Two bob bit: This was a Victorian invention and was called a Florin. It was an early attempt at decimalisation (10Fl = £1) To bring two threads together: The Dutch currency pre-Euro was the Florin (or Guilder) The Danish currency was the Crown (Krone) both coins used pre-decimalisation in Britain. …and Zealand/Sjaelland is in Denmark (http://www.alltraveldenmark.com/D… the capital, Copehhagen is in Zealand) …and Zeeland in Holland. (http://www.zeelandsite.com/zeelan… ) Pepys (or Latham and Matthews ) is/are using the modern spelling of the Danish island, not the Dutch province.
Re: Hack licenses As mentioned above Hackney carriage (not hackneyed, though they are commonplace) is still the official (British) term for a taxi. Apparently it comes from the London borough of Hackney where horses used to be pastured. You won't find much pasture, nor horses, in Hackney nowadays! (Plenty of taxis though) It is interesting to think that there is a link between NY taxi drivers and the East End of London.
Re: Widow's Mite I can't argue with Derek's scholarly explanation of the Widow's mite. I had heard of the mite as half a farthing at school, (50's/60's). To check my facts before writing the above I had looked in the Shorter OED and found as the first definition:
1 Hist. Orig., a Flemish copper coin of very small value. Later, any very small unit of currency; specifically, half a farthing. LME.
...and it was that last phrase which I used as my reference. Maybe the OED took Tyndale literally, but Late Middle English (LME) would suggest around 1300-1500, so it appears that a mite was half a farthing before Tyndale's translation.
A bit about British money... I am surprised that a farthing was the smallest monetary unit of the time. The King James Bible talks of the Widow's mite, so one assumes the congregation were at least familiar with mites. A mite was half a farthing or 1/8th penny. (1/96th of a shilling) For those who don't know pre-decimalisation British currency, a quick conversion table: The basic units were l.s.d or pounds, shillings and pence, but named coins of other denominations were common, e.g. a groat (until 1662) 4 farthings = 1d (penny) 4d = 1 groat 12d = 3 groats = 1s (shilling) 5s = 1 crown (half-a-crown = 2s 6d) 20s = 4 crowns = 1l or £1 (pound) A sovereign was a gold coin worth 22s 6d until the reign of Charles I, later £1. A Guinea was a coin introduced in 1663 and worth £1, then 21s from 1750. So, we are now in the period after the sovereign had gone (in both senses of “sovereign”!) and before the Guinea is introduced. The sovereign coin still exists, but is solid gold and worth considerably more than its £1 face value. It also exists as a “sov” in London slang for a pound.
The beer drunk then would probably have been between 3 and 5% alcohol by volume, so at least 95% water. Despite the alcohol's diuretic effect, it is not likely that dehydration was a problem. The leaching of salt from the body is though (as anyone who likes a pint can tell you) so, perhaps, references to eating a dish of anchovies. Nowadays we would eat crisps (potato chips) or peanuts for the same reason. "Real ale" (i.e. un-pasteurised beer) as was drunk then is very rich in 'B' vitamins and minerals and quite good for you. As recently as 20 years ago (perhaps even now) nursing mothers were given Guiness in hospital to combat anaemia and vitamin deficiency. In moderation, beer and wine are harmless and even good for you. "Moderation" does seem to have changed in meaning though since Pepys' times!
Pease porridge is also known as pease pottage and there is a Sussex village of that name on the road from London to Brighton. A recipe for pease pottage is: 'Take a quart of strong broth, the flour of half a pint of pease, and an ox-palate, all boil'd tender,clarified and cut in pieces; season all with a little pepper, mace and salt; when it boils, put in a little spearmint, and sorrel a little chopp'd, four balls of forc'd meat green'd, a little white bread-like dice, toasted on a plate before the fire; then put in four ounces of fresh butter; toss it up'. (see http://freepages.genealogy.rootsw…)
"having great need to do my business, ... I went and eased myself at the Harp and Ball" I think that is self explanatory: he was caught short, but the middle phrase: "...and so pretending to meet Mr. Shott the wood monger of Whitehall ..." seems odd. However, the SOED has for "pretend": 12 Move forward, direct one’s course. (Foll. by to, for.) LME-M17. So we could read this as “…heading towards a meeting with Mr. Shott…” Have I read this right?
So here we have it in his own words, he earns 12l. 10s. 0d a quarter or £50 a year, though he then has to pay out 12l. 17s. 6d to Captn. Dick Matthews. One wonders how he “do find myself to be worth 40l. and more” when his outgoings exceed his income! Presumably this was just a bad quarter, though he seems happy enough in the rest of the entry.
