Monday 5 January 1662/63
Up and to the Duke, who himself told me that Sir J. Lawson was come home to Portsmouth from the Streights, who is now come with great renown among all men, and, I perceive, mightily esteemed at Court by all. The Duke did not stay long in his chamber; but to the King’s chamber, whither by and by the Russia Embassadors come; who, it seems, have a custom that they will not come to have any treaty with our or any King’s Commissioners, but they will themselves see at the time the face of the King himself, be it forty days one after another; and so they did to-day only go in and see the King; and so out again to the Council-chamber.
The Duke returned to his chamber, and so to his closett, where Sir G. Carteret, Sir J. Minnes, Sir W. Batten, Mr. Coventry, and myself attended him about the business of the Navy; and after much discourse and pleasant talk he went away. And I took Sir W. Batten and Captain Allen into the wine cellar to my tenant (as I call him, Serjeant Dalton), and there drank a great deal of variety of wines, more than I have drunk at one time, or shall again a great while, when I come to return to my oaths, which I intend in a day or two. Thence to my Lord’s lodging, where Mr. Hunt and Mr. Creed dined with us, and were very merry. And after dinner he and I to White Hall, where the Duke and the Commissioners for Tangier met, but did not do much: my Lord Sandwich not being in town, nobody making it their business. So up, and Creed and I to my wife again, and after a game or two at cards, to the Cockpitt, where we saw “Claracilla,” a poor play, done by the King’s house (but neither the King nor Queen were there, but only the Duke and Duchess, who did show some impertinent and, methought, unnatural dalliances there, before the whole world, such as kissing, and leaning upon one another); but to my very little content, they not acting in any degree like the Duke’s people. So home (there being here this night Mrs. Turner and Mrs. Martha Batten of our office) to my Lord’s lodgings again, and to a game at cards, we three and Sarah, and so to supper and some apples and ale, and to bed with great pleasure, blessed be God!
37 Annotations
First Reading
Bradford • Link
"into the wine cellar . . . and there drank a great deal of variety of wines": another episode in the history of the liquid lunch. The conjunction with "apples and ale" calls to mind the old wine-seller's adage: "Buy wine on apples, sell it with cheese."
Australian Susan • Link
What a dizzy day! Sam seems to flit about all over the place and cram a vast amount of activity into a small amount of time. And how did he come to be able to have free rein in the King's Wine Cellar? Is it because the Serjeant is under an obligation to Sam? Did Sam sell the Axe Yard lease at a knock-down price to Dalton?
Note that Sam for a few days now has been talking about renewing his oaths any day now, but somehow, hasn't quite screwed himself up to actually taking the oaths!
All these card games - anyone know what they would have been playing? And was it for money?
Australian Susan • Link
The Duke seems to be turning up for the Monday meetings more often recently. Maybe the weather is too bad for hunting.
Robert Gertz • Link
Strolls into the royal wine cellar and makes merry...? Talk about connections.
"Excuse me?" Charles looks up. Castlemaine managing a stern glance from the floor. Several bottles of choice vintage scattered about.
Ah..Ah...Ah...Ah...Batten looks at Pepys who looks at Dalton who maintains a disciplined air.
"Your Majesty." The Serjeant makes deep bow. "Mr. Pepys and Sir William expressed an interest in touring the royal cellar. My abject apologies for not informing you beforehand."
"Oh... Yes, well." Charles waves a lace-trimmed wrist. "Carry on, Dalton. Batten, Pepys...Good to see you. Jamie tells me things are going swimmingly at the Naval Office. (Haw, haw) Have a good look round, quite a place."
"Your Majesty." Pepys and Batten manage to squeak, backing away in bow state.
Castlemaine eyeing them narrowly...
***
I take the party-Sam, Bess, Jane Turner, Martha Batten camped out tonight in the Montagus' Wardrobe lodging?...
But he and Jem are out in the country...
