MartinVT
Annotations and comments
MartinVT has posted 202 annotations/comments since 10 January 2016.
The most recent first…
Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
MartinVT has posted 202 annotations/comments since 10 January 2016.
The most recent first…
Comments
Third Reading
About Saturday 27 July 1661
MartinVT • Link
Yesterday, we heard Sam's remorse about breaking his vow to abstain from wine for a week, which week has not ended yet. Today, he doesn't mention wine, but does mention merriment during dinner at the Wardrobe, then a visit to "a tavern hard by", and finally more merriment at home. So, either the vow has been forgotten entirely, or "merriment" can in fact be had in the absence of alcohol.
About Friday 26 July 1661
MartinVT • Link
"a vow to myself to drink no wine this week (finding it to unfit me to look after business)"
I wonder if this vow dates from Tuesday, when he mentioned similarly that "in the afternoon, [I found] myself unfit for business" and went to the theatre. There is no mention of drinking that day, but there was a pretty big gap in his timeline. A dry week is not a high hurdle, easier than a dry January, no vino just for one week, and he has failed already.
About Tuesday 23 July 1661
MartinVT • Link
Right, Sarah. "What does Pepys have in mind [for Pall]?" Why, marry her off, of course, as one does.
About Tuesday 23 July 1661
MartinVT • Link
The theatre in question (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gib…) was built as a tennis court. There were benches facing the stage, surrounded by one or two levels of U-shaped galleries. So when Sam "sat before" Mrs. Palmer, it is likely that he was in the gallery on one side, she was on the other side, not very distant (the building was only 30 feet wide), and he could gawk and goggle all he wanted without any unseemly twisting around in his seat.
About Monday 22 July 1661
MartinVT • Link
A view of the chapel showing its brave pictures: https://www.hatfield-house.co.uk/…
About Tuesday 16 July 1661
MartinVT • Link
*having the DTs until Sam returns*
About Monday 15 July 1661
MartinVT • Link
I hope that old Vicente is still lurking hereabouts. His comments can be dense and even impenetrable, but often illuminating, such as today in 2004: "The human does smile , smile, smile. He is the only animal that can make body language opposite to his inner thoughts."
About Monday 8 July 1661
MartinVT • Link
For readers who would like to use Sam's lapse to explore more of Phil Gyford's work, as suggested above back in '04, start at his website here: https://www.gyford.com/
Linked there is a quite recent piece by Carol Wazer on the History News Network HNN, on this history of pepysdiary.com, which you may have missed if you don't check the Site News section. Here's the link: https://www.historynewsnetwork.or….
About Monday 1 July 1661
MartinVT • Link
A fresh link to the NPG page:
https://www.npg.org.uk/collection…
See description regarding provenance and "Indian gown".
About Thursday 27 June 1661
MartinVT • Link
"Has SP ever taken Elizabeth to the theatre? She seems to be very much little wifey left at home whilest himself is out gadding with the lads and lassies!"
Todays theatrical jaunt is right after lunch at home. I suspect that Elizabeth is included in "we went and saw", he just assumes that is understood, just as her presence is to be assumed when he says "dined at home," etc.
About Tuesday 25 June 1661
MartinVT • Link
Regarding the discussion of linguistics 20 years ago: Pepysians here may be interested that Languagehat, who participated in the first reading, maintained then and still maintains today an excellent blog on linguistics, with (almost) daily posts since 2002, which you can find at https://languagehat.com/. Highly recommended!
About Wednesday 17 June 1663
MartinVT • Link
"Up before 4 o’clock, which is the hour I intend now to rise at"
This explains the opening of yesterday's entry about sleeping a tad late (due to many toasts drunk the night before no doubt). Today's entry demonstrates some kind of new resolve of industriousness on Sam's part:
-- up at the crack of dawn
-- office business
-- a little haggling with the tar guys
-- a meeting with the boss
-- a solitary lunch with only a little fiddling
-- no morning draughts, no afternoon wine or theater
-- back to the office till late
-- home and to bed
All of this is consistent with the vows he has occasionally alluded to but not shown much fortitude in keeping very long. Let's see how long this lasts.
About Tuesday 16 June 1663
MartinVT • Link
"Up, but not so early as I intend now"
I don't think Sam has mentioned it before, but apparently he has resolved to rise earlier these days. This is not so easy when, as last night, "My head akeing with the healths I was forced to drink to-day..."
About Wednesday 12 June 1661
MartinVT • Link
"At which occasion of getting something I was very glad."
Presumably, Montagu has told Sam specifically to keep some portion of the 300l. for himself. How much? Maybe we'll see. I doubt that Sam would, on his own initiative and without authorization, skim something for himself out of the 300l. allowance. Generally when Sam uses "getting something" we need to understand it as "earning something," and not "stealing something." Montagu himself has previously schooled Sam on the ways of building wealth, including this practice.
About Friday 7 June 1661
MartinVT • Link
Just another small data point on the sociolinguistic conversation around "dinner" — growing up in the Netherlands in the latter half of the 1950s, we generally ate the main meal (potatoes, vegetables and meat, in that order of consideration) mid-day, and secondary meals in the morning and early evening (usually just bread, butter, and something on the bread like cheese, ham, jam, etc.). At some point, maybe 1958, we switched to an evening dinner. I suspect that in my family's centuries-long farming roots, the main meal/dinner had always been mid-day and that this was the first time that transition (described in the OED as occurring in the 1890s) was made.
About Thursday 6 June 1661
MartinVT • Link
"My head hath aked all night, and all this morning, with my last night’s debauch."
And then several trips "by water", which must have been a trial. No mention of lunch, consequently.
About Saturday 1 June 1661
MartinVT • Link
The link for "my Lady" goes to Jemima Mountagu. It seems more likely that Sam means Mrs. Batten, no?
About Wednesday 29 May 1661
MartinVT • Link
Just to reiterate the point of Emilio's post from 2004, which may have been missed by subsequent commenters still focused on "new matter" — L&M apparently have this as:
"He reads all, and his sermon very simple, but I looked for no better" — which makes a lot more sense in the context of Sam's view of Radcliffe's youth and inexperience.
About Mrs Shipman
MartinVT • Link
According to a footnote in "Everybody's Pepys", Mrs. Shipman "was a friend of the Battens at Walthamstow, where she owned a large dairy."
About Sunday 26 May 1661
MartinVT • Link
"a good sermon at our own church, where I have not been a great many weeks"
I had noticed that on Sundays Sam has tended to be elsewhere for quite a while; now in his home church (where he shared the expenses of a special pew) twice in one day! And as ever, the stranger preached a dull sermon in the p.m.