Back when elaborate hats were part of everyday fashion, the people following this occupation were known as hatters. They would use mercury often in their process of felting the fur of the animals they worked, which had the unfortunate side effect of making them go insane. The technical term for this illness is erethism, but the phrase 'mad as a hatter' works just as well.
During the 18th century, business owners would keep track of debts, interests and loans on “tally sticks,” or notches carved on wood. When you arrived to pay off your debt right before the next notch was carved, you had arrived in the nick of time. https://blog.wordgenius.com/outda…
Classed as ‘worthy’ by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury in 1677, Littleton feared the bill for educating the royal children as Protestants under the bishops’ supervision would ‘rather promote than hinder Popery’.
In the closing session of 1679, Littleton was named to the committee to inquire into the Popish Plot and helped to draw up reasons for believing in it. On 14 Nov., 1679, Littleton reported an address for administering the oaths to the servants of Queen Catherine and the duchess of York, Mary of Modena.
Littleton again helped to draw up Danby’s impeachment, although he agreeing to Denzil Holles' proposal that it would be dropped if Parliament were dissolved, and Danby dismissed.
Littleton then helped to prepare reasons for disallowing Danby’s pardon.
Unable to find a seat at the next election, Littleton was given a place on the board of Admiralty.
In 1681 Sir Leoline Jenkins instructed Sir Robert Holmes to find Littleton a seat in the Isle of Wight, and he was returned for Yarmouth.
As an ‘expedient’ to break the deadlock on exclusion, Sir Thomas Littleton MP proposed that, on the death of Charles II, his authority should devolve on his niece, Mary, Princess of Orange.
When Parliament met in the autumn of 1669, a pamphlet, The Alarum, was distributed to Members in which Littleton was described as ‘an angry man against the Court until silenced by a good place, and is now content that everything should be let alone, having got what he grumbled for’.
Co-Treasurer of the Navy Sir Thomas Littleton MP repeatedly spoke for supply in 1670, declaring that the money granted two years before had proved quite inadequate to the needs of the navy, and took the chair on the bill to preserve naval stores in April 1671.
But during the recess of 1671, his co-Treasurer, Sir Thomas Osborne succeeded in evicting Littleton from his office on charges of corruption. He received a valuable victualling contract as compensation.
For the remainder of the Cavalier Parliament Littleton was in opposition. Gilbert Burnet judged Sir Thomas Littleton MP and Henry Powle MP were ‘the men that laid the matters in the House with the greatest care’.
Next, at a meeting at the Admiralty to consider renewing the contract for victualling the navy, Treasurer Sir Thomas Osborne (later Earl of Danby) used the words ‘a cheat upon the King’ to describe the last contract. Littleton retorted ‘no more cheat than he that said it’, and Osborne told Littleton that ‘he would deal with him elsewhere, that he was a cheat or knave, and he would prove it’. Littleton lost the victualling contract.
Sir Thomas Littleton MP’s accounts as Treasurer and as Victualler were never cleared, although the Lord Treasurer, Thomas Osborne, now Earl of Danby, began proceedings.
In 1674 Sir Thomas Littleton MP reported reasons for a conference on the address accepting peace with Holland, but failed to substantiate the charge of Popery against Samuel Pepys.
Before the next session Thomas Osborne, Earl of Danby wrote to Charles II: “Sir Thomas Littleton, who besides the great knaveries already known to his Majesty both in Parliament and his offices, and near £90,000 brought in post abstracts to his accounts, sets himself industriously, not only to traduce me in all kinds, but is in perpetual cabals against his Majesty to prepare fuel for the Parliament, and that nothing should be believed which his Majesty does say.”
It was even alleged Littleton had resorted to bribery to procure evidence against his former colleague, Samuel Pepys, although the witness denied it.
At the end of April 1674, when Littleton was pressing for Danby’s impeachment, Giles Strangways observed: ‘I am not for a general accusation, when I have heard some gentlemen speak one way when they have offices, and another when they have none, and fall out when they cannot agree about sharing the revenue among them’.
Littleton suspected an allusion to himself, but eventually agreed to let the matter drop, while continuing to press for Danby’s impeachment.
Thomas Littleton was a colorful character, so I suggest you read his entire biography as a member of parliament. For our purposes I've narrowed it down to mostly his Navy activities. https://www.historyofparliamenton…
He was born around 1621, the first son of Sir Adam Littleton, 1st Bt., of Stoke St. Milborough by Etheldreda, daughter and heir of Thomas Poyntz of North Ockenden, Essex.
Littleton's marriage license is dated 6 Oct. 1637 when, aged 17, he wed Anne Littleton, daughter and heir of Edward Littleton, 1st Baron Lyttelton of Mounslow. Perhaps they were cousins?
Sir Adam Littleton was apparently neutral in the Civil War. Under the influence of his father-in-law, the lord keeper Edward Littleton, 1st Baron Lyttelton of Mounslow, Thomas became an active Royalist, succeeding his father in Sept. 1647 as the 2nd Bart.
Sir Thomas Littleton MP signed the Cavalier declaration of 1660 disclaiming animosity towards their former enemies, and as a very active Member of the Cavalier Parliament, Littleton was appointed to 381 committees, in nine of which he took the chair, acted as teller in 18 divisions, and made 304 speeches.
On the outbreak of the second Anglo-Dutch war, Littleton would have granted only one-fifth of the £2,500,000 demanded by the Government.
Littleton reported a deficiency of £5,000 in the accounts of the loyal and indigent officers fund on 20 Dec. 1664.
