Dueling was so hard to stamp out that even today, in Kentucky, part of the oath of office for any office, however minor, is a statement that you have never sent or accepted a challenge or acted as a second. The governor, every police officer, city councilman, attorney, justice of the peace, everybody, must so swear. Ladies, too.
Bligh was a superb navigator -- sailing a longboat to Timor proved that. But later, assigned to a land post in Australia, guess what, he provoked another mutiny. Royal Naval officers were expected to be gentlemen, not just by birth, but in character and behavior.
Lyn Believeau raises a question: How many of us keep diaries? Watch out. Here is another word that separates British and American English. What an American Businessman would call an "Appointments Calendar", a British Businessman calls "A Diary". When one uses the word "Diary", the other may misunderstand. It is common office practice on both sides of the pond to keep a schedule of upcoming appointments, work that should be done today, deadlines etc., and at days end, to annotate them to record actions completed or which scheduled tasks were not completed. Filed away, they thus become a record of both expected events and completed events. SP's form of Diary is a whole lot more fun. In the future, will people using electronic "organizers" or "day planners" use them to keep records of who did what, when, where and how? Will the technology to read their files survive?
I'll bet that the seamen were mightily disappointed that they didn't get to join in a monster brawl. These men, confined aboard ship, are turned out in the nighttime. They pour ashore and are issued clubs and are all keyed up to have some fun. "Let's go get 'em!" But then " 'em " turns out to be a half dozen drunks who ran past the guards and are now long since gone. Turn in the handspikes? Go back aboard ship? What a let down!
Bill: One of the annotators mentioned "Camels". Those are not dromedaries. They are floodable floats, that could be lashed to the side of a ship and pumped dry. They would then heave the vessel out of the mud. They were most commonly used to help ships get over shallow spots, sand bars and the like, and could help refloat a ship that ran aground. I suppose they might be used to help the Assurance. Did the ship capsize at night? The disorientation of people caught below decks, and December water temps, and the tendency of non-swimmers to panic when their faces go underwater, could easily drown a score of men. The Costa Concordia, the cruise ship that ran aground and capsized off the Italian coast, lost 32 people, with half the ship above water. Tragic.
The Treasurer, Sir George Carteret, is a Very Important Person in American History , too. He was (I believe) Lord Proprietor of New Jersey, which he named, and was deeply concerned in the affairs of the Carolinas and Maryland.
"My Lord did advise with me how to get this received, and to put out 3000l. into safe hands at use ..." In modern English, I would take this to mean "into safe hands at interest...", a process we would call "investment" while they would call it an "adventure". The safest of hands in those days were still very risky.
Phil insists that anecdotes go here, and not on the diary pages -- "As a lad, on Guy Fawke's night, I tossed a banger from the leads which chanced to burst 30 cm above the center of the bonnet and 30 cm in front of the windscreen of a car that had swerved into Somer's Crescent to avoid the rowdiness occurring in Hyde Park Crescent --- Translating that into my native tongue: As a boy, on Guy Fawke's night, I tossed a firecracker from a roof which chanced to burst a foot above the center of the hood and a foot in front of the windshield of a car that had swerved into Somer's Crescent to avoid the rowdiness occurring in Hyde Park Crescent.
Yes Terry, and he cut up an old pair of boots to reinforce his riding boots (or pants; the entry is ambiguous) . Yet it still appears that this was purely a social call. Our boy Sam is a social animal, but it is one thing to nip round to the local for a pint or two (or six or eight) and it is something else to get on a horse and ride out, drink, and ride home at nine o'clock at night. I am glad they made a convivial stop on the way home. The trip might have made somebody thirsty. Sounds like a fun day.
I'm missing something here. What was the purpose of this visit? Did Pepys & Pen have business with Batten, or he with them, that could not wait until all met at the office? Or did Batten just invite the two to come have drinks with some of his country buddies?
Sam sounds disappointed that he was not able to witness the double-dismembering scheduled for the morning, but, as the occasion is merely postponed for a day, perhaps he could escort little The Turner (aged about 8) to see the fun tomorrow!
