Wednesday 25 December 1661
In the morning to church, where at the door of our pew I was fain to stay, because that the sexton had not opened the door. A good sermon of Mr. Mills. Dined at home all alone, and taking occasion from some fault in the meat to complain of my maid’s sluttery, my wife and I fell out, and I up to my chamber in a discontent. After dinner my wife comes up to me and all friends again, and she and I to walk upon the leads, and there Sir W. Pen called us, and we went to his house and supped with him, but before supper Captain Cock came to us half drunk, and began to talk, but Sir W. Pen knowing his humour and that there was no end of his talking, drinks four great glasses of wine to him, one after another, healths to the king, and by that means made him drunk, and so he went away, and so we sat down to supper, and were merry, and so after supper home and to bed.
- General discussion about Christmas can be found here. PG
Pedro. Link to this
Snow at Xmas.
Most of us here in the UK have seen snow on this Xmas Day, which is not so common in these days of "global warming."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/0...
In the Diary up to the present time, Sam has only twice mentioned snow, (Except cozen Snow of course) on the 4th and 15th of January 1660.
dirk Link to this
Weather
John Evelyn notes in his diary entry for today:
"The ill weather kept me from Church:"
So maybe snow after all?
Bradford Link to this
Or, another installment in Mr. Pepys's Hints for Shedding Unwanted Company. Would that we had started a list early on.
Clement Link to this
"John Barlow, a seaman of extraordinary talent, gives a bleak account in his Journal of his first Christmas at sea in 1661:
"So coming to Calas (Calais) the next day it was Christmas Day and the first Christmas Day ever I had out of England, but not the last by a great many. We had but small Christmas cheer, not having Christmas pie or roast beef, or plum podich and suchlike, I remember that the poorest people in England would have a bit of something that was good on such a day, and that many beggars would fare much better than we did: for we had nothing but a little bit of Irish beef for four men, which had lain in pickle two or three years and was rusty as the devil, with a little stinking oil or butter, which was all colours of the rainbow, many men in England greasing their cartwheels with better: and also we had not two or three days to play in and go where we would, as the worst servants had in England, but as soon as we had ate our large dinner, which was done in three or four mouthfuls, we must work all the day after, and maybe a great part of the night . . ."
http://www.m-navydays.com/Christmas/Christmas.htm
I can imagine old Barlow one-upping his wheelchair mates in the garden of the Old Sailors Home with that tale.
daniel Link to this
"drinks four great glasses of wine to him"
This is quite ingenious.
I will attempt to use this tactic the next time such a situation occurs.
Happy Xmas!
Charlezzzzz Link to this
No mention of Christmas Eve. None of Christmas. None at all. Surprising, since the celebration of Christmas came back with the Restoration. What will Sam do next year? Will he ever give Elizabeth a Christmas present?
Ruben Link to this
Snow:
"..., and she and I to walk upon the leads, and there Sir W. Pen called us,...".
This means they walked on the roof, as Sir Pen also did, not a good idea if it was snowing.
Bob T Link to this
drinks four great glasses of wine to him
I got a chuckle out of this incident, because I had done the same thing to a world famous entertainer some years ago, in similar circumstances. Fortunately, it only took one stiff drink to send him over the edge.
The people in Sam's time must have developed various strategies to deal with drunks, because of the large quantity of alcohol they consumed.
A. De Araujo Link to this
"no end to his talking...........and so he went away"
sometimes it can backfire and you are stuck.
JWB Link to this
"...up to my chamber in a discontent."
A lot of this kind of behavior at Christmas time, especially among the 6 & 8 year olds. Ohio dressed to the nines this year: minus nine degrees and nine inches of snow. Merry Christmas!
dirk Link to this
"my wife and I fell out, and I up to my chamber in a discontent. After dinner my wife comes up to me and all friends again"
One of these remarks of Sam's that make him feel so much alive to me. Who hasn't been there before? Sam is somewhat of a temperamental fellow, isn't he - and so it may seem is Elisabeth.
Maurie Beck Link to this
drinks four great glasses of wine to him
I wonder if any of Sam's friends or acquaintances have done the same to him?
Martin Link to this
..the sexton had not opened the door. . .
Just can't get good help these days.
Robert Gertz Link to this
So did Sam sulk out Xmas dinner in his "closet"? Or just throw his (undercooked?) meat plate back on the table and run upstairs for a few minutes till Beth rolled her eyes and went up to persuade his Lordship to return...
Jane suppressing chuckles as Wayneman sneeks over to take advantage of the situation and grab Sam's left-behind wine and dinner...
Glyn Link to this
Four glasses of wine
I think that this entry has been condensed: I'm fairly sure Pepys went into more detail than this in his diary. Could someone check with the Latham version of the diary?
Presumably it would have been unpatriotic to refuse to have a drink.
Glyn Link to this
JWB: re your message, I've just spent lunchtime watching the Grove Street Marching Band from Columbus, Ohio put on a great display in Trafalgar Square - Sam would have loved it!
http://www.londonparade.co.uk/event/concerts/de...
http://www.londonparade.co.uk/event/participant...
Mary Link to this
No abbreviation worth mentioning.
The only omission in this version of the diary is the '&c.' (etcetera) that L&M show after 'to the King'