Wednesday 7 August 1661

Called up at three o’clock, and was a-horseback by four; and as I was eating my breakfast I saw a man riding by that rode a little way upon the road with me last night; and he being going with venison in his pan-yards to London, I called him in and did give him his breakfast with me, and so we went together all the way. At Hatfield we bayted and walked into the great house through all the courts; and I would fain have stolen a pretty dog that followed me, but I could not, which troubled me.

To horse again, and by degrees with much ado got to London, where I found all well at home and at my father’s and my Lady’s, but no news yet from my Lord where he is.

At my Lady’s (whither I went with Dean Fuller, who came to my house to see me just as I was come home) I met with Mr. Moore, who told me at what a loss he was for me, for to-morrow is a Seal day at the Privy Seal, and it being my month, I am to wait upon my Lord Roberts, Lord Privy Seal, at the Seal. Home and to bed.

26 Annotations

First Reading

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Beth steals (ahem, 'takes up') a hood in church and Sam tries to steal somebody's dog...Batten and Penn had better start locking their own doors and keeping inventory.

Good to know our boy's 'scaped giving Lord Privy Seal Roberts offense...

dirk  •  Link

Evelyn's diary for today:

"Repeating the Experiment of the bladder was raisd 142 pounds & my Laquay, who was an heavy looby of 17 years old &c: A pouder of a plant was brought, which thrown into the fire [flashed] like Gun-powder:"

For the original experiment, see:
wednesday 31 July 1661
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

The valet as a (voluntary?) guinea pig...

Pauline  •  Link

"...but I could not, which troubled me...."

Could not because the dog was too eely?
It was against his conscience, to his surprise?
No way to carry it to London?
The judging eye of venison-man was upon him?

Bradford  •  Link

Light-Fingered Pepys on the prowl! Property-owners, heed the warning by Collis P. Huntington:
"Whatever is not nailed down is mine. What I can pry loose is not nailed down."

vicente  •  Link

"... he being going with venison in his pan- yards to London..." guessing, leading to the modern pannier.
pan [latin patina to open] many meanings, one: pan usually a broad shallow open container for domestic use...Pan try ... [panetrie fr L panis bread] place for bread.
modern Panier Pannier {latin Panarium fr .Panis bread}large basket also used for ladies hoops or panniers in the 15 th century.
Hoops or panniers could be made of whalebone, metal or wicker.[to effect fulness to prevent the need to Diet?]
http://www.vintage-elegance.com/F…
horse panniers
Where does the yard fit in. May be from the remote meaning of storage area
I.e open basket for storing? just a guess.

vicente  •  Link

laquay Dirk : now lackey [mf laquais] liveried servant, servile or toady. We today, forget that the lower 50% of the pop.[hoi polloi] of those Emerald Isles be not thought of as having names. Even Sam has very few comments of those ladds that refreshens the Nag with Oats, water and a good rub down while he checks out the scenery.
Mind you, they be good for experiments.

margaret  •  Link

Maybe an evolved mispronunciation of the French pannier.

Judy  •  Link

A pannier today is a bag or pair of bags one hangs or attaches to either side of the back of a bike in order to carry spare clothing or equipment. I believe the term is also used for horseback and in this case was a type of saddlebag, as opposed to a basket.

Mary  •  Link

the pretty dog.

I wonder how Sam planned to convey this dog to London. It would hardly have lain quietly across the saddle-bow unless trained to do so and the riding companion wouldn't have wanted to carry a dog, no matter how pretty, in the same panniers as the venison. Perhaps Sam's hired hack came equipped with panniers too?

I take 'troubled' in this context to mean irritated, annoyed, frustrated.

A. De Araujo  •  Link

" a pretty dog that folloed me" If he follows me to the home can I keep it Mommy? It seems to me that early in the diary Sam threatened to throw their dog out of the window! Is he a dog lover or a dog hater?

Ruben  •  Link

"a pretty dog that folloed me" If he follows me to the home..
Same scene in China:
“a pretty dog that followed me…we became friends…Mommy: may we have him for dinner?

John  •  Link

"and I would fain have stolen a pretty dog that followed me, but I could not, which troubled me." I read this to mean that it was a lost dog that followed him on his horse, that he was troubled that he could not help the poor thing by taking it with him.

vicente  •  Link

"..Maybe an evolved mispronunciation of the French pannier...." see piks: [cntl f and insert pann and giggle]
"...Court fashions was the pannier, which was universally worn. But dress soon ceased to be a distinctive sign of the wearer's rank and profession, and Barbier complains in 1745 that money counts for everything in Paris, and that the middle-classes cannot keep their place..."
http://www.englishcountrydancing.…

vicente  •  Link

Contrary to popular belief, "pannier" is not a French word, and should not be pronounced as one. The normal English pronunciation is: "PAN-yer".
"Pannier" is, in fact derived from a French word: "panier", a basket (more specifically, a bread basket, from "pain", the French word for "bread."
pronunciation pan'yar, -e-ar
1. A large wicker basket, especially: a. One of a pair of baskets carried on the shoulders of a person or on either side of a pack animal

OTHER FORMS: pan'niered

Sjoerd  •  Link

Bayted ?

I didn't understand the word "bayted", but after some googling found:

baited: To feed (an animal), especially on a journey.

Thanks to http://dictionary.reference.com/s…

A. De Araujo  •  Link

"Dog" Ruben,don't be so cinic oops cynic..

Josh  •  Link

Now if we could just find another sense for "stolen," that didn't mean stealing.

vicente  •  Link

The word is purloined: else one may say "to have on indefinite loan":

Glyn  •  Link

Maybe this word should be added to the Glossary?

There was a discussion about "bait" at this entry:

http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

and also sometime in February when someone said it was still used in the Ozarks.

Michelle Westlake  •  Link

I can clearly remember my Geordie grandad using the term 'bait', usually for a small meal, and usually one taken or eaten away from home, such as lunch, as in 'Have you got your bait for school?'.

Second Reading

jude cooper  •  Link

Locally, (welsh border) having your bait is the food you have late morning as breakfast, when you started work early. Used commonly by builders and farmers. And yes, Michelle, also used round here for your packed lunch at school.

Bill  •  Link

to BAIT, to take some Refreshment on a Journey.
---An Universal Etymological English Dictionary. N. Bailey, 1675.

Weavethe hawk  •  Link

In Lancashire also (when I was a kid, a couple of years ago) we used to take our "bait" to work. That served as our break-time snack.

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