In pursuit of office in 1665, Littleton attached himself to Secretary of State, Sir Henry Bennet, Lord Arlington.
In 1666 Littleton acted as teller for a bill for the preservation of naval stores, but resisted the government proposals for the additional excise, both in debate and division, earning from Andrew Marvell the sobriquet of ‘great Littleton’.
The fall of Chancellor Clarendon opened up new vistas for the ambitious, and Littleton took a leading part in the next session. He helped draft the address of thanks for the Chancellor’s dismissal, and served on all the principal committees of inquiry into the late administration, saying ‘... being chief minister of state, and taking upon him the sole management of the Government, must either be guilty, or be able to clear himself by laying it justly upon others’.
Despite his Cavalier background, Littleton was one of the leaders of the ‘Presbyterian’ party in Parliament.
Littleton helped to prepare Adm. Sir William Penn’s impeachment.
In November, 1668 Secretary of State Sir Henry Bennet, Lord Arlington obtained the lucrative post of Treasurer of the Navy for Littleton, although he had to share the office with the Duke of Buckingham’s candidate, Sir Thomas Osborne.
Had Pepys known the following, would he have been so enthusiastic about meeting Sir Thomas Littleton MP today?
Littleton wanted to granted only one-fifth of the £2,500,000 demanded by the Government in the Oxford finance bill. (Penn as an MP must have known that, but Littleton turned out in later years to be no friend of Penn's either.)
In pursuit of office, in 1665 Sir Thomas Littleton MP had attached himself to Secretary of State, Sir Henry Bennet, Lord Arlington, who was also a Commissioner of Prizes. Who knows what Littleton's heard about Pepys' shenanigans with the prize ships last year.
In 1666 Sir Thomas Littleton MP acted as teller for a bill for the preservation of naval stores, about which we will presumably hear something later.
Thomas Littleton MP resisted the government proposals for the additional excise, both in debate and division, earning from Andrew Marvell the sobriquet of ‘great Littleton’.
Later Sir Thomas Littleton MP reported a bill for the better attendance of those Members who had not followed his example by taking up permanent residence in London.
Gilbert Burnet, who later became Thomas Littleton MP’s next-door neighbor in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, wrote: “Littleton was the ablest and vehementest arguer of them all. He commonly lay quiet till the end of a debate; and he often ended it, speaking with a strain of conviction and authority that was not easily resisted. ... A man of strong head and sound judgment, he had just as much knowledge in trade, history, and the disposition of Europe and the constitution of England as served to feed and direct his own thoughts, and no more.”
I wonder if great Littleton "lay quiet" this evening as well, listening to Pepys tell everyone how he had single-handedly refit the fleet for this next encounter.
Notes taken from: A BRIEF HISTORY OF LIMERICK, IRELAND
In the 16th century Limerick was a busy little Irish town but the 17th century was a turbulent one for Ireland, and Limerick underwent four sieges.
In 1641 Ireland rose in rebellion. In 1642 the Irish army entered Limerick. The English troops in the city withdrew into the castle and the Irish laid siege. The English held out for a month but they gave in when they realized the Irish were mining the walls.
In 1649 Oliver Cromwell began the reconquest of Ireland. In June 1651 an English army under Henry Ireton arrived in Limerick. They were unable to take the city by storm as it was too heavily defended, so they blockaded it. Plague broke out in the city and decimated the defenders. Eventually, after 5 months, the Irish under their leader, Hugh O'Neil were forced to surrender. The English executed several people who they claimed were responsible for prolonging the siege by refusing to accept surrender terms earlier.
Then in 1688 the Catholic king of England, James II was deposed. In 1689 James II landed in Ireland with French troops. The Irish rose in support but in 1690 they were defeated at the Battle of the Boyne.
James II fled to France and his army retreated westwards. Despite the defeat at the Boyne in June the French/Irish decided to defend the city.
William III, the new English king, arrived on 8 August 1690, but he had to wait for his heavy cannons to brought from Dublin. along the way the cannons were intercepted by Patrick Sarsfield on 11 August, who destroyed the ammunition, wagons, and horses. Sadly this only delayed the inevitable.
The third siege pf Limerick began in late August 1690 and on the 25th a breach was made in the walls of the city. William III’s forces attempted to break through the breach, but were repulsed. The English were running out of ammunition and at the end of August the siege was lifted.
The siege of Limerick (#4) was resumed in 1691 when an English army was sent under a Dutchman named Ginkel. (William III was king of Holland as well as England). On 8 September, 1691 Ginkel's men began the bombardment and soon made a breach in the walls of Englishtown. On 22 September the English soldiers crossed the Shannon on a pontoon bridge and attacked the earthwork a French officer ordered his men to raise the drawbridge before the Irish troops could cross. The English then massacred the Irish soldiers. The remaining defenders were demoralized by this disaster and the next day (23 September) they asked for a truce.
Limerick surrendered on 3 October, 1691, but the English did not honor the treaty.
In the late 17th century a palace was built for the Protestant Bishops of Limerick. (Which might account for Bishop Fuller not wanting to live there from 1663-1667 -- he didn't have a nice enough palace?)
"But there were plenty of old wives tales, then as now."
You may be surprised to know how the Big Pharma companies are pouring over the herbal recipe books from the 17th century, rediscovering what Johanna St.John, Lucy Apsley and Nicholas Culpeper knew. They got a lot wrong (apart from the placebo effect), but there were the elements of some right things there too.