"This morning Mr. Carew was hanged and quartered at Charing Cross; but his quarters, by a great favour, are not to be hanged up." A great favour to whom? Carew would not object.
Pardon my cynicism, but I have to think that Sir William Batten is not being a Jolly Good Fellow treating his buddies. I have to think that he is paying them for some favor, or is asking them for something, or has some ulterior motive for wanting to ingratiate himself with these gents.
Besides their fratricidal aspects, Civil Wars are particularly nasty in the way they end. The Restoration was gentle. The American Revolution, which exiled people from the US to Canada and vice versa, was gentle. In less than 30 years from todays diary entry, England will undergo the Bloody Assize, with hundreds executed and thousands enslaved in Barbados. The American Civil war ended gently; not that Reconstruction was easy but it could have been so much worse. The Killing Fields of Cambodia are a horrible example, and horrors impend in Africa and possibly, in Sri Lanka. History is fun to read, but it is also instructive, and often the instruction is cautionary.
"one Damford, that, being a black man, did scald his beard " I think that in this usage of the word "black", Damford was a white man with black hair. He may have had a swarthy complexion.
Comments
Second Reading
About Thursday 7 February 1660/61
Dick Wilson • Link
Dueling was so hard to stamp out that even today, in Kentucky, part of the oath of office for any office, however minor, is a statement that you have never sent or accepted a challenge or acted as a second. The governor, every police officer, city councilman, attorney, justice of the peace, everybody, must so swear. Ladies, too.
About Thursday 31 January 1660/61
Dick Wilson • Link
I had some cousins called by their middle names because both brothers had the first name Samuel. My grandfather called them "First and Second Samuel".
About Monday 21 January 1660/61
Dick Wilson • Link
Bligh was a superb navigator -- sailing a longboat to Timor proved that. But later, assigned to a land post in Australia, guess what, he provoked another mutiny. Royal Naval officers were expected to be gentlemen, not just by birth, but in character and behavior.
About Saturday 19 January 1660/61
Dick Wilson • Link
Lyn Believeau raises a question: How many of us keep diaries? Watch out. Here is another word that separates British and American English. What an American Businessman would call an "Appointments Calendar", a British Businessman calls "A Diary". When one uses the word "Diary", the other may misunderstand. It is common office practice on both sides of the pond to keep a schedule of upcoming appointments, work that should be done today, deadlines etc., and at days end, to annotate them to record actions completed or which scheduled tasks were not completed. Filed away, they thus become a record of both expected events and completed events. SP's form of Diary is a whole lot more fun. In the future, will people using electronic "organizers" or "day planners" use them to keep records of who did what, when, where and how? Will the technology to read their files survive?
About Sunday 13 January 1660/61
Dick Wilson • Link
I'll bet that the seamen were mightily disappointed that they didn't get to join in a monster brawl. These men, confined aboard ship, are turned out in the nighttime. They pour ashore and are issued clubs and are all keyed up to have some fun. "Let's go get 'em!" But then " 'em " turns out to be a half dozen drunks who ran past the guards and are now long since gone. Turn in the handspikes? Go back aboard ship? What a let down!
About Tuesday 11 December 1660
Dick Wilson • Link
Bill: One of the annotators mentioned "Camels". Those are not dromedaries. They are floodable floats, that could be lashed to the side of a ship and pumped dry. They would then heave the vessel out of the mud. They were most commonly used to help ships get over shallow spots, sand bars and the like, and could help refloat a ship that ran aground. I suppose they might be used to help the Assurance. Did the ship capsize at night? The disorientation of people caught below decks, and December water temps, and the tendency of non-swimmers to panic when their faces go underwater, could easily drown a score of men. The Costa Concordia, the cruise ship that ran aground and capsized off the Italian coast, lost 32 people, with half the ship above water. Tragic.
About Monday 19 November 1660
Dick Wilson • Link
The Treasurer, Sir George Carteret, is a Very Important Person in American History , too. He was (I believe) Lord Proprietor of New Jersey, which he named, and was deeply concerned in the affairs of the Carolinas and Maryland.
