Tuesday 6 November 1660

In the morning with Sir W. Batten and Pen by water to Westminster, where at my Lord’s I met with Mr. Creed. With him to see my Lord’s picture (now almost done), and thence to Westminster Hall, where we found the Parliament met to-day, and thence meeting with Mr. Chetwind, I took them to the Sun, and did give them a barrel of oysters, and had good discourse; among other things Mr. Chetwind told me how he did fear that this late business of the Duke of York’s would prove fatal to my Lord Chancellor. From thence Mr. Creed and I to Wilkinson’s, and dined together, and in great haste thence to our office, where we met all, for the sale of two ships by an inch of candle (the first time that ever I saw any of this kind), where I observed how they do invite one another, and at last how they all do cry,1 and we have much to do to tell who did cry last. The ships were the Indian, sold for 1,300l., and the Half-moon, sold for 830l.. Home, and fell a-reading of the tryalls of the late men that were hanged for the King’s death, and found good satisfaction in reading thereof. At night to bed, and my wife and I did fall out about the dog’s being put down into the cellar, which I had a mind to have done because of his fouling the house, and I would have my will, and so we went to bed and lay all night in a quarrel. This night I was troubled all night with a dream that my wife was dead, which made me that I slept ill all night.

  1. To cry was to bid.

28 Annotations

Michael L   Link to this

The ship name "Half Moon" is interesting. That is the English name of the Dutch ship "Halve Maen" that Englishman Henry Hudson commanded when he discovered North America's Hudson River in 1609. (Hudson got into trouble at home for working so hard to further Dutch exploration in the New World.) Hudson's "Half Moon" ended up getting wrecked in Mauritius a few years later under Dutch command, so the one mentioned here cannot be the same one, but it is interesting to see the name appearing later on in English nautical history.

Does anyone know why a ship might have this name? Does it have any particular symbolic meaning? Could this one have been captured from the Dutch?

Emilio   Link to this

Sale by inch of candle

Interesting custom. Here's Ask Jeeves's definition:

Sale by inch of candle: an auction in which persons are allowed to bid only till a small piece of candle burns out.

Emilio   Link to this

Another inch

L&M have more to say about the process in a footnote:

"This was the usual method of auction-sale. A section of wax candle an inch in length was lit for each lot, and the successful bidder was the one who shouted immediately before the candle went out. At 3 September 1662 Pepys has more details."

They don't mention anything about high bid being important, but from the later entry it does seem that the goods go to whoever bids both highest and last. What a scene of chaos it must have been as the candle was guttering and about to go out!

And re: Michael's questions, L&M have another note saying that the ships were both prizes, although they don't say from which country. Perhaps the Half-Moon WAS a Dutch ship named after Hudson's.

Elizabeth Perry   Link to this

<b>"inch of candle"</b>

I think it was even more picturesque -- there was a pin thrust through the candle, and the auction was over when the pin fell out (the wax having been melted down to that point).

Elizabeth Perry   Link to this

<b>"inch of candle" cite<b/>

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase says the pin procedure was used as late as 1893 in England.

Michael L   Link to this

The pin method sounds much more practical to me: You have a single long candle, and when you want to auction, you stick the pin an inch from the top. Otherwise, you need to have a ready supply of inch-long candles. You could slice a big candle into inch-long pieces easily enough, but you still need to have the wick sticking out of the top in order to light it.

Jesse   Link to this

e-bay auctions are quite similiar

Though somewhat longer than an inch of candle there's often the same flurry of bids at the end.

vincent   Link to this

tall ships and half moon the name has been used by USN too.
the original replica has caught many aimagination. See the replica ship Half Moon is a full scale reproduction of the Dutch ship of exploration commanded by Henry Hudson in 1609.
3 Masted Sailing Ship Built In 1989
Sparred Length 95 Feet :LOA 65 Feet
Rig Height 78 Feet:Beam 17.5 Feet
Total Sail Area 2757 Sq Feet
Tons 112 grt
http://www.maritime.org/conf/conf-reynolds-half...

and for those that cruise for the ghosts of H Hudson, check out Croton on H: and Area

David Quidnunc   Link to this

The long and the short of it

In order to avoid getting into hot water for being late, Pepys and Creed had to race back from Wilkinson's. Pepys later swored it was a close shave on the face of it to make the appointment to the King's navy office. Creed believed they were on the razor's edge. But the two blades steeled themselves and smoothly arrived in the nick of time, with Pepys beating Creed by a whisker (Sam, being sharp, took a short cut).

