LKvM

Annotations and comments

LKvM has posted 191 annotations/comments since 5 November 2015.

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Third Reading

About Monday 14 October 1661

LKvM  •  Link

Thanks again, San Diego Sarah, for the quote from Sandwich's diary, which i enjoy following, and the detailed information on the locations and addressees.
Regarding calling an infant "Lady Katherine," tiny babies were called the "Duke of Whatever" etc. I read a note that Chancellor Hyde deviated from that norm when, instead of calling his daughter's royal offspring by their lordly titles, he said, "How do the children?"

About Tuesday 8 October 1661

LKvM  •  Link

Re "a frolique," could it mean the same as "a wild hair," defined as "a fervent, usually sudden, desire to do something surprising or unexpected."

About Sunday 6 October 1661

LKvM  •  Link

It was kind of Sam to invite left-alone Martha, his begrudged Valentine, over for dinner. She and Elizabeth were neighborly, going shopping together, so it made sense to include her.

About Saturday 5 October 1661

LKvM  •  Link

"Another night out with Penn... All in all the old sea dog seems to like the eager little clerk, perhaps the shared interest in music?"
No, Robert Gertz, i don't think it is the shared interest in music. I think Sam has that almost ineffable attribute of charm or charisma that makes people enjoy his company.
When he was first associated with the Navy Office, look how many times Penn and Batten took him out in the afternoon and evening. It seems to me that they were thrilled to have a new associate with a great personality. Sam is the life of every party!
Lord and Lady Sandwich are always delighted to see him, as are (spoiler) many wenches.
We all know special people like this and wish we had whatever-it-is that makes them so popular and welcome everywhere.

About Friday 27 September 1661

LKvM  •  Link

I guess the Church of England had to come up with something less insulting than the implication that a woman who had had a baby needed purification.
"Thanksgiving" for having survived, yes! I celebrated that with tears of joy yesterday, and every September 26th, 58 years after having survived eclampsia during a twin birth, in which I and the babies MIRACULOUSLY survived, and we are all still alive today.

About Thursday 26 September 1661

LKvM  •  Link

To me the comma in this passage
". . . by coach, though hard to get it, being rainy, home."
should be moved as follows:
". . . by coach, though hard to get, it being rainy, home."

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.