jeannine

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jeannine has written 14 articles:

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jeannine has written summaries for eight topics:

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jeannine has posted 1,236 annotations/comments since 16 June 2004.

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First Reading

About Monday 8 October 1666

jeannine  •  Link

Dress: Stay tuned (could be a spoiler-not sure if it makes the Diary) but ladies hemlines may also take a little climb as the queen adds her ideas to the fashion statement.

Makes me wonder-knowing the lecherous court, maybe they would welcome the mini-skirts of the 1960s? It would no doubt be marketed as their contribution to cost savings measures in this time of need. I am surprised that the Dukes of Buckingham & Rochester aren't busy at work with this one!

About A Walk with Ferrers

jeannine  •  Link

Also, did Monmouth maintain precedence after the birth of the other bastard dukes? Grafton, Richmond, St. Albans, Northumberland, Southampton—was precedence according to birth order? What about James II’s bastard, the Duke of Berwick? How did he fit in?

The answer to your second question is ‘rather complicated’ and “The Royal Whore’ (life of Lady Castlemaine’) by Allen Andrews devotes much detail to the issue of titles and precedence of Lady Castlemaine’s children. The Lady was notorious at trying to weasel all of the titles, privileges, precedence’s, highly placed spouses and money out of Charles II and did pretty well at it. However, none of them ever got moved above Monmouth.

Actually there is a rather funny little episode which takes place in 1672 when Lady C. is trying to get her sons elevated from ‘earls’ to dukes’. She begs Charles to do so for ‘his sons’ and apparently Charles looks beyond just Lady C’s sons to also includes his son by his then favored mistress, Louise de Kéroualle, the Duchess of Portsmouth (Charles Stuart) in the bunch. Andrews explains that:

“ A fantastic contest swiftly developed between the two pinchbeck duchesses as to whose offspring should gain the title first and rank as senior duke of this clutch” (p221). In the end after some fantastic politicking on the behalf of the ladies, the Duchess of Portsmouth trumps this episode and ‘the order of seniority of the three dukes, therefore became: (1) Charles Stuart, Duke of Richmond; (2) Charles Fitzroy, Duke of Southampton; (3) Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Grafton”

I can find no indication that James’ illegitimate son, the Duke of Berwick ever reached such prominence in the pecking order.

About A Walk with Ferrers

jeannine  •  Link

Humphrey,
Here is what I could find out about your first question regarding the background of Frances’ family, which is quite limited. It is from her biography “La Belle Stuart” by Cyril Hughes Hartman:

Frances “had been born during the later years of the great Civil War, of a noble Scottish family, which had considered itself bound, not only be feeling of loyalty, but also ties of blood, to stake it all in the defense of the royal House of Stuart. Though boasting only a distant collateral connection, the Blantyres were Stuarts, which means much in a country like Scotland where the clan and family spirit is so strong. With the final defeat of the King’s [Charles I] party the position of his more ardent supporters became extremely precarious, and, though Lord Blantyre himself, in spite of having been one of the ‘Engagers’ escaped punishment at the hands of the victors owing to his youth, his uncle, the Honourable Walter Stuart, M.D., 3rd son of the 1st Lord Blantyre, deemed it wisest to seek shelter abroad. In 1649, a year or so after the birth of his eldest daughter, Frances Teresa, he was able to escape with his family to France to take refuge at the Court of Queen Henrietta Maria.

Save for the fact that he was a doctor; scarcely any details are known of the career of Walter Stuart. He does not appear to have taken his degree in any Scottish or English University, and it seems probable that he gained his medical knowledge at some foreign University, such as Paris or Padua. His wife is as elusive. The only definitive facts ascertainable about her are that her Christian name was Sophia, and she had three children, Frances, Sophia, and Walter, and that she was a favoured friend of the Queen-Mother, Henrietta Maria” (p.4)

Footnote in regards to “Engagers” reads: “By the ‘Engagement’ (December 26th, 1647) the Scots undertook to restore the King by force of arms on condition of his consenting to the establishment of Presbyterianism for a period of three years.”

About Sunday 30 September 1666

jeannine  •  Link

"and there the church infinitely thronged with strangers since the fire come into our parish; but not one handsome face in all of them"

Poor people are probably displaced by the fire and who knows if all of their belonging were burnt to a crisp, but our Sam finds the ability to scour the sites and dump them into the 'bad to average' looks category! Heavens forbid that with no hot babe to dream about during the sermon that he may just be stuck actually listening to it. Life can be so difficult sometimes, surrounded by homely people, sitting through boring sermons.... but someone has to do it so it may as well be Sam~~ at least he's recording it all for us to enjoy!

