Annotations and comments

john has posted 347 annotations/comments since 14 March 2013.

Comments

Second Reading

About Monday 9 September 1667

john  •  Link

"where I stood a good while all alone among the bulls, and was afeard I was among the bears, too"

Well, unless the bulls were tied up in stalls, I would not care to stand amongst the bulls, either.

About Sunday 8 September 1667

john  •  Link

From the OED:

compound, v.
II. To compose differences, settle claims.
(intr.)
10. to agree, make terms, bargain, contract (with, for). Also with indirect passive. Obs.

[A slew of similar meanings, all marked obsolete.]

About Saturday 7 September 1667

john  •  Link

L&M saw fit to include "trill" in the diary volume's local vocabulary (with the same meaning as today). I would not have thought trill to be uncommon.

About Sunday 1 September 1667

john  •  Link

Elizabeth bought the cuffs and expected Pepys to pay for them. She knows him more than he realizes.

About Sunday 1 September 1667

john  •  Link

Methinks that "little Michell" was used as a term of endearment (below from the OED) and not to belittle. Until recently, the phrase "the little woman" was used to denote a wife without belittlement.

3. Used to convey an implication of endearment or depreciation, or of tender feeling on the part of the speaker. Also coupled with an epithet expressing such feelings, e.g. pretty, sweet little.
1567 Satir. Poems Reform. iii. 154 The wois that Ouid in Ibin Into his pretty lytill buik did wryte.    1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. i. 204 And when she weepes, weepe euerie little flower.    1596 ― Merch. V. v. i. 21 In such a night Did pretty Iessica (like a little shrow) Slander her Loue.    1597 ― 2 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 225, I prethee Iack be quiet, the Rascall is gone: ah, you whorson little valiant Villaine, you.    1694 Wood Life 23 June, I returned from London in the company of a little poore thing, Sir Lacy Osbaldeston.    1819 Shelley Cyclops 246 My dear sweet master, My darling little Cyclops. [...]

About Thursday 29 August 1667

john  •  Link

"find how the mistake arose, by the ill copying of it out"
One wonders how often this happened.

About Thursday 22 August 1667

john  •  Link

"so that we are forced only to make a show of severity by keeping them in prison, but are unable to punish them."

The good side of Pepys here. I presume that punishment here refers to corporal punishment.

About Sunday 18 August 1667

john  •  Link

Terry F., another possibility is Paspalum Staggers (also due to neurotoxins produced by fungi in the grass: https://www.merckvetmanual.com/to…). Recovery is typically spontaneous so the horrible methods inflicted on the horses had no benefit. I must say that, in over 50y involvement with (non-racing) horses, I have never encountered staggers nor ever met someone who had encountered it.

About Thursday 8 August 1667

john  •  Link

Carriage suspension is fascinating (maybe because I have suffered riding in a few wagons with no suspension). I have no good reference as to when leaf or coil springs were first used but according to Boyer, "Mediaeval Suspended Carriages" (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2850…), the first suspended carriages were suspended by chains and appeared in the 14th century.

About Thursday 1 August 1667

john  •  Link

Thank you for the note, Mary K. There has been (and is) much debate about how much of Defoe's Journal is authentic and how much is imagination but that rings true.

About Monday 29 July 1667

john  •  Link

"so they are all mad; and thus the kingdom is governed!"
Perhaps this is a good summary of the situation.

About Wednesday 24 July 1667

john  •  Link

From the sinking of two men-of-war to a retreat -- how many now believe the official versions anymore?

About Wednesday 17 July 1667

john  •  Link

Michael, Pepys did not live in an age when one could simply visit a medical clinic. I, for one, have no objection of his recording his problems.

About Thursday 18 July 1667

john  •  Link

Well, Carl, our road was only paved two years ago. In summer, the dust clouds from passing vehicles could be seen at some distance and all were covered in dust. (Winter was better in that snow filled in the holes.) Riding in an open carriage would not have been pleasant.

About Saturday 13 July 1667

john  •  Link

"and by chance we fell out again,"
Well, andy, when the temperature is uncomfortably hot, anything can cause an argument.

"And yet no wise man that I meet with, when he comes to think of it, but wishes, with all his heart, a war"
No wise man?

About Thursday 11 July 1667

john  •  Link

"It is high time for us to have peace [...]"
How that has rung through the ages.