Ruslan

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Ruslan has posted 74 annotations/comments since 26 October 2022.

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Third Reading

About Thursday 25 June 1663

Ruslan  •  Link

tel on 26 Jun 2006, asked:

"So that taking up all the papers of moment which lead to the clearing of his accounts unobserved out of the Controller’s hand, which he now makes great use of; knowing that the Controller has not wherewith to betray him."

> Can anyone clarify this? It has a hint of blackmail about it.

I read it like so:

So, Creed took up all the important papers that help clear his accounts, doing so unnoticed from the Controller's possession. He is now making great use of these papers, knowing that the Controller has nothing with which to betray him.

About Wednesday 24 June 1663

Ruslan  •  Link

Quite a sentence here:

> From that we discoursed of the evil of putting out men of experience in business as the Chancellor, and from that to speak of the condition of the King’s party at present, who, as the Papists, though otherwise fine persons, yet being by law kept for these fourscore years out of employment, they are now wholly uncapable of business; and so the Cavaliers for twenty years, who, says he, for the most part have either given themselves over to look after country and family business, and those the best of them, and the rest to debauchery, &c.; and that was it that hath made him high against the late Bill brought into the House for the making all men incapable of employment that had served against the King.

I had ChatGPT translate this into more modern English:

> This led to a broader conversation about the current state of the King's party. He explained that, similar to the Catholics—who, despite being otherwise fine individuals, had been kept out of employment by law for eighty years and were now wholly unfit for business—the Cavaliers, kept out of employment for twenty years, had largely either focused on their country and family affairs or given themselves over to debauchery. This was why he was strongly against the recent Bill in the House that sought to make all men who had served against the King incapable of employment.

Which is rather more readable.

About Friday 19 June 1663

Ruslan  •  Link

jerry Atkinson on 20 Jun 2006:
> apply yourself to him
Can anyone help me with this phrase?

I read this passage:

Here Mr. Moore showed us the French manner, when a health is drunk, to bow to him that drunk to you, and then apply yourself to him, whose lady’s health is drunk, and then to the person that you drink to, which I never knew before; but it seems it is now the fashion.

Like so:

Mr. Moore showed us the French custom of toasting, which involves bowing to the person who toasted you, then to the person whose lady's health is being toasted, and finally to the person you're toasting. I didn't know this before, but it seems to be the fashion now.

About Monday 15 June 1663

Ruslan  •  Link

Australian Susan on 17 Jun 2006
> "without any control"
> Without a ballot?

I read this to mean that Sir W. Batten was elected as master without anyone contesting or challenging his election. i.e. there were no other candidates or objections to his appointment.

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Broken links on the Internet Archive:

Dirk's "Have a look at ... for the kind of accidents that might occur (19th c., and New Zealand, but I guess not much different in Sam's time)."

https://web.archive.org/web/20060…

And "On coaches & carriages:"
https://web.archive.org/web/20060…

About Sunday 14 June 1663

Ruslan  •  Link

Bill's Magdalene College Libraries link now forwards to a different domain.
For the sake of posterity, here is the new link: https://magdlibs.com/2014/10/10/p…

> By now we've all seen Downton Abbey...
Downton Abbey is a fantastic programme, yet in some respects it is highly unrealistic. For example, the easy interaction and conversation between the upstairs world of the family and their peers and the downstairs world of the hired help. That just didn’t happen.

See: https://britishheritage.com/art-c…

About Friday 15 May 1663

Ruslan  •  Link

"… where I found it almost night, and my wife and the dancing-master alone above, not dancing but talking."

L&M have:

"… not dancing but walking."

About Saturday 4 April 1663

Ruslan  •  Link

The link that San Diego Sarah posted to "The Supersizers Go... Restoration" has been blocked.

Here's an updated link to the whole show (not just part 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z…

Description:

The Supersizers Go... Restoration

BBC 2 Series in which restaurant critic Giles Coren and writer and comedian Sue Perkins experience the food culture of years gone by.

This time the pair try the food of Restoration Britain in the 1660s, a time of fire and plague. They both don wigs, with Giles in tight breeches and Sue in wide skirts. They snack on coxcombs, eel pie and copious amounts of small beer.

About Sunday 22 March 1662/63

Ruslan  •  Link

> "while I went to the church expecting to see the young ladies of the school, Ashwell desiring me"

I read this as:
while I attempted to visit the church to see the schoolgirls, as Ashwell had suggested…

> L&M note in part: "Henry Cromwell...cousin of the Protector, but a royalist, changed his surname...and adopted that of his early [16th c] ancestor, Richard Williams...."

According to the encyclopedia page, Henry Cromwell was the fourth son of Oliver Cromwell, not cousin.
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…