Not only the on-going costs Terry pointed us to, but in addition, who paid for the cork last week? ... and on July 12: "By and by called to wait on the Duke, the King being present; and there agreed, among other things, of the places to build the ten new great ships ordered to be built, and as to the relief of prisoners in Holland. "
True, England will need ten new great warships very soon, and getting 5,000 sailors home from Holland would be helpful ... but how much do warships cost and who's going to pay for them???? (Deficit spending off budget without competitive bidding with my old company answers Cheney.)
“Up, and by water to Sir G. Downing’s, there to discourse with him about the reliefe of the prisoners in Holland; which I did, and we do resolve of the manner of sending them some.” … “By and by called to wait on the Duke, the King being present; and there agreed, among other things, ... and as to the relief of prisoners in Holland.”
L&M note those in the gaol at Flushing/Vlissingen were in need of food and medical attention.
Pepys went to see Sir George Downing about the prisoners because (taken from Evelyn's Diary):
"12 July, 1666. We sat the first time in the Star-Chamber. There was now added to our HOSPITAL commission Sir George Downing (one that had been a great against his Majesty, but now insinuated into his favor; and, from a pedagogue and fanatic preacher, not worth a groat, had become excessively rich), to inspect the hospitals and treat about prisons."
Not only was Downing Pepys' former boss, but he had spent years at The Hague as the representative from England for both Charles II and Parliament, so he knew everyone, and probably speaks the language.
Downing joins John Evelyn, Sir William D'Oyly, Sir Thomas Clifford and Col. Bullen Reymes as a Commissioner for taking Care of Sick and Wounded Seamen.
Pepys went to see Downing about the Flemish prisoners because -- from Evelyn's Diary tomorrow [SPOILER[:
"12 July, 1666. We sat the first time in the Star-Chamber. There was now added to our HOSPITAL commission Sir George Downing (one that had been a great against his Majesty, but now insinuated into his favor; and, from a pedagogue and fanatic preacher, not worth a groat, had become excessively rich), to inspect the hospitals and treat about prisons."
So Downing joins John Evelyn, Sir William D'Oyly, Sir Thomas Clifford and Col. Bullen Reymesas -- the Commissioners for taking Care of Sick and Wounded Seamen. The COMMISSION FOR SICK AND WOUNDED PRISONERS link is https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Plus of course Downing had spent years at The Hague representing England for both Charles II and Parliament, so he knows everyone and probably speaks the language.
How confusing. We have the English Charles II telling tales on the Spanish Charles II (for clarity, we should agree to call him Carlos II).
"the King did speake most in contempt of the ceremoniousnesse of the King of Spayne, that he do nothing but under some ridiculous form or other, and will not piss but another must hold the chamber-pot."
To which Terry gives us the L&M comment: "Charles had paid only one very brief visit to Spain, to Saragossa and Fuenterrabia, at the end of 1659, but knew the Spanish court at Brussels well in his exile. Cf. the comment of John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham on Charles (Works, 1740, ii, 81): 'He had so natural an aversion to formality ... he could not on premeditation act the part of a King for a moment, either at Parliament or Council ... which carried him into the other extreme ... of letting all distinction and ceremony fall to the ground as useless and foppish.'"
I think the John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham quote is about the character of England's Charles II, not Carlos II.
Carlos II and Louis XIV were competitors for glory and prestige -- Charles II's travels during the Interregnum had taught him to know better, but he also understood that some ceremony and grandeur was expected of him and necessary.
Saltpetre is one of the three basic ingredients for gunpowder. England never organized her production of saltpetre (unlike the rest of Europe), which caused Charles I considerable difficulty during the Civil War as the three major production centers of gunpowder were under Parliamentary control: London, Hull and Portsmouth.
An interesting book on the subject is Saltpeter: The Mother of Gunpowder -- by David Cressy -- Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2013, ISBN: 9780199695751; 256pp.
In Chapter seven, ‘Saltpeter for a global power’, he documents a change of focus from the activities of the English saltpetermen to that of importing using the East India Company.
Whereas King Charles in the 1630s was struggling to achieve a target of 288 tons of saltpetre a year, imports from India topped 1,000 tons during various years of the reign of Charles II.
The volume of saltpetre supplies available to later Stuart monarchs surpassed that from all previous conflicts.
In those days gunpowder was a fortuitous mix of sulphur, charcoal and saltpetre. It was that last ingredient that was the most vital and the hardest to obtain.
John Evelyn's family made gunpowder at several locations for the Royalist armies during the Civil Wars, which explains his inclusion on the Saltpetre Commission.
What do the night soil men do with their haul? They either sold it to the garden markets around London -- or to the saltpetremen to make gunpowder.
In the rest of Europe each country had organized the making of saltpetre; in Sweden you could pay your taxes with it. But not England -- I wonder why. Charles I's efforts to take communities' stashes of gunpowder made him very unpopular -- but his saltpetremen's strong-arm methods to take people's dung from their stables, etc., contributed to unrest leading to the Civil Wars.
Under Charles II the government conceded home production was inadequate, and started importing it in earnest from India through the East India Company.
An interesting book on the subject is Saltpeter: The Mother of Gunpowder -- by David Cressy -- Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2013, ISBN: 9780199695751; 256pp.
Good point, Jonathan. I think you solved the dilemma. And no, Phil, St, James's Park was open to all ... read the poem I linked by Rochester to see just how open!
junk (n.1) mid-14c., junke "old cable or rope," cut in bits and used for caulking, etc., a nautical word of uncertain origin, perhaps from Old French junc "rush, reed," also used figuratively as a type of something of little value, from Latin iuncus "rush, reed" (but OED finds "no evidence of connection").
