LKvM
Annotations and comments
LKvM has posted 185 annotations/comments since 5 November 2015.
The most recent first…
Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
LKvM has posted 185 annotations/comments since 5 November 2015.
The most recent first…
Comments
Third Reading
About Wednesday 11 September 1661
LKvM • Link
Re A. De Araujo's "Sam, do not believe in tall tales, the owner [Dr. Williams] is obviously a jerk who suffers from Munchausen Syndrome, and is very proud of his dog" -- a puzzling statement, but to give Dr. Williams the benefit of a doubt, I believe this would have to be Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (the proxy being his dog). It also reinforces the complaint of many bird fanciers that free-range cats are a menace because they kill so many birds.
San Diego Sarah, thank you for the derivation of "deadline."
About Thursday 5 September 1661
LKvM • Link
When I read "French footman with feathers," I must say that the first image that came to mind was a footman wearing (Lord Somersett's?) livery that somehow included feathers, a la the Prince of Wales.
I have too much imagination.
About Friday 30 August 1661
LKvM • Link
Oops, in my comment above I should have said that the person Elizabeth knew from her early years in France was "the son of Lord Somersett," not the lord himself.
About Friday 30 August 1661
LKvM • Link
" . . . up to my Lady’s bedside, and talked and laughed a good while" -- a break from "and we were very merry," perhaps because they were sober.
Elizabeth's past acquaintance with Lord Somersett in France is evidence that she, a refugee, probably came from a stratum of society higher than Sam.
About Wednesday 28 August 1661
LKvM • Link
What with boats and ships now having engines, the only kedging done these days is to get oneself off a grounding. Hard aground, I sent the daughter out in a dinghy with an anchor that she set a ways from the grounded boat, then I operated the anchor winch to pull the boat toward the kedge anchor and off the grounding.
And by the way, the anchor "bent" to two hawsers (two thick anchor rodes -- the line an elevator car hangs from was originally called a hawser) means the anchor was "tied" to them.
Thank you, San Diego Sarah, for following Sandwich's log.
About Sunday 18 August 1661
LKvM • Link
Re cassowaries' appearance:
"Jet black, hair-like feathers. Vivid blue heads adorned with a spongy crest. Most strikingly, a pair of leathery looking feet, armed with a 12 centimeter talon."
About Thursday 15 August 1661
LKvM • Link
The rascally knights "made shift [contrived] to fuddle Mr. Falcone [to get him drunk]." I assume Batten said to Falcone (who apparently had a weakness for wenches, since he married his maid), "Hey, take a look at that wench over there," and when Falcone turned to look, Penn swiftly poured something stronger in Falcone's cup while Pepys signaled the barman to keep bringing more. Or some other sophomoric teamwork like that. Boys will be boys.
About Friday 26 July 1661
LKvM • Link
"and with him to an ordinary alone and dined, and there he and I read my uncle’s will, and I had his opinion on it, . . ."
Sam carries it around with him?
About Thursday 25 July 1661
LKvM • Link
What with Uncle Wight seething with jealousy, and Mrs. Pepys spinning spendthrift dreams, they certainly seem an avaricious lot, or characters in the opera "Gianni Schicchi."
About Tuesday 23 July 1661
LKvM • Link
Thank you, MartinV, for that explanation of how Sam could be in front of Palmer and ogle her without twisting around to do it.
With regard to Robert Gertz's loose and slangy labeling of Elizabeth as "this half-French kid" she is fully French, not half. And her French parents were French Huguenot aristocrats.
About Monday 22 July 1661
LKvM • Link
We are living in a brave new world.
Thank you, SD Sarah, for the posts from milord's journal. I look forward to them.
About Monday 15 July 1661
LKvM • Link
Again. Sam is admirably trying to keep his father from knowing his worries.
MartinT, I too hope the priceless vicente is still around.
About Sunday 14th July 1661
LKvM • Link
I have always thought that "-by" at the end of a surname meant "farm," from English "neighbor," which comes from "naher Bauer," or "near farmer," which led to "-by" meaning "farm," as in the name of my London-born friend Joe Kirkby, whose surname I took to be a location name meaning "church-farm."
I'll need to read this group of annotations many, many times to digest all these fascinating meanings of names, derivations of names being one of my favorite pursuits.
Thank you all.
About 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th July 1661
LKvM • Link
I agree completely with the annotators who noticed Sam's determination to hide his annoyance in order to keep from upsetting his beloved father.
About Sunday 7 July 1661
LKvM • Link
" . . . 1680. He then made over the house and profits to his sister Paulina who enjoyed them until her death in 1689."
Sam's sister Paulina,"Pall," is (begrudgingly) just a servant in Sam's house now. Obviously, his attitude toward her will change for the better.
About Saturday 6 July 1661
LKvM • Link
""I greedy to see the will."
"Well aren't we all.
"If this were a novel, what would you expect to happen next?"
And if this were a novel, what would you expect to be the title?
(I can't resist!) Great Expectations
About Friday 28 June 1661
LKvM • Link
Re Vicente's "Note they[Pepis] started wedded blis in a garret and one maid slepping on a trestle bed, . . ."
I don't believe they had a maid sleeping on a trestle bed in the garret days, since Sam remarks at some point that Elizabeth herself washed his dirty clothes. I believe Jane was added when they were in their first house, at the beginning of the diary.
About Wednesday 26 June 1661
LKvM • Link
Australian Susan: "Did anyone care at this time about the cruelty to the dogs the Royal Society used in their experiments?" Considering the ghastly cruelty of the public executions the populace was accustomed to seeing, probably not.
About Monday 17 June 1661
LKvM • Link
Sam seems to time himself to wind up at Lady Sandwich's for the midday meal quite regularly, even though the fare is now the cheap cuts.
I wonder what Elizabeth, as the "lady" at Sam's home, has on the house menu today. Whatever it is, presumably she will dine alone, and the rest of the "family" -- Jane, Pall, and Will -- will get her leftovers.
About Sunday 16 June 1661
LKvM • Link
The £6 it cost to transport the cloth from the Tower Wharf to the Downs will definitely eat into Sam's profit.