"Pepys? Dear Cousin Elisabeth? Mrs...Yes, Turner. And..."
"Martha Batten, my lord. Daughter to Sir Will, my lord." Martha nervously.
"Yes. To what do we owe this...Unexpected pleasure?"
"Me lor'..." Sarah steps in. Having sampled a little too much of the ale...Again.
"Mr. Peeps wuz over with his Missus and com fer dinner with Mr. Cree...d, Sir Will, some Capt'n and Mr...er...Whichever. And they all comes back from their plays...Sumadem and Mr. Peeps says 'les have us a lil' ale and apppples, Sarah.' and I says..."
"Yes, certainly. Always glad to have you, Samuel. I hope you enjoyed your stay. Sarah, I'd like a word with you after our guests...Leave."
Robert Gertz • Link
Jamie and Anne kissing and leaning on each other at the play? Would be great to hear Bess' take...
Geesh Sam would you prefer Jamie flaunting a mistress?
"But my God, Bess. It was his own wife!"
Yeah, I know it's unconventional, embarrassing to make such a public display. But I would say I like Jamie more and more, at least as a human being...
A. Hamilton • Link
unnatural dalliances
such as kissing, and leaning upon one another
Samuel Prig speaking. Better Georges Brassens:
Les amoureux qui s'bécott'nt sur les bancs publics
Bancs publics, bancs publics
En s'fouttant pas mal du regard oblique
Des passants honnêtes
Les amoureux qui s'bécott'nt sur les bancs publics
Bancs publics, bancs publics
En s'disant des "Je t'aime" pathétiques
Ont des p'tit's gueul' bien sympatiques
http://www.georges-brassens.com/b…
Les Amoureux des bancs publics
daniel • Link
Apples and ale
sounds good, I think I'll have that too!
jeannine • Link
Robert, Perhaps James may be playing Mr. Sweetie to his wife in public to cover up the latest gossip about Lady Chesterfield??? I am sure that she has heard the rumors about Lady C. being quickly brought to "the country home" by her husband to get her away from James's clutches. Anne Hyde was nobody's fool and VERY aware of James' and his playing around, so perhaps he's tryuing to get out of the dog house??
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
On another note, as we've seen before, sometimes the audience antics are more entertaining than the play.
jeannine • Link
And as for you Mr. Hamilton, I'll turn to that comic genius Steve Martin who once said....
"Boy, those French, they have a different word for everything" ...
Thanks for the poem!
A. De Araujo • Link
"impertinent and unnatural dalliances"
I wonder if the audience had the same reaction or if it was the Puritan in Sam who was scandalized.
Terry F • Link
"Sir J. Lawson...come...from the Streights...with great renown among all men, and, I perceive, mightily esteemed at Court by all" and to the great envy of Sandwich, who had had his own time in the Mediterranean (the rivalry was bared by Sandwich to Pepys on 27 June):
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
in Aqua Scripto • Link
The Wine cellar be off the Great Hall, the pantry across the road from the Great Hall. The Kings suite is over looking the Tems.
The Council chambers be off the Court Yard, along with the Treasury Chamberbehind the Banqueting House
There be a wardrobe, off Whitehall at the Palace Gates,, just before Banqueting Hall, it consists of 5 rooms, a large area over looking the Palace Gates plus a large room fronting the street of White hall. Kings has Laboratory & Bath[yes b, no v in text]
[from the plan of the palace].
in Aqua Scripto • Link
If the Cockpit be a stones throw away from the Banketing hall, the Axe a few yards the other way. Then I dothe think Sandwiches Place be in part of the Complex[known as the Wardrobe] along with all the HRH's and those other big Lords, such [this list,] 4 D Richmond, 5 D Monmouth, 6 D Ormond ,7 D Albemarle,8 Earl of Bath, 9 Earl of Lauderdale, 10 L Peterbourough, 11 Lord Gerrard, 12 Lord Croft, 13 Lord Belaise, 14 Lord Chamberlain,37 Mr Hyde, 38 Mr Povey
39 Mr Clayfinch, 40 Sir William Killigrew, 41 Sir Francis Clinton,
42 Dr Frazier.
Terry F • Link
in Aqua Scripto, do you read from the 1680 map you so very helpfully added to the Whitehall info page?!
