Monday 29 March 1669

Up, and by water to White Hall; and there to the Duke of York, to shew myself, after my journey to Chatham, but did no business to-day with him: only after gone from him, I to Sir T. Clifford’s; and there, after an hour’s waiting, he being alone in his closet, I did speak with him, and give him the account he gave me to draw up, and he did like it very well: and then fell to talk of the business of the Navy and giving me good words, did fall foul of the constitution [of the Board], and did then discover his thoughts, that Sir J. Minnes was too old, and so was Colonel Middleton, and that my Lord Brouncker did mind his mathematics too much. I did not give much encouragement to that of finding fault with my fellow-officers; but did stand up for the constitution, and did say that what faults there were in our Office would be found not to arise from the constitution, but from the failures of the officers in whose hands it was. This he did seem to give good ear to; but did give me of myself very good words, which pleased me well, though I shall not build upon them any thing. Thence home; and after dinner by water with Tom down to Greenwich, he reading to me all the way, coming and going, my collections out of the Duke of York’s old manuscript of the Navy, which I have bound up, and do please me mightily. At Greenwich I come to Captain Cocke’s, where the house full of company, at the burial of James Temple, who, it seems, hath been dead these five days. Here I had a very good ring, which I did give my wife as soon as I come home. I spent my time there walking in the garden, talking with James Pierce, who tells me that he is certain that the Duke of Buckingham had been with his wenches all the time that he was absent, which was all the last week, nobody knowing where he was. The great talk is of the King’s being hot of late against Conventicles, and to see whether the Duke of Buckingham’s being returned will turn the King, which will make him very popular: and some think it is his plot to make the King thus, to shew his power in the making him change his mind. But Pierce did tell me that the King did certainly say, that he that took one stone from the Church, did take two from his Crown. By and by the corpse come out; and I, with Sir Richard Browne and Mr. Evelyn, in their coach to the church, where Mr. Plume preached. But I, in the midst of the sermon, did go out, and walked all alone, round to Deptford, thinking para have seen the wife of Bagwell, which I did at her door, but I could not conveniently go into her house, and so lost my labour: and so to the King’s Yard, and there my boat by order met me; and home, where I made my boy to finish the my manuscript, and so to supper and to bed. My new chamber-maid, that comes in the room of Jane; is come, Jane and Tom lying at their own lodging this night: the new maid’s name is Matt, a proper and very comely maid … [so as when I was in bed, the thoughts de ella did make me para hazer in mi mano. L&M] This day also our cook-maid Bridget went away, which I was sorry for; but, just at her going she was found to be a thief, and so I was the less trouble for it; but now our whole house will, in a manner, be new which, since Jane is gone, I am not at all sorry for, for that my late differences with my wife about poor Deb. will not be remembered. So to bed after supper, and to sleep with great content.


24 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

L&M disclose what the ellipsis omits

"The new maid's name is Matt, a proper and very comely maid; so as when I was in bed, the thought de ella did make me para hazer in mi mano."

Australian Susan  •  Link

"...my collections out of the Duke of York’s old manuscript of the Navy, which I have bound up, ..." - has this survived I wonder.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"and home, where I made my boy to finish the reading of my manuscript" (L&M)

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"“…my collections out of the Duke of York’s old manuscript of the Navy, which I have bound up, …” - has this survived I wonder."

Australian Susan, Michael Roinson provided this answer 21 February 1666: http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Allen Appel  •  Link

"Here I had a very good ring, which I did give my wife as soon as I come home."
Huh? What am I missing here?

Jenny  •  Link

@ Allen

Mourning rings, stipulated in the deceased's will, were given to friends and colleagues. Sam gave his straight to Elizabeth which was a nice gesture.

Jenny  •  Link

On reading Phil's note about James Temple and seeing that he was a goldsmith, I'm sure the mourning ring was particularly good. Lucky Elizabeth.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

So did the new husband wait with the boat or was Sam ignoring Tom's presence en route to Bagwell's?

Shades of Leopold Bloom after Dignam's funeral with Sam racing off to about as opposite (and one could, with charity, say "life-affirming"?) a would-be experience as possible...