About Wednesday 7 November 1660
Dick Wilson • Link
"My Lord did advise with me how to get this received, and to put out 3000l. into safe hands at use ..."
In modern English, I would take this to mean "into safe hands at interest...", a process we would call "investment" while they would call it an "adventure". The safest of hands in those days were still very risky.
About Gunpowder Plot Day
Dick Wilson • Link
Phil insists that anecdotes go here, and not on the diary pages --
"As a lad, on Guy Fawke's night, I tossed a banger from the leads which chanced to burst 30 cm above the center of the bonnet and 30 cm in front of the windscreen of a car that had swerved into Somer's Crescent to avoid the rowdiness occurring in Hyde Park Crescent --- Translating that into my native tongue:
As a boy, on Guy Fawke's night, I tossed a firecracker from a roof which chanced to burst a foot above the center of the hood and a foot in front of the windshield of a car that had swerved into Somer's Crescent to avoid the rowdiness occurring in Hyde Park Crescent.
About Thursday 1 November 1660
Dick Wilson • Link
Yes Terry, and he cut up an old pair of boots to reinforce his riding boots (or pants; the entry is ambiguous) . Yet it still appears that this was purely a social call. Our boy Sam is a social animal, but it is one thing to nip round to the local for a pint or two (or six or eight) and it is something else to get on a horse and ride out, drink, and ride home at nine o'clock at night. I am glad they made a convivial stop on the way home. The trip might have made somebody thirsty. Sounds like a fun day.
About Thursday 1 November 1660
Dick Wilson • Link
I'm missing something here. What was the purpose of this visit? Did Pepys & Pen have business with Batten, or he with them, that could not wait until all met at the office? Or did Batten just invite the two to come have drinks with some of his country buddies?
About Monday 29 October 1660
Dick Wilson • Link
Sylviasmother: That is a very interesting video. One can almost smell the place -- and be grateful that you can't!
About Wednesday 24 October 1660
Dick Wilson • Link
Yes Carol, you are correct. I forgot about Charles.
About Wednesday 24 October 1660
Dick Wilson • Link
The Lord Chancellor has become the grandfather of the Duke of Cambridge. The current Duke of Cambridge is William, Prince of Wales.
About Thursday 18 October 1660
Dick Wilson • Link
Sam sounds disappointed that he was not able to witness the double-dismembering scheduled for the morning, but, as the occasion is merely postponed for a day, perhaps he could escort little The Turner (aged about 8) to see the fun tomorrow!
About Monday 15 October 1660
Dick Wilson • Link
"This morning Mr. Carew was hanged and quartered at Charing Cross; but his quarters, by a great favour, are not to be hanged up."
A great favour to whom? Carew would not object.
About Saturday 13 October 1660
Dick Wilson • Link
There's nothing like a gory public execution to make you thirsty for your morning draft!
Poor Elizabeth. She doesn't deserve Sam's bad temper.
About Friday 12 October 1660
Dick Wilson • Link
Pardon my cynicism, but I have to think that Sir William Batten is not being a Jolly Good Fellow treating his buddies. I have to think that he is paying them for some favor, or is asking them for something, or has some ulterior motive for wanting to ingratiate himself with these gents.
About Wednesday 10 October 1660
Dick Wilson • Link
Besides their fratricidal aspects, Civil Wars are particularly nasty in the way they end. The Restoration was gentle. The American Revolution, which exiled people from the US to Canada and vice versa, was gentle. In less than 30 years from todays diary entry, England will undergo the Bloody Assize, with hundreds executed and thousands enslaved in Barbados. The American Civil war ended gently; not that Reconstruction was easy but it could have been so much worse. The Killing Fields of Cambodia are a horrible example, and horrors impend in Africa and possibly, in Sri Lanka. History is fun to read, but it is also instructive, and often the instruction is cautionary.
About Tuesday 9 October 1660
Dick Wilson • Link
"one Damford, that, being a black man, did scald his beard "
I think that in this usage of the word "black", Damford was a white man with black hair. He may have had a swarthy complexion.