Wednesday 26 March 1662

Up early. This being, by God’s great blessing, the fourth solemn day of my cutting for the stone this day four years, and am by God’s mercy in very good health, and like to do well, the Lord’s name be praised for it. To the office and Sir G. Carteret’s all the morning about business. At noon come my good guests, Madame Turner, The., and Cozen Norton, and a gentleman, one Mr. Lewin of the King’s LifeGuard; by the same token he told us of one of his fellows killed this morning in a duel. I had a pretty dinner for them, viz., a brace of stewed carps, six roasted chickens, and a jowl of salmon, hot, for the first course; a tanzy and two neats’ tongues, and cheese the second; and were very merry all the afternoon, talking and singing and piping upon the flageolette. In the evening they went with great pleasure away, and I with great content and my wife walked half an hour in the garden, and so home to supper and to bed. We had a man-cook to dress dinner to-day, and sent for Jane to help us, and my wife and she agreed at 3l. a year (she would not serve under) till both could be better provided, and so she stays with us, and I hope we shall do well if poor Sarah were but rid of her ague.

Thursday 27 March 1662Tuesday 25 March 1662

Also on this day

Temperature: 6°C / 43°F

(Average for March 1662)

In Parliament

House of Lords

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Annotations

N Australian Susan on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 01:19am. Flag this

Tansy
Good site with medicinal and culinary information - including a recipe.
http://www.price-pottenger.org/Articles/Tansy.htm

Happy Easter, everyone! (except Orthodox Christians - not till May 1st this year).
N A. De Araujo on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 01:34am. Flag this

26 march 1662
Is sister Pall still in the household?
If so how come she is so totally ignored by SP in his diary; it is as if she never existed!
N dirk on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 01:58am. Flag this

Pall

Sister pall left (was sent away) on sunday 25 August 1661.
N Jesse on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 02:52am. Flag this

“killed this morning in a duel”

What, no background link on dueling? Seems to be making a comeback as ‘by accounts, however, there was a dearth of dueling in England from 1642-1660’. http://www.sfu.ca/~reed/dueling.pdf
N vicenzo on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 04:15am. Flag this

ref in the Commons to duell:Privilege-A Member put under restraint by the King.
Mr. Speaker informing this House, That the King’s Majesty was pleased to send a Message to him, that he had restrained Mr. Lovelace, one of the Members of this House, who was going to fight a Duel;
Resolved, That those Members of this House, who are of his Majesty’s honourable Privy Council, do return to his Majesty the humble Thanks of this House, for his Grace and Favour, in being so tender of the Privileges of this House, as to acquaint Mr. Speaker therewith.
Resolved, That the Serjeant attending this House, or his Deputy, do repair unto the Officer in whose Custody Mr. Lovelace, one of the Members of this House, now is, to demand the said Mr. Lovelace: And the said Officer, in whose Custody he is, is accordingly to deliver the said Mr. Lovelace to the Serjeant of this House, or his Deputy; who is to bring him to this House To-morrow Morning.
Supply Bill.

From: British History Online
Source: House of Commons Journal Volume 8: 9 December 1661. Journal of the House of Commons: volume 8, (1802).
URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=26416
Date: 27/03/2005
N vicenzo on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 04:40am. Flag this

on 12th june 63:Intentions to fight a duel [Challenged in writing] between two peers, the Earl of Middlesex and Earl of Bridgewater, and their Punishment.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=14344&strquery=
N Pauline on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 05:30am. Flag this

“…and so she stays with us…”
Sounds a lovely celebration; and to top it off Jane is back!

But what does “till both could be better provided” mean?
“…she agreed at 3l. a year…till both could be better provided…”
N Australian Susan on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 06:28am. Flag this

“Till both could be better provided”
I took the “both” to mean Elizabeth and Jane, but I’m not sure what to make of the rest of the sentence, unless it means Elizabeth will pay Jane more when the household income is greater and when either Jane has more skills or when Jane is moved into better quarters within in the household. Any other ideas?
N Mary on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 08:07am. Flag this

tansy.

Nice link above to a herbal site. NB this tansy is tanacetum vulgare, NOT senecio jacobaea (ragwort tansy) with which it has sometimes been confused. The latter is highly toxic in all its parts.

These tansy puddings/custard tarts were particularly popular in spring, when it was the youngest shoots and leaves that were used to flavour the dish and when chickens were coming into full lay again after the winter slow-down.
N Harry R on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 11:39am. Flag this

“a jowl of salmon”

I was puzzled by this, because I thought ‘jowl’ meant (via dictionary.com) “The flesh under the lower jaw, especially when plump or flaccid.”