About Friday 7 September 1666

jeannine  •  Link

"My Lord Bruncker, at Sir W. Batten’s, and tells us the Generall is sent for up, to come to advise with the King about business at this juncture, and to keep all quiet; which is great honour to him, but I am sure is but a piece of dissimulation"

During the plague the Duke of Albemarle was the 'go to' person who stayed in the city and kept things calm. Charles at least knows who has the leadership skills and respect of the people to manage a crisis.

About Tuesday 4 September 1666

jeannine  •  Link

What surprises me is that Sam has not mentioned anything about the smell of the fire. When our house caught on fire I smelled it long before anyone could even locate it (it was in a wall-plumber had started it). By the time it was put out (4 fire trucks and a snaked camera through the house) the worst part was the damage done by the smoke, yet Sam hasn't really dwelled on that. Not sure if the wind was blowing the smoke away from his home or if he was more interested in the damage from the actual burning. Also, wonder if they would have been concerned about smoke inhalation in those days? I can no imagine the extent of the clean up as getting rid of the smoke smell would be next to impossible without some of the clean up crews that we have today.

About Monday 3 September 1666

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"About four o’clock in the morning, my Lady Batten sent me a cart to carry away all my money, and plate, and best things"

As much as Sam trashes the Batten's, the Lady pulled through for him in a big way today.

About Sunday 2 September 1666

jeannine  •  Link

This is such an amazing historical event that Sam recorded magnificently, right down to the poor pigeons. What differs from this than his recording of the plague events is that is unfolds over a short period of time and all of the details of the actual fire are therefore ‘condensed’. It also is incredible that he had the ability to actually sit down and record it all in such detail. I am guessing that he had to do it on that day to capture it all, but we’ll never really know.

It occurred to me that it would be interesting to pull out all of Sam’s comments from the time period of the plague and put them into one document and read that. Where the plague unfolded over time, it was well detailed by Sam, but still didn’t have the punch of a short term 2 day event unfolding. Many of his comments during that episode were incredibly well written and also painted pieces of a picture of a tragedy, but were more spread out.

I do remember reading somewhere (so it’s not an original thought, but I can’t recall who to give credit to) that Sam was not always a ‘valid’ source of historical information and you had to weed through what he reported on. When he got information second hand, he wasn’t exactly a witness to it (i.e. gossip) but when he witnessed it he usually recorded things quite accurately. This is an exceptional example of ‘the truth’ as it’s the fire, albeit through his eyes, but catches the details of the event in wonderful detail and accuracy from his vantage point.

About Saturday 1 September 1666

jeannine  •  Link

Henry Killigrew --I think that Joshua is probably correct here. I must admit I'm glad we have a new little trouble maker on the scene. The Diary had gotten a little boring without the Wayneman's and Captain Ferrers of the world stirring things up, and Pembleton isn't around anymore.

I just read a bio of the Duke of Buckingham "A Rake and His Times" and we definitely have not heard the last of little Killigrew, so there will be some adventures to come!

About Friday 31 August 1666

jeannine  •  Link

"That’ll make finding the one you want fun."

Bradford, I am hopeless at locating my books and always 'sort of' know where they are, or should be, but still have trouble finding them. I would think that having them all bound alike would make it even harder!

This also reminds me of a rather interesting "decorating" idea that I recently saw in a magazine. There was a wall of floor to ceiling book shelves with the books arranged against the wall by their color. It was really like a big fun piece of art. Sort of like this but much prettier in the picture I saw
http://dclibrarylabs.org/wp-conte…

About Tuesday 28 August 1666

jeannine  •  Link

Sam and Rupert

Spolier. Sam already had a dislike for Rupert in the Diary to date and it's not clear where that actually came from (before the Diary perhaps?). Up until now Rupert probably hasn't really had any interactions with Sam to cause him to actually 'take note' of him in a serious fashion. Rupert is NOT one to be crossed.

Rupert is a dedicated 'soldier' and Sam is a dedicated 'administrator'. Both are trying to do the best that they can with the limits that they have (bad seamen, lack of provisions, funds, etc). To Jesse's point above, as Sam starts to lay his cards on the table he will find himself at greater odds with Rupert, which will be interesting to see unfold.

About Saturday 25 August 1666

jeannine  •  Link

Who wouldn't love to gaze at their newly cleaned and buffed up home (closett, office, kitchen, etc.?) where someone else has done the work! As much as we comment that Sam may have a little OCD going in the clean up department, I'm kind of jealous that I can't come home from work and find the cleaning crew waiting to take direction from me. There is something really nice about having everything in order and all nice and clean. In our house the only time the house really looks great is when we're having company. The other time our homes have looked FANTASTIC were when we were trying to sell them!