Mary   Link to this

Candle Auction

Within the past year on British TV I have seen recent film of a candle auction being held in the UK, but cannot for the life of me remember the commodity that was being so auctioned; possibly tea? hops? Did anyone else see the programme?

Very short candles, mounted on a wooden board, were used and the winning bidder was he whose bid immediately preceded the death of the flame. Apparently an experienced bidder could time his cry accurately by watching for a little puff of smoke that was emitted fractionally before the flame itself died.

helena murphy   Link to this

I think that any word or phrase with a stellar or planetary meaning would be appropriate for a sailing vessel as in ancient times sailors using the naked eye would have navigated by means of the stars ,just as vast tracts of desert were crossed by traders and travellers relying on the same method.

Peter   Link to this

David Quidnunc should win the Gilette prize!

Matthew   Link to this

Candle auctions:
It seems they still have them in New Jersey:
http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/dpmc/candle_auc...

Eric Walla   Link to this

Oh David, that's absolutely barberous!

On to the dream sequence, for I realize I don't have the foggiest: what would a civilized man of the mid-17th century think of dreams such as this? Would they still be considered portents or warnings? Or do they already think in terms of "I was upset about her, so I dreamt up some nonsense"?

David A. Smith   Link to this

I'd say Pepys bearded Creed.

Rex Gordon   Link to this

Both, no doubt, in a lather.

Glyn   Link to this

Don't Elizabeth and Samuel know how to housetrain their dogs? If this is the puppy that they had in January then it should be ashamed of itself.

(But whenever I mentioned Kop in my own diary, I at least had the courtesy to refer to him by his name rather than as 'the dog'. Perhaps the man is exasperated with him.)

Lord Mayor's show tomorrow - apparently the biggest in 800 years.

Glyn   Link to this

But we can just imagine the scene - Samuel is falling asleep after a busy day when at 2 a.m or so he gets a sharp elbow in his back from Elizabeth because the dog is howling, whining and whimpering in the cellar and can be heard through the entire house.

Peter   Link to this

O.K. then, I think it's agreed that DQ has razed the tone of the annotations and is therefore a sharpsh*t.

Naomi   Link to this

Wasn't the dog female when we last heard of it on 19th August?
"...the bitch has whelped four young ones..."
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1660/08/19/

Ed LeZotte   Link to this

Why do I remember Samuel calling the dog "Towser"? Is in the past or because I have read ahead?

Doug Atkinson   Link to this

The black dog Elizabeth's brother gave her on February 8th was male. (That's the one he threatened to throw out the window if it messed up the house any more; see Februay 12th.) I can't tell if it's the same dog (I sort of hope not--if it'd been befouling the house for nine months we'd probably have heard about it in the interim). Sam isn't always clear about the identities of humans he deals with, so it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't always record the comings and goings of the household pets. (Especially since they're more Elizabeth's than his.)

dirk   Link to this

"Half Moon"

I have considered the possibility that Hudson's original ship might at one point have been taken from some muslim pirate, and got the name "Half Moon" ("Halve Maen") for that reason. But that seems very unlikely, since the Dutch navy didn't operate in the Mediterranean - and anyway a ship built for the Mediterranean would not have been suitable for the Atlantic, and would probably not be built according to the specs Vincent mentions.

Any other suggestions as to what might be the origin or meaning of the ship's name?

Peter   Link to this

"Half Moon".....probably just this land-lubber's whimsy, but could it evoke the shape of the hull?

StewartMcI   Link to this

"Half Moon" - several ships

Colledge gives four ships in the Royal Navy named "Half Moon" and the relevant one was a 30 gun ship a prize captured 1653 and sold 1659 (probably condemned in that year) and the "Indian" similar a 44 gun ship of 687 tons, captured 1654 and sold 1659 (sic).

But no information on their original nationality, but see below.

The next "Half Moon" was a Turkish prize taken in 1681 and burnt in 1686 ironically by a candle having been left burning in the cook's cabin. The next after that was an Algerian prize captured in 1685.

And yes the RN has always "recycled" ships names.

Shawn   Link to this

On recycling ship names

I remember noticing back during Sam's sea voyage earlier this year that one of the ships he mentions in the fleet was the Swiftsure. Another RN ship also called the Swiftsure took part in the Battle of the Nile and the Battle of Trafalgar, changing hands by capture twice during it's service against Napolean's navy some 140 years later.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Swiftsure

Linda Camidge   Link to this

Yes, ship names were constantly recycled, and this can easily give rise to confusion

Tom   Link to this

A ship was sold by candle auction in one of the episodes of `The Onedin Line`, if I remember correctly,

Tom

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