughty on Mon 2 Aug 2004, 06:50pm

  “who indeed is known to leave her her estate ..”

  I think this means that she has already inherited, or Sam would have written ‘who indeed is known to leave her his estate’ if the man had not yet died and the estate still belonged to him. This reads to me as if he has died and that this is the estate that now belongs to her.

• N Pauline on Mon 2 Aug 2004, 08:08pm

  her estate/his estate
  But if they were not married, he would have no legal claim to leave her “her estate”. Perhaps the estate was “his” but is referred to as “hers” because it is (as Sam writes) the estate that she now enjoys and had brought to her marriage with Batten.

  “…which we would fain have reconciled to-day….” Wonder who all is involved in this “we”?

  And finding the story true is to leave it unreconciled? Unreconciled in Sam’s mind about the ways of the world and women’s honor.
  

• N vicente on Mon 2 Aug 2004, 08:56pm

  Margarett—- aged 12? Mrs meaning mistress: “…Mrs. Margarett Pen (this first time that I have seen her since she came from Ireland…” not blossomed yet?

• N Pauline on Tue 3 Aug 2004, 03:24am

  Margaret Penn
  I’m finding conflicting information for her, Vincent. The 1651 birth date is sometimes given as her date of marriage to Lowther, yet here she is called Mrs. Margaret Penn.

  Based on July 28 last entry:
  “…tells me that whereas I expected she should have been a great beauty, she is a very plain girl…”
  I would think he and Elizabeth were not talking about a 10-year-old girl. I have found two sources giving her birth year as 1636, so she may be 25. One source gives her marriage to Anthony Lowther as February 1666-67, with a son born in 1670. Let

• N vicente on Tue 3 Aug 2004, 05:08am

  mrs, mistress the young lady of the house. Have to look up OED for when Miss. came into vogue. Mrs has been used in different ways.
  Penn born 1621 Captain at 21, [1642] R.Adm 23, [1644] V. Adm [ireland at 24] Adm 29 1650. Gen at 31 at !st Dutch War.
  from will of 1670 has grand daughter Margaret Lowther, two [2 ]sonnes Richard[not yet 21 and favourite?] and Wm . [at odds with papa and executor]
  Mis read ?: there is also a grand daughter of same name. Many a man celebrates promotion by having wife give birth 9 mths later. Daughter can only 20 approx now, if Ist born in 42 now only 20.Maybe more like the result of being made admiral, celibration of 1650.

• N vicente on Tue 3 Aug 2004, 06:25am

  Re: Mistress Penn Marge: broth Will is 17 {at this date} [result of papa being upted to R. Adm:] youngster Richard a teen? [not 21 when will was writ 1670] my guess ‘twas 51 she be borne .

• N Robert Gertz on Wed 4 Aug 2004, 01:49am

  Lady Batten had her own cash, thanks to the generosity of a previous…Ummn…boyfriend? Now we know why Sam didn’t feel Sir W.B. would take a 40 lbs touch too hard.

  Rumor or false, sure to lead to trouble later on should Beth and Milady not get on…

  “Ah, good morrow, Lady Batten…(you golddigging slut)…” “Good morrow, Mrs. Pepys…(you dirty little half-French probable Papist nobody)”

  Though no doubt a juicy source of many happy mornings’ conversation between our gossip-loving Pepys’.