"Scull the waterman..." Is this his name and just a coincidence that it describes his job, or slang at the time for all boatmen? The Shorter Oxford has: 2 A small boat propelled with a scull or a pair of sculls; a light racing craft for a single rower. E17. 3 A person who sculls, a sculler. rare. M17-E18
Re: "...and made even with Mr. Andrews, and took in all my notes. and gave him one for all."
Is it possible that Pepys passed on a note for money owed him in exchange for his debts to Andrews, thereby making him and Andrews “even”? If the note was from a senior person then it would presumably be more acceptable to Andrews than Sam’s notes.
Having seen Language hat's comments about "rate" reminded me that my father (born 1917) always used the phrase "any rate" instead of "anyway". I don't know if this is a Nottinghamshire thing, or generally northern. Any rate, (!) I am aware that I still hear it "back home", but not here in the south of England.
What I forgot to say above... is that "ram" is a derogatory term in modern Brit. English for an oversexed man, like "stud" but worse. I believe Shakespere was using it also in that sense and extending the metaphor by referring to Desdamona as a ewe. Shakespere's audience were probably no more likely to interpret "black ram" in this speech as a dark sheep than we would interpret "black stud" as a dark horse.
Re: Black ram/White ewe.. I don't understand why you think Shakespere was referring to wool? When Iago (who hates Othello) tells Desdemona's father that "...an old black ram (male sheep) is tupping (i.e mating with) your white ewe" (female sheep), it doesn't leave much room for interpretation, considering that Othello was black and he'd eloped with Desdemona who was white.
A little more on pattens... The French equivalent - patin - also originally meant waterproof oversoles for shoes, (patte is French for an animal foot or hoof, from which the word is derived) but then much later came to mean felt overshoes for indoors to protect the parquet. This further came to refer to polishing or sliding, (you can imagine why!) and is now the word for a skates (patins a glace) or roller skates (patins a roulette) so is still in current use.
Forms and lard... British schools now have the American style 'Grades' system. You start at year one at 5 years old and progress until year 13 (18 years old) when you go to University. However up until about 15 years ago we had 'forms' starting at form one at 5 years old, then restarting at form one when you progressed to secondary school at 11 y.o. This was confused by the fact that there was no 7th form, but lower 6th and upper 6th. The fact that 8th form is mentioned indicates that in Pepys time forms ran straight through, as 'grades' and 'years' do. Do any of the historians here know at what age children started school in Pepys' era?
Lard has been used in British English to mean rendered animal fat, (beef as well as pork) used for cooking, since at least the 15th century. Larding can also mean to smear with lard. (and in the slang of my youth, to give someone a thorough beating!)
We don't say "all the world" to mean everybody in normal speech in British English, but we do use the cliche "the world and his dog" to mean emphatically everyone. Here, "the world" is obviously being used in the same sense as Pepys used it. I guess "Invent a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door" is a similar usage.
My Derbyshire born English Grandfather always referred to laxatives as physic. I'm sure it still exists in the north, where many old words, like thee/thou, still exist as dialect.
"their business was to be heard this day se'nnight” means a week from today. “se’ennight” is a short form of sevennight or septnight meaning week. This is rarely used in British English now, but fortnight for fourteennight, or two weeks, is in daily use.
"Take them (him/her) down" is the traditional way for a British judge to order the court officials to take the prisoner from the dock to the cells, though here it just seems to indicate a dressing down by the Chamberlain.
Just a little more about the Galette des Roi in France. This varies in type in different regions of France. The one I am familiar with that is available almost everywhere, is about 10-12 inches (25-30cm) diameter and about 1-2 inches(2.5-5 cm) thick with choux pastry on top and frangipan inside. The token inside is usually a ceramic figure (often plastic nowadays) called the "f
Comments
First Reading
About Saturday 4 February 1659/60
Grahamt • Link
Two bob bit:
This was a Victorian invention and was called a Florin. It was an early attempt at decimalisation (10Fl = £1)
To bring two threads together:
The Dutch currency pre-Euro was the Florin (or Guilder)
The Danish currency was the Crown (Krone) both coins used pre-decimalisation in Britain.
…and Zealand/Sjaelland is in Denmark (http://www.alltraveldenmark.com/D… the capital, Copehhagen is in Zealand)
…and Zeeland in Holland. (http://www.zeelandsite.com/zeelan… )
Pepys (or Latham and Matthews ) is/are using the modern spelling of the Danish island, not the Dutch province.
