Friday 25 September 1663

Lay pretty long in bed, and so to my office all the morning till by and by called out by Sir J. Minnes and Sir W. Batten, with them by water to Deptford, where it of a sudden did lighten, thunder, and rain so as we could do nothing but stay in Davis’s house, and by and by Sir J. Minnes and I home again by water, and I home to dinner, and after dinner to the office, and there till night all alone, even of my clerks being there, doing of business, and so home and to bed.


11 Annotations

First Reading

TerryF  •  Link

"till night all alone, none of my clerks being there"

So transcribe L&M.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Wonder what Sir Will B found so interesting as to keep him in Deptford?

Aqua  •  Link

Does this infer? "till night all alone, none of my clerks being there" that most or all other times Samuell be a task master and insists they stay at their desks writing up his draughts.
This could be telling in two senses.

Aqua  •  Link

P.S. this be TGIF too, except the normal work period be 72 hrs with an hour off for draught time. When Ifirst put nose to grindstone, the work week be 60 hrs, then reduced to 54 hrs thanks to socialism.

Patricia  •  Link

How extraordinary! We had the exact same weather here, today. Thanks to the automobile, however, we were able to do a great deal more than stay in the house.
Once again I am reminded of how different life was when a heavy thunderstorm was a real obstacle to travel. That's what I enjoy most about the Diary: the peeks at everyday life so long ago.

Firenze  •  Link

On the other hand I can remember going to work in the Old Town of Edinburgh in torrential rain - no car, and too early for public transport - and thinking, as the water poured over the setts (cobbles) and my feet, that, give or take a dead rat or two in the gutters, this was pretty much like the 17th century. So you can relive history!

Benvenuto  •  Link

it of a sudden did lighten
I hadn't really thought that this was how our "lighten-ing" came about, although I guess it's obvious in hindsight.

A. De Araujo  •  Link

"and after dinner to the office,and there till night all alone"
Such a dedicated civil servant!!!,go ahead and have some fun with Miss Lane Sam, you deserve it.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Wonder how the calling out to Deptford worked... Was it?

"Hey! Hey, Pepys!! We're off to Deptford, wanna come?!"

or

"Pepys, my lad. Sir John and I shall have need of you this morning at Deptford. Come along and don't dawdle."

or

"Pepys? Got anything big going this am? No? Oh. You know Minnes and I could use a little help sorting out a few things up at Deptford, if you could see your way clear. Oh. Well, actually, Samuel? It's ummn...Kind of a big few things and you know Sir John. Couldn't you possibly help us out as a favor to me?"

Second Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Or, Robert, perhaps they wanted to keep him occupied instead of writing more contracts for too little money which didn't include them ...

Or perhaps they wanted to know what the scoop was with Sandwich ...

Or perhaps they wanted him to do the work so they could see their fancy ladies???

You'd think Pepys would give us a hint at what he heard from them at John Davies' house. So many possibilities ...

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

Re: ‘ . . where it of a sudden did lighten, thunder, and rain . . ’

‘lighten, v.2 . .
. . 6. To flash lightning, to emit flashes of lightning. Chiefly impers.
. . 1611 Bible (King James) Luke xvii. 24 As the lightning that lighteneth out of the one part vnder heauen, shineth vnto the other part vnder heauen.
. . 1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World ii. 200 Two of the Men..cried out, it lightened; one said, he saw the Flash . . ‘
(OED)

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