WKW on 24 Apr 2003  •  Link

Though it has been clarified before, it bears repeating (mainly because I keep forgetting) that a "character" means a "code or cipher," or by extension a coded message.
Amid the word's many other meanings, by Johnson's time someone of Pepys's standing could write out "a character" for a former employee seeking a new post---i.e., a letter of recommendation, a reference.

Eric Walla on 24 Apr 2003  •  Link

This entry clearly shows ...

... the release of tension that has been in the air since Lambert escaped the Tower and the fanatiques resumed their strut. Surely they NOW believe that the Gods are on their side. They weren't too sure there for a while.

We all naturally have our own built-in plot spoilers since we know how things came out. I think it much too easy to discount the uncertainty behind these men's actions on behalf of the Restoration and their fear that the tide could turn again.

Glyn on 24 Apr 2003  •  Link

For example, Pepys wrote "characters" for his boss George Downing on 25 and 28 January, shortly before Downing left for Europe.

Bill-in-Georgia on 25 Apr 2003  •  Link

Character

But what was the message? Surely important. Our Sam seems quite discreet about putting his boss's business into his diary.

Query: Does Sam's method of writing his diary qualify as a character or was it just a form of shorthand? If not a character, why didn't he use one?

Mary on 25 Apr 2003  •  Link

Character vs. shorthand

Sam's diary is written in a slightly personalised version of Shelton's 'Short Writing and Tachygraphy', which was published in London in 1626. (See L&M Vol 1, pp. xlviii ff.). It was designed to enable people to write quickly rather than secretly.

The character that Sam uses when writing out confidential letters for Mountagu is a code, designed to preserve secrecy. It is plainly a laborious process to turn plain text into character and we saw, in the earlier entries, that on occasion Sam did not manage to encode his exemplars to Mountagu's satisfaction and had to do the work over again.

Presumably Sam's reason for choosing to use shorthand for the diary is that he was primarily interested in immediacy of record ( with an element of discretion) rather than secrecy at the expense of immediacy.

Matthew on 25 Apr 2003  •  Link

"So I spent all the day about it" - yet he was only given the job in the afternoon. Along with "great large" is this an indication of petulance at being given excessive work?

Nix on 25 Apr 2003  •  Link

Uncertainty --

Consider Samuel's situation in light of the current state of affairs in Iraq (sorry to bring the 21st century into this): The repressive government has fallen, various groups of "fanatiques" are competing for influence, and nobody knows how it will come out. I'm not trying to make some political point, but only to emphasize Eric's insight about reading this in light of the author who did not know the end of the story.

M.Stolzenbach on 25 Apr 2003  •  Link

Loved this sentence:

"And every man begins to be merry and full of hopes. "

Paul Brewster on 25 Apr 2003  •  Link

L&M Footnote on the song-book:
"Playford's Select ayres and dialogues (1659), pp. 112-113, has Thomas Brewer's new setting of James Shirley's lyric 'Turn Amaryllis to thy swain' (Schoole of complement, 1631, p. 37)."

Warren Keith Wright on 25 Apr 2003  •  Link

Born in London in 1611, Thomas Brewer, composer and viol player, served in the household of Sir Nicholas Lestrange at some point in his career; he seems to have died sometime between 1660 and 1670. Aside from instrumental works, he wrote a good many airs and catches. "His best-known song," says "New Grove" (3.273), "is probably the glee 'Turn, Amaryllis, to thy swain'".
Anyone have any luck finding the Shirley text?

Paul Brewster on 26 Apr 2003  •  Link

Turne Amaryllis
Here's what I've found so far although not in the place referenced by L&M:
The treasury of musick (1669):
Turn Amarillis to thy Swain turn Amarillis to thy Swain, turn Amarillis to thy Swain, thy Damon calls thee back again, thy Damon calls thee back again: Here is a pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty Arbour by, where Apollo, where Apollo, where Apollo, where Apollo, cannot cannot spy, where Apollo cannot spy. Here let's sit, and whilst I play, sing to my Pipe, sing to my Pipe, sing to my Pipe, sing to my Pipe, sing to my Pipe a Rounddelay; sing to my Pipe, sing to my Pipe, sing to my Pipe a Rounddelay. (From the English Poetry Database)

Paul Brewster on 26 Apr 2003  •  Link

Another less elaborate source for "Turne Amarillis" with pretty much the same general idea
Catch that Catch can (1652):
Turne Amarillis to thy Swaine, thy Damon calls thee back againe. Here is a pretty pretty Arbor by, where Apollo, cannot spy: there lets sit, and whilst I play, sing to my pipe a round delay. (Again the English Poetry Database)

Terry Foreman on 17 Apr 2013  •  Link

Phil has provided an Also on this day link to Wills In Earl’s Colne, Essex (above, right) , the form and particulars of which wills I recommend you read. Clicking on a name there and see all the wills he (most often) made. The link today:
http://linux02.lib.cam.ac.uk/earl…

Bryan on 25 Apr 2013  •  Link

"And every man begins to be merry and full of hopes."