About Thursday 2 February 1659/60
Grahamt • Link
Re: Hack licenses
As mentioned above Hackney carriage (not hackneyed, though they are commonplace) is still the official (British) term for a taxi. Apparently it comes from the London borough of Hackney where horses used to be pastured. You won't find much pasture, nor horses, in Hackney nowadays! (Plenty of taxis though)
It is interesting to think that there is a link between NY taxi drivers and the East End of London.
About Saturday 4 February 1659/60
Grahamt • Link
Re: Widow's Mite
I can't argue with Derek's scholarly explanation of the Widow's mite. I had heard of the mite as half a farthing at school, (50's/60's). To check my facts before writing the above I had looked in the Shorter OED and found as the first definition:
1 Hist. Orig., a Flemish copper coin of very small value. Later, any very small unit of currency; specifically, half a farthing. LME.
...and it was that last phrase which I used as my reference. Maybe the OED took Tyndale literally, but Late Middle English (LME) would suggest around 1300-1500, so it appears that a mite was half a farthing before Tyndale's translation.
About Saturday 4 February 1659/60
Grahamt • Link
A bit about British money...
I am surprised that a farthing was the smallest monetary unit of the time. The King James Bible talks of the Widow's mite, so one assumes the congregation were at least familiar with mites. A mite was half a farthing or 1/8th penny.
(1/96th of a shilling)
For those who don't know pre-decimalisation British currency, a quick conversion table:
The basic units were l.s.d or pounds, shillings and pence, but named coins of other denominations were common, e.g. a groat (until 1662)
4 farthings = 1d (penny)
4d = 1 groat
12d = 3 groats = 1s (shilling)
5s = 1 crown (half-a-crown = 2s 6d)
20s = 4 crowns = 1l or £1 (pound)
A sovereign was a gold coin worth 22s 6d until the reign of Charles I, later £1.
A Guinea was a coin introduced in 1663 and worth £1, then 21s from 1750.
So, we are now in the period after the sovereign had gone (in both senses of “sovereign”!) and before the Guinea is introduced.
The sovereign coin still exists, but is solid gold and worth considerably more than its £1 face value. It also exists as a “sov” in London slang for a pound.
About Tuesday 31 January 1659/60
Grahamt • Link
The beer drunk then would probably have been between 3 and 5% alcohol by volume, so at least 95% water. Despite the alcohol's diuretic effect, it is not likely that dehydration was a problem. The leaching of salt from the body is though (as anyone who likes a pint can tell you) so, perhaps, references to eating a dish of anchovies. Nowadays we would eat crisps (potato chips) or peanuts for the same reason. "Real ale" (i.e. un-pasteurised beer) as was drunk then is very rich in 'B' vitamins and minerals and quite good for you. As recently as 20 years ago (perhaps even now) nursing mothers were given Guiness in hospital to combat anaemia and vitamin deficiency.
In moderation, beer and wine are harmless and even good for you. "Moderation" does seem to have changed in meaning though since Pepys' times!
About Wednesday 1 February 1659/60
Grahamt • Link
Pease porridge is also known as pease pottage and there is a Sussex village of that name on the road from London to Brighton. A recipe for pease pottage is:
'Take a quart of strong broth, the flour of half a pint of pease, and an ox-palate, all boil'd tender,clarified and cut in pieces; season all with a little pepper, mace and salt; when it boils, put in a little spearmint, and sorrel a little chopp'd, four balls of forc'd meat green'd, a little white bread-like dice, toasted on a plate before the fire; then put in four ounces of fresh butter; toss it up'.
(see http://freepages.genealogy.rootsw…)
About Monday 30 January 1659/60
Grahamt • Link
"having great need to do my business, ... I went and eased myself at the Harp and Ball" I think that is self explanatory: he was caught short, but the middle phrase: "...and so pretending to meet Mr. Shott the wood monger of Whitehall ..." seems odd. However, the SOED has for "pretend":
12 Move forward, direct one’s course. (Foll. by to, for.) LME-M17.
So we could read this as “…heading towards a meeting with Mr. Shott…” Have I read this right?
About Monday 30 January 1659/60
Grahamt • Link
So here we have it in his own words, he earns 12l. 10s. 0d a quarter or £50 a year, though he then has to pay out 12l. 17s. 6d to Captn. Dick Matthews. One wonders how he “do find myself to be worth 40l. and more” when his outgoings exceed his income! Presumably this was just a bad quarter, though he seems happy enough in the rest of the entry.
