Thursday 29 January 1662/63

Lay chiding, and then pleased with my wife in bed, and did consent to her having a new waistcoate made her for that which she lost yesterday. So to the office, and sat all the morning. At noon dined with Mr. Coventry at Sir J. Minnes his lodgings, the first time that ever I did yet, and am sorry for doing it now, because of obliging me to do the like to him again. Here dined old Captn. Marsh of the Tower with us. So to visit Sir W. Pen, and then to the office, and there late upon business by myself, my wife being sick to-day. So home and to supper and to bed.


24 Annotations

First Reading

language hat  •  Link

No commentary?
Everyone too shocked by the blatant sexual content?

in Aqua Scripto  •  Link

new waist coate, third time lucky.

Australian Susan  •  Link

Way to go, Beth!

A. Hamilton  •  Link

Lay chiding, and then pleased

Beth not without her weapons in this relationship

Todd Bernhardt  •  Link

re: No commentary?

Yeah, I know what you mean, LH -- Sam's usually circumspect about their dalliances, but this seems pretty forthright. I wonder if her later "sickness" has anything to do with their morning activities? (Given Elizabeth's "troubles"...)

Sam really doesn't like Minnes at all, does he? At least he seemed to enjoy the Sir Williams at the beginning of his relationship with them, but he's never warmed up to Sir John.

in Aqua Scripto  •  Link

How many young upward mobile Men like a Gent that be ready for feeding daisies [not many]. It be part of the old/young Lion syndrome, Off with old, on with the new. The Japanese have a word that, I cannot remember the name for those that wait for their pension, as the sap/fire be gone.

in Aqua Scripto  •  Link

"...because of obliging me to do the like to him again..."
Syrus doth say :
"Optime positum est beneficium ube meminit qui accepit"
or in saxon
'it is best to do favours for peeple with good memories'
Once thy accept a freebie then ye have to pay with a lot more, a very slippery slope.
Obligations are very entrapping .

Miss Ann fr Home  •  Link

Well, well, well. First chiding her for her loss and then succumbing to her feminine wiles - wives have been employing this tactic for many, many centuries and their husbands have been more than ready to submit. The more things change the more they stay the same!

Sam I know exactly how you feel, having recently agreeing to have lunch with an old friend's ex-wife, just to show his kids that I am not taking sides in their family troubles. Hopefully will not have to do that again, no bonding at all with the woman and still can't come to terms with a mother deserting her children just because she would rather salsa dance in Cuba! I wonder if mothers ran away for such frivolous reasons in Sam's day?

I bet "old Captain Marsh of the Tower" has some interesting anecdotes, maybe add him to the dinner party list?

A. Hamilton  •  Link

rather salsa dance in Cuba

Dear Miss Ann

Well, I hope YOU are keeping a diary for posterity. Sounds like The Bolter to me.

A. Hamilton  •  Link

the name for those that wait for their pension

Will "placeholder" do?

I think Sam's distance with Sir J. Minnes, as differenced from his relations with Sir. W. Batten and Sir W. Penn, lies in the Comptroller's coming later to Seething Lane, after Sam has begun to taste power (and begun to have friction with the Sirs W. over various work factors), and in the famous friction over rooms, he being more of a threat to Sam's physical territory than the others.

alanB.  •  Link

If this is captain Marsh of the Tower as in "below the walls" where Sam has recently been digging looking for his pension - then it certainly benefits everyone to stay on good terms with him. His father and son inherit the post and who knows who might end up within the walls reminding the captain of great meals together.

jean-paul buquet  •  Link

Amakudari
Re: the Japanese word for the revolving door retirement mechanism... you may be possibly alluding to 'amakudari'. Googling it should give you many hits.

Nate  •  Link

the name for those that wait for their pension

We call it "retired in place".

Any other names for it?

Nate

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Hmmn...It could be the "pleased" was just that she cracked jokes in rapid-fire French until our boy laughed so hard the breakfast ale came out his nose.

Then again...Perhaps Tomalin's got Bess wrong on sex.

jeannine  •  Link

On a lighter note...

1. Can't help thinking how many fact driven Sam fans are thinking, "What a great idea, I never thought of that.. so I wake her up really early, start ranting at her about something and see what she'll do to shut me up so she can go back to sleep. And if I'm really smart I won't even have to throw in the waistecoate (or todays' equivalent). It might just be a good day after all." And just think, you can write it off to historical research to verify if it's as accurate and effective a strategy in 2006 as it was in 1663!

2. Miss Ann, perhaps you may want to consider this different point of view. Based on my limited talents, if I came home and wanted to Salsa Dance my family would buy me a plane ticket to Cuba(one way) and not allow me to return until I got it out of my system! Maybe it's better to have mom making a fool of herself elsewhere!
And seriously, but sadly, in Sam's day there were many women who did abandon their children ~~ for a variety of reasons ~~affairs, vanity, stupidity, economics or as a widow wanting to remarry someone else (ie. Isaac Newton's mother left him at a young age to remarry, and it scarred him for life). Then, as well as now, if a child was lucky, the father, or other family members would pull together for the good of the child.

Terry F  •  Link

Minnes (Mennes) has not (so far) regaled Sam with old Navy tales like the Sir Wms did even since he (SP) cooled toward them - Sir John is a cold fish.

Terry F  •  Link

(All right, I know - all fish are cold until they are cooked.)

in Aqua Scripto  •  Link

Yes Remember, the cod's head meal

Bradford  •  Link

But can you continue to get ahead---or just stay running in the same place---if you don't return the hospitality of people you don't like? Would Mr. Coventry (speak the name in the proper tone of respect, please) even think (emphatic exhalation of breath) such a thing?

Not shocked, L. Hat. Pleased for both parties investigating the physical principles underlying "the most natural conjunction of the male and female bodies," as Dr. Pangloss used to say.

Glynn Jones  •  Link

R.O.A.D.

Retired On Active Duty

Michelle Branch  •  Link

"Lay chidding, pleased with my wife in bed" wow sounds somewhat like pepys was satisfied and trying not to leave his wife. regretting in some way what he had done to her with cheating on her all the time. Ireconcileable differences? I think not!

dirk  •  Link

Letter from Thomas Beckman to Sandwich

Written from: Tangier
Date: 29 January 1663

Reports the state of the forts in process of construction at Tangier, and the need of timber and other stores.

Source:
Bodleian Library
http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/s…

Second Reading

JayW  •  Link

Re Michelle's comment above. We haven't yet seen signs of Sam 'cheating on her all the time'. An appreciation of beauty in other women, yes, but so far that's about it. Unless others have been noticing more than I?

JayW  •  Link

Just remembered there was an episode while Bess was away during the time of the work on he house.

Log in to post an annotation.

If you don't have an account, then register here.