It was extended to "old refuse from boats and ships" (1660s), then to "old or discarded articles of any kind" (1884), usually with a suggestion of reusability. Meaning "salt meat used on long voyages" is from 1762. Meaning "narcotic drug" is from 1925. Junk food is from 1971; junk art is from 1961; junk mail first attested 1954; junk bond from 1979.
junk (n.2)
"large, seagoing Chinese sailing ship," 1610s, from Portuguese junco, from Malay (Austronesian) jong "ship, large boat" (13c.), probably from Javanese djong. In English 16c. as giunche, iunco.
junk (v.)
1803, "to cut off in lumps," from junk (n.1). The meaning "to throw away as trash, to scrap" is from 1908. Related: Junked; junking.
New settlers (who should always be here as early in the spring as possible) begin to cut down the wood where they intend to erect their first house. As the trees are cut the branches are to be lopped off, and the trunks cut into lengths of 12 or 14 feet. This operation they call junking them; if they are not junked before fire is applied, they are much worse to junk afterwards. [letter dated Charlotte Town, Nov. 29, 1820, in "A Series of Letters Descriptive of Prince Edward Island," 1822]
The Royal Society today at Gresham College — from the Hooke Folio Online
IIuly. 18. 1666. ... There was tryed an expt. wth. Sal Armon: & salt peter to see which of the two had the greatest force to cool. the expt. not being orderd as it should be. The Curator [ Hooke ] was charged to Lett it be made at the next meeting wth. both the salts putt into an aequall quantity of water, in the same vessell obseruing the same time with both.
And for those of us following Evelyn's Diary:
2 July, 1666. Came Sir John Duncomb and Mr. Thomas Chicheley, both Privy Councilors and Commissioners of His Majesty's Ordnance, to visit me, and let me know that his Majesty had in Council, nominated me to be one of the Commissioners for regulating the farming and making of saltpeter through the whole kingdom, and that we were to sit in the Tower the next day.
3 July, 1666. I went to sit with the Commissioners at the Tower, where our commission being read, we made some progress in business, our Secretary being Sir George Wharton, that famous mathematician who wrote the yearly Almanac during his Majesty's troubles.
Saltpeter (nitre) is needed for the production of gunpowder. Evidently England needs to be making more of it. Evelyn is an F.R.S. so he may have asked the Royal Society for help improving it?
"Sir W. Coventry did publickly move, that if his Royal Highness had this of a certainty, it would be of use to send this down to the fleete, and to cause it to be spread about the fleete, for the recovering of the spirits of the officers and seamen; who are under great dejectedness for want of knowing that they did do any thing against the enemy, notwithstanding all that they did to us. Which, though it be true, yet methought was one of the most dishonourable motions to our countrymen that ever was made; and is worth remembering."
Remember on Thursday 12 July, 1666, Pepys listened to Coventry's dejected appraisal of where things stood. Pepys concluded: "In fine, I do observe, he [COVENTRY] hath no esteem nor kindness for the Duke’s matters, but, contrarily, do slight him and them; and I pray God the Kingdom do not pay too dear by this jarring; though this blockheaded Duke I did never expect better from."
Coventry reads all the Duke of York's dispatches. He knows what the real figures are. Today, in front of everyone, Coventry questions whether or not the Duke's figures are correct, and if York is prepared to stand behind them, they should be publicized etc. This can be read as Coventry challenging York about sending bogus intelligence to the fleet to bolster morale with lies. Pepys, being on the inside, listens with astonishment to the deceit.
I wonder which Duke was the blockhead on July 12, Albemarle or York?
"It has been a long time since Pepys has seen a play."
It has. And he won't see one for a while yet ... in fact:
"I away before to White Hall, and into the new playhouse there, the first time I ever was there, and the first play I have seen since before the great plague.
"By and by Mr. Pierce comes, bringing my wife and his, and Knipp. By and by the King and Queene, Duke and Duchesse, and all the great ladies of the Court; which, indeed, was a fine sight. But the play being “Love in a Tub,” a silly play, and though done by the Duke’s people, yet having neither Betterton nor his wife, and the whole thing done ill, and being ill also, I had no manner of pleasure in the play. Besides, the House, though very fine, yet bad for the voice, for hearing. "
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… -- since the theater was at Whitehall, it wasn't burned by the Great Fire. But it is new, so it is probably being planned or under construction now.
Anyone else know what happened to the theater companies after they returned from the plague hiatus at Oxford?
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Second Reading
About Doll Stacey
San Diego Sarah • Link
Phrases we still use:
"Mad as a hatter"
Back when elaborate hats were part of everyday fashion, the people following this occupation were known as hatters. They would use mercury often in their process of felting the fur of the animals they worked, which had the unfortunate side effect of making them go insane. The technical term for this illness is erethism, but the phrase 'mad as a hatter' works just as well.
https://blog.wordgenius.com/outda…
About Tally
San Diego Sarah • Link
A phrase we still use:
"In the nick of time"
During the 18th century, business owners would keep track of debts, interests and loans on “tally sticks,” or notches carved on wood. When you arrived to pay off your debt right before the next notch was carved, you had arrived in the nick of time.
https://blog.wordgenius.com/outda…
About Sir Thomas Littleton (MP Much Wenlock, Joint Treasurer of the Navy 1668-71)
San Diego Sarah • Link
Classed as ‘worthy’ by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury in 1677, Littleton feared the bill for educating the royal children as Protestants under the bishops’ supervision would ‘rather promote than hinder Popery’.