About Monday 30 January 1659/60
Grahamt • Link
"Scull the waterman..."
Is this his name and just a coincidence that it describes his job, or slang at the time for all boatmen?
The Shorter Oxford has:
2 A small boat propelled with a scull or a pair of sculls; a light racing craft for a single rower. E17.
3 A person who sculls, a sculler. rare. M17-E18
About Saturday 28 January 1659/60
Grahamt • Link
Re: "...and made even with Mr. Andrews, and took in all my notes. and gave him one for all."
Is it possible that Pepys passed on a note for money owed him in exchange for his debts to Andrews, thereby making him and Andrews “even”? If the note was from a senior person then it would presumably be more acceptable to Andrews than Sam’s notes.
About Thursday 26 January 1659/60
Grahamt • Link
Having seen Language hat's comments about "rate" reminded me that my father (born 1917) always used the phrase "any rate" instead of "anyway". I don't know if this is a Nottinghamshire thing, or generally northern. Any rate, (!) I am aware that I still hear it "back home", but not here in the south of England.
About Saturday 21 January 1659/60
grahamt • Link
What I forgot to say above...
is that "ram" is a derogatory term in modern Brit. English for an oversexed man, like "stud" but worse. I believe Shakespere was using it also in that sense and extending the metaphor by referring to Desdamona as a ewe. Shakespere's audience were probably no more likely to interpret "black ram" in this speech as a dark sheep than we would interpret "black stud" as a dark horse.
About Saturday 21 January 1659/60
grahamt • Link
Re: Black ram/White ewe..
I don't understand why you think Shakespere was referring to wool? When Iago (who hates Othello) tells Desdemona's father that "...an old black ram (male sheep) is tupping (i.e mating with) your white ewe" (female sheep), it doesn't leave much room for interpretation, considering that Othello was black and he'd eloped with Desdemona who was white.
About Tuesday 24 January 1659/60
grahamt • Link
A little more on pattens...
The French equivalent - patin - also originally meant waterproof oversoles for shoes, (patte is French for an animal foot or hoof, from which the word is derived) but then much later came to mean felt overshoes for indoors to protect the parquet. This further came to refer to polishing or sliding, (you can imagine why!) and is now the word for a skates (patins a glace) or roller skates (patins a roulette) so is still in current use.
About Wednesday 25 January 1659/60
grahamt • Link
Forms and lard...
British schools now have the American style 'Grades' system. You start at year one at 5 years old and progress until year 13 (18 years old) when you go to University. However up until about 15 years ago we had 'forms' starting at form one at 5 years old, then restarting at form one when you progressed to secondary school at 11 y.o. This was confused by the fact that there was no 7th form, but lower 6th and upper 6th. The fact that 8th form is mentioned indicates that in Pepys time forms ran straight through, as 'grades' and 'years' do. Do any of the historians here know at what age children started school in Pepys' era?
Lard has been used in British English to mean rendered animal fat, (beef as well as pork) used for cooking, since at least the 15th century. Larding can also mean to smear with lard. (and in the slang of my youth, to give someone a thorough beating!)
About Wednesday 18 January 1659/60
Grahamt • Link
We don't say "all the world" to mean everybody in normal speech in British English, but we do use the cliche "the world and his dog" to mean emphatically everyone. Here, "the world" is obviously being used in the same sense as Pepys used it. I guess "Invent a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door" is a similar usage.
About Sunday 15 January 1659/60
Grahamt • Link
My Derbyshire born English Grandfather always referred to laxatives as physic. I'm sure it still exists in the north, where many old words, like thee/thou, still exist as dialect.
About Tuesday 10 January 1659/60
Grahamt • Link
"their business was to be heard this day se'nnight” means a week from today. “se’ennight” is a short form of sevennight or septnight meaning week. This is rarely used in British English now, but fortnight for fourteennight, or two weeks, is in daily use.
About Friday 13 January 1659/60
Grahamt • Link
"Take them (him/her) down" is the traditional way for a British judge to order the court officials to take the prisoner from the dock to the cells, though here it just seems to indicate a dressing down by the Chamberlain.
About Friday 6 January 1659/60
Grahamt • Link
Just a little more about the Galette des Roi in France. This varies in type in different regions of France. The one I am familiar with that is available almost everywhere, is about 10-12 inches (25-30cm) diameter and about 1-2 inches(2.5-5 cm) thick with choux pastry on top and frangipan inside. The token inside is usually a ceramic figure (often plastic nowadays) called the "f