But this site says it means “the head of a fish”:

http://www.kal69.dial.pipex.com/shop/pages/glossj.htm

I’d still be interested to know how they cooked it, though.
N Mary on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 01:11pm. Flag this

jowl of salmon

OED, with specific reference to salmon, ling and sturgeon, defines the jowl as ‘the head and shoulders of certain fish’. Examples are quoted from 1430 to 1859. The fish was probably poached, possibly with the addition of some sweet herbs to the poaching-water.

Although fish-head is not a popular dish in UK these days, fish-head soup is still relished in many parts of the world and in south-east Asia and China the ‘cheeks’ from the fish-head are amonst the most prized pieces of flesh on the whole fish.
N Ruben on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 03:57pm. Flag this

they had a pretty 2 courses dinner.
This was the French way of serving dinner, that I understand was adopted by the English a century later.
How come?
N JWB on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 04:27pm. Flag this

A teasing em-brace…
A brace of pheasant, yes
A brace of rabbits, pretentious
A brace of carp, a joke.
Seems to me Sam composed this menu to tease The., &/or his favorite women- folk altogether. The 6 roasted chickens, one apiece mind you, to show all in good humor. And, indeed, a very merry time was had by all.
N Al Pinkham on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 06:07pm. Flag this

The jowl of the Salmon is the area behind the head. This is some of the best of the fish especially salmon and tuna. You can order this in sushi bars grilled.
N jan on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 06:40pm. Flag this

When I read “till both could be better provided” I thought that Elizabeth would pay more if she had more(or in the future gets more) but that Jane would be looking for a better paying job while working for the Pepys’ for 3l.
N vicenzo on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 06:53pm. Flag this

Re: Jane: Dinnae forget the Perks. Some be so mean that they begrudge the marrow from the bone. Jane ‘members the good old days, all scrunched up in a few rooms and plucking the squabs after their necks be rung, for the big Dinner.
N language hat on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 07:44pm. Flag this

brace:

Actually, JWB, this is not a joke but a perfectly normal usage for the time. The word formerly referred to two of anything; see the OED entry (and note particularly the “brace of Trouts” and “brace of… fish” under 15c):

III. 15. Two things taken together; a pair, a couple. Often a mere synonym for two, as, in cricketing language
N language hat on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 07:51pm. Flag this

“the fourth solemn day of my cutting”:

More or less equivalent to “holiday”; OED s.v. “solemn”:

2. Of days or seasons: Marked by the celebration of special observances or rites (esp. of a religious character); distinguished by, or set apart for, special ceremonies.
c1325 Prose Psalter cxvii. 25 Stablis the solempne daie. […] 1387 TREVISA Higden (Rolls) VI. 29 He.. forbeed hem mete and drynkenge of wyn but it were in certeyne solempne dayes in the yere. […] 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 194 In hey festis & solempne dayys. 1533 FRITH Mirror (1829) 295 The Jews.. were commanded to keep the seventh day solemn. 1611 BIBLE Numb. x. 10 Also in the day of your gladnesse, and in your solemne dayes. […] a1700 EVELYN Diary 23 Apr. 1646, To this there joynes a spacious Hall for sollemn dayes to ballot in.
N language hat on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 07:53pm. Flagged

Oops.
When I said “note particularly the ‘brace of Trouts’ and ‘brace of
N Pauline on Sun 27 Mar 2005, 09:56pm. Flag this

“…(she would not serve under) till both could be better provided…”
Maybe Jane negotiated to come in over Sarah, and the “both” refers to the two maids.
N A. Hamilton on Mon 28 Mar 2005, 12:41am. Flag this

my wife and she agreed at 3l. a year (she would not serve under) till both could be better provided,

My reading: Jane would not serve for less than 3 pounds a year, and Elizabeth’s budget could not support a greater wage, but Elizabeth recognized Jane was worth more and promised to raise her pay when she could.
N vicenzo on Tue 29 Mar 2005, 02:44am. Flag this

tuppence a day or 8 farthings: [I still pick up pennies too]
N vicenzo on Tue 29 Mar 2005, 03:15am. Flag this

In the spirit of LH; Jane gets a brace of coppers each and every day, to brace her morn. with ale.
N Robert Gertz on Wed 30 Mar 2005, 10:19am. Flag this

Interesting that The (Theophilia Turner) who’s about 11 now seems to be included with a quite adult group where a fatal duel is discussed. Of course she’s a very precocious young lady as a daugher of the formidable Jane Turner would be.

I wonder what she thought of Jane’s time with the minister a while back…Would’ve been interesting to see whether she was amused or horrified to see her mother falling under the man’s spell for a bit following her illness.