In the closing session of 1679, Littleton was named to the committee to inquire into the Popish Plot and helped to draw up reasons for believing in it. On 14 Nov., 1679, Littleton reported an address for administering the oaths to the servants of Queen Catherine and the duchess of York, Mary of Modena.
Littleton again helped to draw up Danby’s impeachment, although he agreeing to Denzil Holles' proposal that it would be dropped if Parliament were dissolved, and Danby dismissed.
Littleton then helped to prepare reasons for disallowing Danby’s pardon.
Unable to find a seat at the next election, Littleton was given a place on the board of Admiralty.
In 1681 Sir Leoline Jenkins instructed Sir Robert Holmes to find Littleton a seat in the Isle of Wight, and he was returned for Yarmouth.
As an ‘expedient’ to break the deadlock on exclusion, Sir Thomas Littleton MP proposed that, on the death of Charles II, his authority should devolve on his niece, Mary, Princess of Orange.
Sir Thomas Littleton MP died on 14 April, 1681.
About Sir Thomas Littleton (MP Much Wenlock, Joint Treasurer of the Navy 1668-71)
San Diego Sarah • Link
When Parliament met in the autumn of 1669, a pamphlet, The Alarum, was distributed to Members in which Littleton was described as ‘an angry man against the Court until silenced by a good place, and is now content that everything should be let alone, having got what he grumbled for’.
Co-Treasurer of the Navy Sir Thomas Littleton MP repeatedly spoke for supply in 1670, declaring that the money granted two years before had proved quite inadequate to the needs of the navy, and took the chair on the bill to preserve naval stores in April 1671.
But during the recess of 1671, his co-Treasurer, Sir Thomas Osborne succeeded in evicting Littleton from his office on charges of corruption. He received a valuable victualling contract as compensation.
For the remainder of the Cavalier Parliament Littleton was in opposition. Gilbert Burnet judged Sir Thomas Littleton MP and Henry Powle MP were ‘the men that laid the matters in the House with the greatest care’.
Next, at a meeting at the Admiralty to consider renewing the contract for victualling the navy, Treasurer Sir Thomas Osborne (later Earl of Danby) used the words ‘a cheat upon the King’ to describe the last contract. Littleton retorted ‘no more cheat than he that said it’, and Osborne told Littleton that ‘he would deal with him elsewhere, that he was a cheat or knave, and he would prove it’.
Littleton lost the victualling contract.
Sir Thomas Littleton MP’s accounts as Treasurer and as Victualler were never cleared, although the Lord Treasurer, Thomas Osborne, now Earl of Danby, began proceedings.
In 1674 Sir Thomas Littleton MP reported reasons for a conference on the address accepting peace with Holland, but failed to substantiate the charge of Popery against Samuel Pepys.
Before the next session Thomas Osborne, Earl of Danby wrote to Charles II: “Sir Thomas Littleton, who besides the great knaveries already known to his Majesty both in Parliament and his offices, and near £90,000 brought in post abstracts to his accounts, sets himself industriously, not only to traduce me in all kinds, but is in perpetual cabals against his Majesty to prepare fuel for the Parliament, and that nothing should be believed which his Majesty does say.”
It was even alleged Littleton had resorted to bribery to procure evidence against his former colleague, Samuel Pepys, although the witness denied it.
At the end of April 1674, when Littleton was pressing for Danby’s impeachment, Giles Strangways observed: ‘I am not for a general accusation, when I have heard some gentlemen speak one way when they have offices, and another when they have none, and fall out when they cannot agree about sharing the revenue among them’.
Littleton suspected an allusion to himself, but eventually agreed to let the matter drop, while continuing to press for Danby’s impeachment.
About Sir Thomas Littleton (MP Much Wenlock, Joint Treasurer of the Navy 1668-71)
San Diego Sarah • Link
Thomas Littleton was a colorful character, so I suggest you read his entire biography as a member of parliament. For our purposes I've narrowed it down to mostly his Navy activities.
https://www.historyofparliamenton…
He was born around 1621, the first son of Sir Adam Littleton, 1st Bt., of Stoke St. Milborough by Etheldreda, daughter and heir of Thomas Poyntz of North Ockenden, Essex.
Littleton's marriage license is dated 6 Oct. 1637 when, aged 17, he wed Anne Littleton, daughter and heir of Edward Littleton, 1st Baron Lyttelton of Mounslow. Perhaps they were cousins?
Sir Adam Littleton was apparently neutral in the Civil War. Under the influence of his father-in-law, the lord keeper Edward Littleton, 1st Baron Lyttelton of Mounslow, Thomas became an active Royalist, succeeding his father in Sept. 1647 as the 2nd Bart.
Sir Thomas Littleton MP signed the Cavalier declaration of 1660 disclaiming animosity towards their former enemies, and as a very active Member of the Cavalier Parliament, Littleton was appointed to 381 committees, in nine of which he took the chair, acted as teller in 18 divisions, and made 304 speeches.
On the outbreak of the second Anglo-Dutch war, Littleton would have granted only one-fifth of the £2,500,000 demanded by the Government.
Littleton reported a deficiency of £5,000 in the accounts of the loyal and indigent officers fund on 20 Dec. 1664.
In pursuit of office in 1665, Littleton attached himself to Secretary of State, Sir Henry Bennet, Lord Arlington.