On Jan. 1 L&M noted that Lady Castlemaine’s house was next door to Sandwich’s on King Street; the Roque map of 1746, which is a different London puts many things in (still) other places.
(in time...)
in Aqua Scripto • Link
This Plan marks Palmer as being sandwiched between Monmouth, Ormonde and Albermarle, back from The street, at indicatator 32
Ruben • Link
for card games look at "entertainment" in background info.
for a famous picaresque card game painting (not Pepys stile, God forbid!) look at:
http://www.abcgallery.com/C/carav…
Pauline • Link
'Sam for a few days now has been talking about renewing his oaths any day now'
Man after my own heart. But he is obviously still celebrating the Christmas holiday. When do the twelve days of Christmas end?
Terry F • Link
"When do the twelve days of Christmas end?"
In the Western-rite churches they end on January 6, Epiphany, or Three King's Day, the festival of Christ's birth in Eastern-rite churches (~Orthodox Christmas).
Xjy • Link
Twelfth Night
That´s today. End of Saturnalia. Public holiday in Lutheran Sweden.
Strange with all these card games that Sam never seems to bother to mention who wins. Maybe he keeps his competitive streak for things that matter?
Xjy • Link
Twelfth Night (correction)
Oops. The Night was yesterday, the Eve of today's public holiday, aka Epiphany in some countries. Happy Orthodox Christmas going on in some other countries.
A quick rundown at
http://www.christmascarnivals.com…
which gives an allegorical interpretation of the carol about the Twelve Days.
No mention of the Twentieth Day which Swedes often talk about "Thirteen-Day Canute" (trettondag Knut).
Ernst Dinkla • Link
“impertinent and unnatural dalliances”
It was more the line in Chicago Chicago that came to my mind. I see little irony in Samual's diary, any evidence it was different in real life ?
On state street that great street I just want to say
They do things that they don’t do on Broadway - say
They have the time the time of their life
I saw a man and he danced with his wife
In Chicago, my home town
Pedro • Link
“impertinent and unnatural dalliances”
Obviously when you are up there at the top of the tree, you don’t need to worry about “being much afeard of being seen by anybody”.
Australian Susan • Link
Isn't the problem with what the D of Y was doing was not that it was with his wife, but that he was doing it at all - in a very public place? Although, I agree it was probably a deliberate political move on Anne's part, who seems to have been an intelligent person and made no false moves in the fickle and changeable world of the Royal Court.
Terry F • Link
What was true of Palmer in 1680 was not in 1662, evidently -- or so L&M, -- and we know there are changes in time and the randy conduct of the Court grew increasingy public as C II's reign went on.
in Aqua Scripto, the 1680 diagram is WONDERFUL! http://www.londonancestor.com/map…
dirk • Link
Letter from Lord Peterborough to Sandwich
Written from: Tangier
Date: 5 January 1663
Mentions the long delay of expected supplies from England for Tangier. Acquaints Lord Sandwich with some plans of fortification against the Moors. Adds particulars of a projected reduction of the expense of the Cavalry at Tangier; the saving to be applied "to the other works". ...
Source:
Bodleian Library
http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/s…
Second Reading
Bill • Link
"I took Sir W. Batten and Captain Allen into the wine cellar to my tenant"
Wheatley says that the captain referred to is: Sir Thomas Allin http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…
Sasha Clarkson • Link
"So home (Blah) to my Lord’s lodgings again, "
This was NOT going home to Seething lane, as the link in the text implies, nor, as some think, was it Sandwich's apartment in the King's Great Wardrobe* (which Lady S, seems to have made her own city pad.) The lodging referred to was Sandwich's grace and favour apartment in Whitehall Palace, which he acquired during the Commonwealth and retained after the restoration. In Lord S's absence, Pepys is using it as a temporary pad himself, and entertaining friends and colleagues.