Though it is one of the strange aspects of human nature that home in bed, presumably his beautiful wife near or with him, a woman who became more determined in her love-making after catching him in transgression, that he spends his time fantasizing about the new maid.

Jenny  •  Link

I somehow missed Sam going to the Bagwell's. Regarding fantasising about the new maid, well, all I can say is Sam is Sam and is incorrigible when it comes to women. You'd think the man would have learned his lesson!

Phoenix  •  Link

Perhaps his beautiful wife near him is not as alluring as we suppose.

Eugenie  •  Link

Reading todays Diary (29 March 1669). Colonel Middleton WHO, it turns out from the notes, - died in 1667... BUT- here we are in 1669 and he is falling 'foul of the constitution' ETC.!! So, as I don't think Samuel is wrong ... is he alive or is he dead ???? Or is the note simply INCORRECT #as I suspect#.

Mary  •  Link

Middleton didn't die till 1672. He was Navy Commissioner for Portsmouth 1664-67. The notes are accurate but have been misread.

cgs  •  Link

Mankind always desires the unobtainable or the rare prizes, doth overlook the easy obtainable prize,tiz why we progress (sumtimes ( sic ))

Ruben  •  Link

There were many annotations some 7 or 8 years ago about the mourning rings (memento mori rings). For those that discovered the diary only now, you can see a funeral ring of Pepys times at:
http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/…
with a nice interpretation.
If someone did not understand after the funeral that he is also going the way of all living things, these rings would make it very clear.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"The great talk is of the King’s being hot of late against Conventicles, and to see whether the Duke of Buckingham’s being returned will turn the King"

The period of Buckingham's dominance, note L&M, had coincided with a period of lenity towards Nonconformists: http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1… But on 21 March the judges of assize had been instructed to enquire about unlawful preachers, and on the 26th and 29th council orders had been issued against the meeting of conventicles in London: [various records in the National Archives]. (L&M note)

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"But Pierce did tell me that the King did certainly say, that he that took one stone from the Church, did take two from his Crown. "

This saying has not been traced elsewhere. (L&M note)

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"I spent my time there walking in the garden, talking with James Pierce, who tells me that he is certain that the Duke of Buckingham had been with his wenches all the time that he was absent, which was all the last week, nobody knowing where he was."

Earlier this month L&M told us that "Rumors were rife: Buckingham was at Newmarket with Charles II, and big changes were expected on their return."

Now James Pearse tells us EITHER that Buckingham wasn't at Newmarket after all ... OR Buckingham never came back after their racing week?

Was the ungoodly Countess of Shrewsbury, secluded at Cliveden, not enough? None of the history books I've read recorded any other ladies for Buckingham at this time. But, considering the times, that probably doesn't mean much.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"I to Sir T. Clifford’s; ... I did speak with him, and give him the account he gave me to draw up, and he did like it very well: and then fell to talk of the business of the Navy and giving me good words, did fall foul of the constitution [of the Board], and did then discover his thoughts, ..."

This started back in February when Anthony Ashley-Cooper and Clifford had many opinions about how badly organized the Navy Office was and desired to know why.
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

This must be some preliminary draft of Pepys' defense of the Constitution of the Navy Office as it is presented in its final form on 18 April, 1669.

Today he probably wanted to draw out of Clifford the questions he really needed to answer to satisfy the Committee, only to find Clifford at least had personal and not bureaucratic objections.
How frustrating!

https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

The Pepyses close relationship with William Batelier is about to pay off:

"… for a cookmaid, we have, ever since Bridget went, used a blackmoore of Mr. Batelier’s, Doll, who dresses our meat mighty well, and we mightily pleased with her.” -- https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

Since the bachelor is at their house much of the time, sharing his good cook seems like a great accommodation. When he's out of town, she still has customers; when he's home and not eating with the Pepys she sends over his meal with the boy.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Althought Phil has linked DOLL to the black cook, I doubt that this is correct, as Pepys' cook doesn't get fired/quit for couple of weeks. Again, we cannot know for sure ... I wonder if Pepys had a hangover when he wrote his notes?