So, here is my cleaning story of the day. This is the one I use to threaten my husband and daughter to get them to pick up their things. When I was younger my mother was after my brothers to clean their room (aka, the "disaster zone"). She made some comment to my father about it and he said, 'don't worry dear, I'll see that it's spotless by 12:15". He then told my brothers to have the room totally cleaned by 12:00 and he would inspect it. They did nothing all morning and ignored him too. At 11:45 my father went into the basement and hauled 3 large metal trash cans to the bottom of the stairs that led to their room. One brother asked, "what are those for?" and my dad explained that "at 12:00 he was going to start his inspection and anything that he thought was out of place was going right into the trash can and he would then haul it off to the town dump, because if it wasn't worth putting it away properly and taking care of it, it wasn't worth having". The next 15 minutes were like an Olympic cleaning time trial, and all was put in order in lightening speed. So, when things get overwhelmingly cluttered at home, I can simply ask 'would you like to straighten up your stuff, or would you like me to get a trash barrel and do it for you?" This is probably the closest I'll ever get to having a few moments of dedicated help.

About Sunday 19 August 1666

jeannine  •  Link

"Evidently they did not yet understand that since the earth revolves around the sun"

Larry, this gave me a chuckle as we ALL know that Sam believes the world revolves around Sam (much to our enjoyment).

Does anyone remember playing a game with a flashlight as a kid where you'd make 'hand puppets' to put on a show? Many evening camping, etc. as a kid that would actually be fun entertainment.

About Wednesday 15 August 1666

jeannine  •  Link

Holmes' Bonfire? (or a spoiler if I am off in my dates)

I am traveling and don't have the Ollard book on Holmes' life but I think that this is the famous fire called "Holmes' bonfire". I know if Pedro is around he can quote the details for you, but basically Holmes went in by 'stealth' and burned down a group of ships, causing a massive bonfire in the process.

About Thursday 28 June 1666

jeannine  •  Link

“the French having some great design(whatever it is)in hand”
Didn’t Charles II and Louis XIV have some secret “understanding”? If so Sam was far from being an insider.

(little spoilier) Charles' sister Minette is Louis' sister-in-law and they corresponded quite frequently, although during the current 'war' activity those letters have slowed down a bit. In addition to having a 'close' relative in Louis' vicinity, over time Charles will take money from Louis and does enter into an agreement with him (as Mary noted) at a later date. Sam will never be an 'insider' in regards to any of that activity.

About Monday 18 June 1666

jeannine  •  Link

Thanks MR -what a shame. I would have loved to have seen a portrait of 'dad'~~would have been a father's day treat for many.

About Monday 18 June 1666

jeannine  •  Link

"Thence to Hales’s to see how my father’s picture goes on"

Does anyone know if this picture still exists? The picture of Sam is still around and the original of Elizabeth was destroyed (I believe a maid slashed it up because of her provocative dress). Not sure if the dad picture still exists or not?

About Sunday 13 May 1666

jeannine  •  Link

“Up, and walked to White Hall, where we all met to present a letter to the Duke of Yorke, complaining solemnly of the want of money, and that being done,”

This letter (too long to place here) explained that there were several important areas of want of funds and also gives a good indication of the state of the merchants who sold their items to the Navy. In the letter Sam gives the example of a hemp merchant & the sorry state of the pool of merchants in general

“A hemp merchant (that from £60 first demanded had fallen to £58, and at last was prevailed to accept £57 per ton, being reproached by us that a private person had very likely bought of the same goods at £49 10s he immediately replied that he would thankfully exchange the price he had then agreed with us for of £57 for £49 to be paid ready money, which is 16 per cent, difference.

We conceive it likewise no slight evidence of our want of money or the ill effects of it, that in his Majesty’s yards, where the constancy of the employment used to make it matter for petition to be employed there, it is now so far from being such as to be reckoned a punishment, so as the workmen are frequently found to neglect and loiter therein in design only to provoke us into discharging them”

From “the Letters of Samuel Pepys” edited by Guy De Bedoyere

About Tuesday 1 May 1666

jeannine  •  Link

"At noon, my cozen Thomas Pepys did come to me, to consult about the business of his being a justice of the Peace, which he is much against; and among other reasons, tells me, as a confidant, that he is not free to exercise punishment according to the Act against Quakers and other people, for religion. Nor do he understand Latin, and so is not capable of the place as formerly, now all warrants do run in Latin. Nor is he in Kent, though he be of Deptford parish, his house standing in Surry. However, I did bring him to incline towards it, if he be pressed to take it. I do think it may be some repute to me to have my kinsman in Commission there, specially if he behave himself to content in the country."

So Tom should go against his religious beliefs because it might be beneficial for Sam???