In 1666 Littleton acted as teller for a bill for the preservation of naval stores, but resisted the government proposals for the additional excise, both in debate and division, earning from Andrew Marvell the sobriquet of ‘great Littleton’.
The fall of Chancellor Clarendon opened up new vistas for the ambitious, and Littleton took a leading part in the next session. He helped draft the address of thanks for the Chancellor’s dismissal, and served on all the principal committees of inquiry into the late administration, saying ‘... being chief minister of state, and taking upon him the sole management of the Government, must either be guilty, or be able to clear himself by laying it justly upon others’.
Despite his Cavalier background, Littleton was one of the leaders of the ‘Presbyterian’ party in Parliament.
Littleton helped to prepare Adm. Sir William Penn’s impeachment.
In November, 1668 Secretary of State Sir Henry Bennet, Lord Arlington obtained the lucrative post of Treasurer of the Navy for Littleton, although he had to share the office with the Duke of Buckingham’s candidate, Sir Thomas Osborne.
About Wednesday 18 July 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
Had Pepys known the following, would he have been so enthusiastic about meeting Sir Thomas Littleton MP today?
Littleton wanted to granted only one-fifth of the £2,500,000 demanded by the Government in the Oxford finance bill. (Penn as an MP must have known that, but Littleton turned out in later years to be no friend of Penn's either.)
In pursuit of office, in 1665 Sir Thomas Littleton MP had attached himself to Secretary of State, Sir Henry Bennet, Lord Arlington, who was also a Commissioner of Prizes. Who knows what Littleton's heard about Pepys' shenanigans with the prize ships last year.
In 1666 Sir Thomas Littleton MP acted as teller for a bill for the preservation of naval stores, about which we will presumably hear something later.
Thomas Littleton MP resisted the government proposals for the additional excise, both in debate and division, earning from Andrew Marvell the sobriquet of ‘great Littleton’.
Later Sir Thomas Littleton MP reported a bill for the better attendance of those Members who had not followed his example by taking up permanent residence in London.
Gilbert Burnet, who later became Thomas Littleton MP’s next-door neighbor in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, wrote: “Littleton was the ablest and vehementest arguer of them all. He commonly lay quiet till the end of a debate; and he often ended it, speaking with a strain of conviction and authority that was not easily resisted. ... A man of strong head and sound judgment, he had just as much knowledge in trade, history, and the disposition of Europe and the constitution of England as served to feed and direct his own thoughts, and no more.”
I wonder if great Littleton "lay quiet" this evening as well, listening to Pepys tell everyone how he had single-handedly refit the fleet for this next encounter.
From https://www.historyofparliamenton…
About Wednesday 18 July 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
Notes taken from: A BRIEF HISTORY OF LIMERICK, IRELAND
In the 16th century Limerick was a busy little Irish town but the 17th century was a turbulent one for Ireland, and Limerick underwent four sieges.
In 1641 Ireland rose in rebellion.
In 1642 the Irish army entered Limerick. The English troops in the city withdrew into the castle and the Irish laid siege. The English held out for a month but they gave in when they realized the Irish were mining the walls.
In 1649 Oliver Cromwell began the reconquest of Ireland.
In June 1651 an English army under Henry Ireton arrived in Limerick. They were unable to take the city by storm as it was too heavily defended, so they blockaded it. Plague broke out in the city and decimated the defenders. Eventually, after 5 months, the Irish under their leader, Hugh O'Neil were forced to surrender.
The English executed several people who they claimed were responsible for prolonging the siege by refusing to accept surrender terms earlier.
Then in 1688 the Catholic king of England, James II was deposed.
In 1689 James II landed in Ireland with French troops. The Irish rose in support but in 1690 they were defeated at the Battle of the Boyne.
James II fled to France and his army retreated westwards. Despite the defeat at the Boyne in June the French/Irish decided to defend the city.
William III, the new English king, arrived on 8 August 1690, but he had to wait for his heavy cannons to brought from Dublin. along the way the cannons were intercepted by Patrick Sarsfield on 11 August, who destroyed the ammunition, wagons, and horses. Sadly this only delayed the inevitable.
The third siege pf Limerick began in late August 1690 and on the 25th a breach was made in the walls of the city. William III’s forces attempted to break through the breach, but were repulsed. The English were running out of ammunition and at the end of August the siege was lifted.
The siege of Limerick (#4) was resumed in 1691 when an English army was sent under a Dutchman named Ginkel. (William III was king of Holland as well as England). On 8 September, 1691 Ginkel's men began the bombardment and soon made a breach in the walls of Englishtown.
On 22 September the English soldiers crossed the Shannon on a pontoon bridge and attacked the earthwork a French officer ordered his men to raise the drawbridge before the Irish troops could cross. The English then massacred the Irish soldiers. The remaining defenders were demoralized by this disaster and the next day (23 September) they asked for a truce.
Limerick surrendered on 3 October, 1691, but the English did not honor the treaty.
In the late 17th century a palace was built for the Protestant Bishops of Limerick. (Which might account for Bishop Fuller not wanting to live there from 1663-1667 -- he didn't have a nice enough palace?)
http://www.localhistories.org/lim…
About Tuesday 17 July 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
"But there were plenty of old wives tales, then as now."
You may be surprised to know how the Big Pharma companies are pouring over the herbal recipe books from the 17th century, rediscovering what Johanna St.John, Lucy Apsley and Nicholas Culpeper knew. They got a lot wrong (apart from the placebo effect), but there were the elements of some right things there too.