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"... now our whole house will, in a manner, be new which, since Jane is gone, I am not at all sorry for, for that my late differences with my wife about poor Deb. will not be remembered."

This amnesia only holds until you chase poor Deb again. The "differences" start all over again when you are caught. Your slate is only clean so long as you behave yourself, which I do not believe you intend to do.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

A contemporary view of Exeter, Devon, is given by Cosmo, the future Grand Duke of Turin.

I've standardized the spelling of names I know, corrected scanning errors I could figure out, and increased the number of paragraphs. I apologize if I guessed incorrectly:
I've standardized the spelling of names I know, corrected scanning errors I could figure out, and increased the number of paragraphs. Sometimes I got confused making the N.S./O.S. date conversions, so I apologize if they are wrong:

@@@

On the morning of 29 March/8 April, 1669, his highness sent Piatt to present his compliments to the mayor. Towards noon, Mr. Kirkam and the Messrs. Rolle came to wish him a good journey; after which, having dined, he got into his coach, and departed for Axminster, where he arrived at an early hour.

[ The Kirkham family of Blagdon, near Paignton, were an old Devonian family, but their ancestral home had transferred to the Blount family in 1630 through marriage. The man Cosmo met probably came from a junior branch of the family. Paignton to Exeter is about 26 miles, so it’s a do-able journey.
[ John and Dennis Rolle were sons of John Rolle, MP https://www.historyofparliamenton…
[ Thomas Piatt served his highness as interpreter on his passage from Spain and in England.
[ 1668/9 George Tuthill was the mayor of Exeter – nothing seems to be available about him ]

The road was through an uneven country, divided into fields under the plough, and spacious meadows for feeding cows, in which this district abounds.

At first, we suffered a good deal of inconvenience, because they had to travel a road full of water, and muddy, though not deep.

We passed through Honiton, a small, but populous village, situated in a valley, and having ascended a hill, from which we could see the sea, we arrived at Axminster, where we found the master of the horse of Henry Howard, brother of the Duke of Norfolk, and of my Lord Philip, grand almoner to the queen, who delivered to Col. Gascoyne a letter from his master, in which he excused himself for not coming in person to pay his respects to his highness, in consequence of his approaching departure on his embassy to Fez; and informed him that he had sent his carriage to Salisbury, to be at the service of his highness.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

PART 2

[ Baron Henry Howard of Norfolk, soon to be the Ambassador to Fez: https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
[ Honiton – https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… AND https://www.historic-uk.com/Cultu….
[ Axminster - The first coach service from London to Exeter, via Axminster, began in 1658 but in the 1750s the turnpikes brought the coaching age to Axminster. The George Inn, built on its current site in 1759, became the town’s premier coaching inn. Axminster was also on the road route from Falmouth in Cornwall to London’s Admiralty, bringing news of the Napoleonic Wars. In 1805 dispatches came through the town with reports of the victory at the Battle of Trafalgar and Nelson’s death. -- https://axminsterheritage.org/the…'s%20world%2Dfamous%20carpet%20industry,a%20move%20to%20rebuilt%20premises. ]

The master of the horse was admitted to an audience by the serene prince and departed that same evening for London.

His highness then went out to walk, and passed the evening in seeing some ancient medals, which had been dug up in this neighborhood, and were brought for his inspection by the minister of the church.

140

Axminster is a collection of 200 houses, many of which are made of mud, and thatched with straw. It contains nothing considerable, except the parish church, which has a tower, in which are bells so well-tuned, that their sound is exceedingly harmonious and agreeable.
The trade of the inhabitants consists in the manufactory of woolen cloth.

@@@

From:
TRAVELS OF COSMO THE THIRD, GRAND DUKE OF TUSCANY,
THROUGH ENGLAND,
DURING THE REIGN OF KING CHARLES THE SECOND (1669)
TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN MANUSCRIPT
https://archive.org/stream/travel…

His highness, Cosmo, must be considered only as a traveler. Under his direction, the narrator of the records was Count Lorenzo Magalotti, afterwards Secretary to the Academy del Cimento, and one of the most learned and eminent characters of the court of Ferdinand II.

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