On the uncertainty mentioned by Eric and Nix above, Wikipedia have a nice, two-sentence summary of the political events over the last 6 months:

"After the second dissolution of the Rump, in October 1659, the prospect of a total descent into anarchy loomed as the Army's pretence of unity finally dissolved into factions. Into this atmosphere General George Monck, Governor of Scotland under the Cromwells, marched south with his army from Scotland."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engl…

Very few, apart from Lambert, were keen to re-ignite the civil wars.

Bill on 25 Apr 2013  •  Link

More info on "Turn Amaryllis" recently in the Encyclopedia>Entertainment>Music>Songs

Terry Foreman on 10 Apr 2017  •  Link

"news of Lambert’s being taken, which news was brought to London on Sunday last. He was taken in Northamptonshire by Colonel Ingoldsby, at the head of a party, by which means their whole design is broke, and things now very open and safe."

This was the last rising of the fanatics before the Restoration, and the last fling of their most dangerous leader. Col. Richard Ingoldsby, at the head of a detachment of regulars, reinforced by militia, came up with the rebels near Daventry on the 22nd. Lambert and his principal supporters were taken without a fight; the rest fled. The news was conveyed to Mountagu in a letter from Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, London, 23 April: Sandwich MSS, Letters from Ministers, i.f.23r. (L&M footnote)

During the English Civil War, the army of King Charles I stayed at Daventry in 1645 after storming the Parliamentary garrison at Leicester and on its way to relieve the siege of Oxford. However, Parliament's newly formed New Model Army, led by Sir Thomas Fairfax, was marching north from besieging Oxford after being instructed to engage the king's main army. Fairfax's leading detachments of horse clashed with Royalist outposts near Daventry on 12 June, alerting the king to the presence of the Parliamentary army. The Royalists made for their reinforcements at Newark-on-Trent but after reaching Market Harborough turned to fight, which resulted in the decisive Battle of Naseby. The village of Naseby is approximately 14 miles (23 km) northeast of Daventry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dav…

Terry Foreman on 25 Apr 2023  •  Link

Where the Naseby probably is today:

San Diego Sarah posted on the 20th:
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

I see no one answered the other half of Judy Bailey's question: "the steady stream of visitors, who I assumed were following along the shore, would end. Or is it likely that all of these visitors were from other ships traveling with them and they were simply moving from ship to ship as visitors?"

My best guess is that the Naseby is anchored somewhere near Dover behind the Goodwin Sands. Couriers arrive at Dover on horseback, gentry by coach, and they get rowed out to visit the Admiral when invited aboard -- to pick up warrents for travel or orders, or to visit on business.

They are not sightseers, guests or hangers-on. No wives.

Montagu's orders are to defend the coast and London from attack, but as Pepys can attest, the Naseby isn't water-tight yet. It's early in the fighting season and the weather is bad, so an attack is unlikely. That was Monck's cover story to justify having someone he trusts monitoring the traffic over the channel from the most popular port -- Dover to Calais is only 20 miles -- and be ready when ready is necessary. Which isn't yet.

San Diego Sarah on 25 Apr 2023  •  Link

Terry, today I discovered another reason Montagu may be at Dover/Deal -- Wikipedia has a list of governors of Dover Castle, which is the logical place for keeping an eye on who is sailing where locally -- particularly to the Continent. For some reason no one is listed between 1657 and 1660.

In another place I found out that the regicide John Dixwell (cousin to the Basil Dixwell Pepys mentions around this time) was the acting Governor of Dover Castle during Lambert's Uprising.

Lambert made trouble twice, and I don't know which Uprising the note refers to, or was it to both?
Assuming it was the one in Feb. 1660, Monck/Parliament had the choice of a regicide or noone keeping an eye on the Cavaliers zipping back and forth across the Channel.

When Monck could, he sent Montagu, in their very best but leaky ship. (I wonder if Montagu had a secret mandate not to let the likes of Dixwell and Milton escape?)

Royalist Heneage Finch, 3rd Earl of Winchilsea 1660 (may have been either the father or son or a combination, as the '3rd Earl of Winchilsea' could refer to either) was presumably appointed by Charles II when he took over the administration in June 1660.

This is so much fun!

https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

Stephane Chenard on 26 Apr 2023  •  Link

Wherever the Naseby sits, its location and lack of movement make it easy to reach. We noted recently that a letter was being written in Dover for my Lord's attention; the State Papers show that within 24 hours of its dateline, Montagu has got it and is writing his response. Of course, Dover's not far, but the courier still had to sail around the sand banks and then row, back and forth.

Peering into the future, we found an opinion piece from a naval expert in Defense News on the merits of "dedicated command ships" [https://www.defensenews.com/opini…]. Sam is on a "dedicated command ship" now, and we phant'sy he would totally connect with that article, so could someone put it on the next packet from Dover? It says "cramming a senior admiral or general, staff, and radio [ahem, copyist] needs into a combatant ship" ain't no good, as the former have to fit in the tars' spartan cabins (ah, the London's "much bigger" state-room, even if "not so rich") and wet bunks, and the combatant is now less able to combat - in our case, as Susan remarked we seem to be missing our full crew of over 200.

Making a flagship into an admiral's palace also makes it an higher-value target. England's not at war right now, but imagine a fire-ship showing up during one of these merry all-captains parties. That, of course, may well be 2023 thinking; right now, the admiral is fully expected to fight anyway, isn't he. And as we know (or suspect), command-ship only describes part of the Naseby's mission at this time...