About Thursday 19 July 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
"So at noon home to dinner, Balty and his wife with us." ... "... the fleet is sailed this morning; ..."
Balty got his wish.
About Thursday 19 July 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Full of wants of money ..."
Not only the on-going costs Terry pointed us to, but in addition, who paid for the cork last week? ... and on July 12: "By and by called to wait on the Duke, the King being present; and there agreed, among other things, of the places to build the ten new great ships ordered to be built, and as to the relief of prisoners in Holland. "
True, England will need ten new great warships very soon, and getting 5,000 sailors home from Holland would be helpful ... but how much do warships cost and who's going to pay for them???? (Deficit spending off budget without competitive bidding with my old company answers Cheney.)
About The Commission of Sick and Wounded Prisoners
San Diego Sarah • Link
Wednesday 11 July 1666
“Up, and by water to Sir G. Downing’s, there to discourse with him about the reliefe of the prisoners in Holland; which I did, and we do resolve of the manner of sending them some.” … “By and by called to wait on the Duke, the King being present; and there agreed, among other things, ... and as to the relief of prisoners in Holland.”
L&M note those in the gaol at Flushing/Vlissingen were in need of food and medical attention.
Pepys went to see Sir George Downing about the prisoners because (taken from Evelyn's Diary):
"12 July, 1666. We sat the first time in the Star-Chamber. There was now added to our HOSPITAL commission Sir George Downing (one that had been a great against his Majesty, but now insinuated into his favor; and, from a pedagogue and fanatic preacher, not worth a groat, had become excessively rich), to inspect the hospitals and treat about prisons."
Not only was Downing Pepys' former boss, but he had spent years at The Hague as the representative from England for both Charles II and Parliament, so he knew everyone, and probably speaks the language.
Downing joins John Evelyn, Sir William D'Oyly, Sir Thomas Clifford and Col. Bullen Reymes as a Commissioner for taking Care of Sick and Wounded Seamen.
About Wednesday 11 July 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
Pepys went to see Downing about the Flemish prisoners because -- from Evelyn's Diary tomorrow [SPOILER[:
"12 July, 1666. We sat the first time in the Star-Chamber. There was now added to our HOSPITAL commission Sir George Downing (one that had been a great against his Majesty, but now insinuated into his favor; and, from a pedagogue and fanatic preacher, not worth a groat, had become excessively rich), to inspect the hospitals and treat about prisons."
So Downing joins John Evelyn, Sir William D'Oyly, Sir Thomas Clifford and Col. Bullen Reymesas -- the Commissioners for taking Care of Sick and Wounded Seamen. The COMMISSION FOR SICK AND WOUNDED PRISONERS link is
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Plus of course Downing had spent years at The Hague representing England for both Charles II and Parliament, so he knows everyone and probably speaks the language.
About Wednesday 11 July 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
How confusing. We have the English Charles II telling tales on the Spanish Charles II (for clarity, we should agree to call him Carlos II).
"the King did speake most in contempt of the ceremoniousnesse of the King of Spayne, that he do nothing but under some ridiculous form or other, and will not piss but another must hold the chamber-pot."
To which Terry gives us the L&M comment: "Charles had paid only one very brief visit to Spain, to Saragossa and Fuenterrabia, at the end of 1659, but knew the Spanish court at Brussels well in his exile. Cf. the comment of John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham on Charles (Works, 1740, ii, 81): 'He had so natural an aversion to formality ... he could not on premeditation act the part of a King for a moment, either at Parliament or Council ... which carried him into the other extreme ... of letting all distinction and ceremony fall to the ground as useless and foppish.'"
I think the John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham quote is about the character of England's Charles II, not Carlos II.
Carlos II and Louis XIV were competitors for glory and prestige -- Charles II's travels during the Interregnum had taught him to know better, but he also understood that some ceremony and grandeur was expected of him and necessary.
About East India Company (English)
San Diego Sarah • Link
Saltpetre is one of the three basic ingredients for gunpowder. England never organized her production of saltpetre (unlike the rest of Europe), which caused Charles I considerable difficulty during the Civil War as the three major production centers of gunpowder were under Parliamentary control: London, Hull and Portsmouth.
An interesting book on the subject is Saltpeter: The Mother of Gunpowder -- by David Cressy -- Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2013, ISBN: 9780199695751; 256pp.
In Chapter seven, ‘Saltpeter for a global power’, he documents a change of focus from the activities of the English saltpetermen to that of importing using the East India Company.
Whereas King Charles in the 1630s was struggling to achieve a target of 288 tons of saltpetre a year, imports from India topped 1,000 tons during various years of the reign of Charles II.
The volume of saltpetre supplies available to later Stuart monarchs surpassed that from all previous conflicts.
Even this review is interesting:
http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/…
About Wednesday 18 July 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
In those days gunpowder was a fortuitous mix of sulphur, charcoal and saltpetre. It was that last ingredient that was the most vital and the hardest to obtain.
John Evelyn's family made gunpowder at several locations for the Royalist armies during the Civil Wars, which explains his inclusion on the Saltpetre Commission.
What do the night soil men do with their haul? They either sold it to the garden markets around London -- or to the saltpetremen to make gunpowder.
In the rest of Europe each country had organized the making of saltpetre; in Sweden you could pay your taxes with it. But not England -- I wonder why. Charles I's efforts to take communities' stashes of gunpowder made him very unpopular -- but his saltpetremen's strong-arm methods to take people's dung from their stables, etc., contributed to unrest leading to the Civil Wars.