* http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…
Bill • Link
When I was younger, I once house-sat for a friend whose abode was much grander than my own. I even entertained other friends there. Nice work if you can get it.
Lex Lector • Link
Apples and Ale = "Sheeps' Wool": winter drink, especially in the Yorkshire Pennines. Mulled ale - heated in the mug with a poker from the coals of the fire, with stewed (foamy) spiced apple stirred in. Yum! on a cold night....
Bill • Link
@Lex:
A NOTTINGHAMSHIRE correspondent tells us, that, when he was a school boy, the practice on Christmas-eve was to roast apples on a string till they dropt into a large bowl of spiced ale, which is the whole Composition of "Lamb's Wool."
---The Gentleman's Magazine, Volume 55. 1784.
LAMBS-WOOL. Ale mixed with the pulp of roasted apples.
---A Dictionary Of The English Language. Samuel Johnson, 1756.
Bill • Link
And then we have:
Lamb's Wool: http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…
San Diego Sarah • Link
I found this annotation which might explain why the Duke of York was so attentive this evening:
✹ Bill on 13 Sep 2015 • Link
“my Lady Chesterfield is gone into the country for it” Peter Cunningham thinks that this banishment was only temporary, for, according to the Grammont Memoirs, Elizabeth Butler Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield was in town when the Russian ambassador was in London, December, 1662, and January, 1663.
San Diego Sarah • Link
Charles II's LABORATORY
In a book I read on Sir Robert Moray and the founding of the Royal Society, it says ... "Moray was chosen to preside at many of the early gatherings of the Royal Society (his combination of genuine scientific enthusiasm and connection to Charles II, who set up his own laboratory near Moray's rooms, proving irresistibly attractive), ..." and in a book on St. James' Palace it said Charles II's bedroom had an open door policy (when he was dying, about 80 people were in the room). His only privacy was in a small closet next door, where he kept his collection of samples. So Charles embraced learning, and would have welcomed a flush toilet had they been available.
Bill • Link
I chopped up an apple that I had roasted with brown sugar and cinnamon and put it into a warmed-up Belgian ale. Dang, it was good! The apple bits floating on top even looked like lamb's wool.
Terry Foreman • Link
"Up and to the Duke, who himself told me that Sir J. Lawson was come home to Portsmouth from the Streights, who is now come with great renown among all men, and, I perceive, mightily esteemed at Court by all."
L&M: The new standing of this ex-Anabaptist and ex-Republican was due to his treaties with the Moors: https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… and https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… and https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
On 29 December 1662 he had been granted a pension of £500 p.a.:CSPD 1661-2, p. 605.
Terry Foreman • Link
"The Duke did not stay long in his chamber; but to the King’s chamber, whither by and by the Russia Embassadors come; who, it seems, have a custom that they will not come to have any treaty with our or any King’s Commissioners, but they will themselves see at the time the face of the King himself, be it forty days one after another; and so they did to-day only go in and see the King; and so out again to the Council-chamber."
L&M: For the embassy, see https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… and https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
Russian protocol required their envoys to see the King before negotiating with his agent: see Sir J. Finett, Finetti Philoxenis (1656), p. 47.
Terry Foreman • Link
"to the Cockpitt, where we saw “Claracilla,” a poor play, done by the King’s house (but neither the King nor Queen were there, but only the Duke and Duchess, who did show some impertinent and, methought, unnatural dalliances there, before the whole world, such as kissing, and leaning upon one another); but to my very little content, they not acting in any degree like the Duke’s people."
L&M: It is generally agreed that the Duke of York's Company were superior to the King's Company.