Under Charles II the government conceded home production was inadequate, and started importing it in earnest from India through the East India Company.
An interesting book on the subject is Saltpeter: The Mother of Gunpowder -- by David Cressy -- Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2013, ISBN: 9780199695751; 256pp.
Even this review is interesting:
http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/…
About Sunday 15 July 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
Good point, Jonathan. I think you solved the dilemma. And no, Phil, St, James's Park was open to all ... read the poem I linked by Rochester to see just how open!
About Junk
San Diego Sarah • Link
junk (n.1)
mid-14c., junke "old cable or rope," cut in bits and used for caulking, etc., a nautical word of uncertain origin, perhaps from Old French junc "rush, reed," also used figuratively as a type of something of little value, from Latin iuncus "rush, reed" (but OED finds "no evidence of connection").
It was extended to "old refuse from boats and ships" (1660s),
then to "old or discarded articles of any kind" (1884), usually with a suggestion of reusability.
Meaning "salt meat used on long voyages" is from 1762.
Meaning "narcotic drug" is from 1925.
Junk food is from 1971;
junk art is from 1961;
junk mail first attested 1954;
junk bond from 1979.
junk (n.2)
"large, seagoing Chinese sailing ship," 1610s, from Portuguese junco, from Malay (Austronesian) jong "ship, large boat" (13c.), probably from Javanese djong. In English 16c. as giunche, iunco.
junk (v.)
1803, "to cut off in lumps," from junk (n.1). The meaning "to throw away as trash, to scrap" is from 1908. Related: Junked; junking.
New settlers (who should always be here as early in the spring as possible) begin to cut down the wood where they intend to erect their first house. As the trees are cut the branches are to be lopped off, and the trunks cut into lengths of 12 or 14 feet. This operation they call junking them; if they are not junked before fire is applied, they are much worse to junk afterwards. [letter dated Charlotte Town, Nov. 29, 1820, in "A Series of Letters Descriptive of Prince Edward Island," 1822]
From https://www.etymonline.com/word/j…
About Wednesday 18 July 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
The Royal Society today at Gresham College — from the Hooke Folio Online
IIuly. 18. 1666. ... There was tryed an expt. wth. Sal Armon: & salt peter to see which of the two had the greatest force to cool. the expt. not being orderd as it should be. The Curator [ Hooke ] was charged to Lett it be made at the next meeting wth. both the salts putt into an aequall quantity of water, in the same vessell obseruing the same time with both.
And for those of us following Evelyn's Diary:
2 July, 1666. Came Sir John Duncomb and Mr. Thomas Chicheley, both Privy Councilors and Commissioners of His Majesty's Ordnance, to visit me, and let me know that his Majesty had in Council, nominated me to be one of the Commissioners for regulating the farming and making of saltpeter through the whole kingdom, and that we were to sit in the Tower the next day.
3 July, 1666. I went to sit with the Commissioners at the Tower, where our commission being read, we made some progress in business, our Secretary being Sir George Wharton, that famous mathematician who wrote the yearly Almanac during his Majesty's troubles.
Saltpeter (nitre) is needed for the production of gunpowder. Evidently England needs to be making more of it. Evelyn is an F.R.S. so he may have asked the Royal Society for help improving it?
About Wednesday 18 July 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Sir W. Coventry did publickly move, that if his Royal Highness had this of a certainty, it would be of use to send this down to the fleete, and to cause it to be spread about the fleete, for the recovering of the spirits of the officers and seamen; who are under great dejectedness for want of knowing that they did do any thing against the enemy, notwithstanding all that they did to us. Which, though it be true, yet methought was one of the most dishonourable motions to our countrymen that ever was made; and is worth remembering."
Remember on Thursday 12 July, 1666, Pepys listened to Coventry's dejected appraisal of where things stood. Pepys concluded: "In fine, I do observe, he [COVENTRY] hath no esteem nor kindness for the Duke’s matters, but, contrarily, do slight him and them; and I pray God the Kingdom do not pay too dear by this jarring; though this blockheaded Duke I did never expect better from."
Coventry reads all the Duke of York's dispatches. He knows what the real figures are. Today, in front of everyone, Coventry questions whether or not the Duke's figures are correct, and if York is prepared to stand behind them, they should be publicized etc. This can be read as Coventry challenging York about sending bogus intelligence to the fleet to bolster morale with lies. Pepys, being on the inside, listens with astonishment to the deceit.
I wonder which Duke was the blockhead on July 12, Albemarle or York?
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
About Saturday 14 July 1666
San Diego Sarah • Link
"It has been a long time since Pepys has seen a play."
It has. And he won't see one for a while yet ... in fact:
"I away before to White Hall, and into the new playhouse there, the first time I ever was there, and the first play I have seen since before the great plague.
"By and by Mr. Pierce comes, bringing my wife and his, and Knipp. By and by the King and Queene, Duke and Duchesse, and all the great ladies of the Court; which, indeed, was a fine sight. But the play being “Love in a Tub,” a silly play, and though done by the Duke’s people, yet having neither Betterton nor his wife, and the whole thing done ill, and being ill also, I had no manner of pleasure in the play. Besides, the House, though very fine, yet bad for the voice, for hearing. "
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… -- since the theater was at Whitehall, it wasn't burned by the Great Fire. But it is new, so it is probably being planned or under construction now.
Anyone else know what happened to the theater companies after they returned from the plague hiatus at Oxford?