Wednesday 21 October 1663
Up, and by and by comes my brother Tom to me, though late (which do vex me to the blood that I could never get him to come time enough to me, though I have spoke a hundred times; but he is very sluggish, and too negligent ever to do well at his trade I doubt), and having lately considered with my wife very much of the inconvenience of my going in no better plight, we did resolve of putting me into a better garb, and, among other things, to have a good velvet cloake; that is, of cloth lined with velvet and other things modish, and a perruque, and so I sent him and her out to buy me velvet, and I to the Exchange, and so to Trinity House, and there dined with Sir W. Batten, having some business to speak with him, and Sir W. Rider. Thence, having my belly full, away on foot to my brother’s, all along Thames Streete, and my belly being full of small beer, I did all alone, for health’s sake, drink half a pint of Rhenish wine at the Still-yard, mixed with beer.
From my brother’s with my wife to the Exchange, to buy things for her and myself, I being in a humour of laying out money, but not prodigally, but only in clothes, which I every day see that I suffer for want of, I so home, and after a little at my office, home to supper and to bed.
Memorandum: This morning one Mr. Commander, a scrivener, came to me from Mr. Moore with a deed of which. Mr. Moore had told me, that my Lord had made use of my name, and that I was desired by my Lord to sign it. Remembering this very well, though understanding little of the particulars, I read it over, and found it concern Sir Robt. Bernard and Duckinford, their interest in the manor of Brampton. So I did sign it, declaring to Mr. Commander that I am only concerned in having my name at my Lord Sandwich’s desire used therein, and so I sealed it up after I had signed and sealed the deed, and desired him to give it so sealed to Mr. Moore. I did also call at the Wardrobe this afternoon to have told Mr. Moore of it, but he was not within, but knowing Mr. Commander to have the esteem of a good and honest man with my Lord Crew, I did not doubt to intrust him with the deed after I had signed it.
This evening after I came home I begun to enter my wife in arithmetique, in order to her studying of the globes, and she takes it very well, and, I hope, with great pleasure, I shall bring her to understand many fine things.
15 Annotations
First Reading
Terry F • Link
"we did resolve of putting me into a better garb, and...to have ..a perruque"
pe·ruke n.
A wig, especially one worn by men in the 17th and 18th centuries; a periwig. [French perruque, from Old French, head of hair, from Old Italian perrucca.]
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/…
An illustration of one à la mode Louis XIV http://www.costumes.org/history/l…
Recall it was Louis' premature balding that led him to wear and popularize wigs.
Todd Bernhardt • Link
"and my belly being full of small beer, I did all alone, for health's sake, drink half a pint of Rhenish wine at the Still-yard, mixed with beer"
Sounds absolutely foul ... still, if it's "for health's sake," then our boy is justified in breaking his vows, I suppose...
Bradford • Link
Todd, precedent may be found (as for all things) in Scripture: "Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities."---I Timothy 5:23.
(This is not Timothy's advice to somebody else, but St. Paul's advice to him, and who would dispute Paul's word?)
(Speaking of precedent, wanna bet the next entry will point out that Paul was probably not the author of I Timothy?)
Xjy • Link
Ah, what better student than one's loving childwife? And she can snuggle as close as she likes...
Bob T • Link
The thought of Sam and Elizabeth studying her globes, conjures up a mixed picture in most minds I'm sure.
JWB • Link
"...enter my wife in arithematique'"
Perhaps Sam's become an evangelical Pythagorean. Would explain last week's difficulties, eschewing beans.
Todd Bernhardt • Link
Bradford, I believe it was also Paul who counseled, "Mix not the hops and the grape, for thy head shall ake mightily afterward..."
Or maybe not.
And Bob T, glad to see I'm not the only one in the group with a dirty mind...
Terry F • Link
Elizabeth's course of study would qualify her being called by Marjorie Hope Nicolson "to some extent a virtuosa."
"After Samuel Pepys had engaged a tutor to teach him arithmetic which, like a majority of his contemporaries, he had never learned, he noted on October 21, 166[3], when a pair of globes had been delivered to him: 'This evening ... I begun to enter my wife in arithmetic, in order to her studying the globes, and, I hope, I shall bring her to understanding many fine things.' He noted on February 15, 1663: 'After prayers to bed, talking long with my wife and teaching her things in astronomy.' On August 13, 1664 Pepys bought a microscope, through which he and Mistress Pepys attempted to observe, encountering characteristic beginners' problems: 'my wife and I with great pleasure, but with great difficulty before we could come to find the manner of seeing anything.' http://etext.virginia.edu/cgi-loc…
Pedro • Link
On this Day
Sir Robert Moray presents the report to the Royal Society on the results that Holmes had duly submitted on his return from the first Guinea expedition..."An account of the Going of two watches at sea from 28th April to 4th September 1663."
He had experimented with a pendulum watch as a means for determining longitude at sea. From a copy preserved in Huygen's papers the results seem to have been encouraging.
(Man of War...Ollard)
Kevin Peter • Link
Notice how Sam puts emphasis on his drinking wine alone for his health, as if to emphasize that this does not violate the spirit of his vows (although it perhaps violates the letter of them). His vows, after all, are to keep him from becoming too wrapped up in pleasure at the expense of business.
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"His vows, after all, are to keep him from becoming too wrapped up in pleasure at the expense of business."
Thanks Kevin, for the reminder of what the Trinity House is all about.
San Diego Sarah • Link
Rhenish wines -- The modern history of Alsace-Lorraine was largely influenced by the rivalry between French and German nationalisms. Since the Middle Ages, France sought to attain and preserve its “natural boundaries“, which are the Pyrenees to the southwest, the Alps to the southeast, and the Rhine River to the northeast. These strategic aims led to the absorption of territories located west of the Rhine river. What is now known as Alsace was progressively conquered by Louis XIV in the 17th century, while Lorraine was integrated in the 18th century under Louis XV.
In the earlier times, any wine produced in the Alsace region, whether a White or a Rose type (very few if any Reds were produced in the area), would have been labeled and marketed as a Rhenish or Rhine wine. The alcohol content would have been up to 15%, due to the terrain and the method of wine making, which was more of the French method than the German method.
https://timeslipsblog.wordpress.c…
San Diego Sarah • Link
Merriam-Webster:
Definition of scrivener
noun pronounced: scriv·en·er \ˈskriv-nər, ˈskri-və-\
1: a professional or public copyist or writer : scribe
2: notary public
Sasha Clarkson • Link
So, although Sam is only taking wine for medicinal purposes, he is suddenly "in a humour of laying out money"?
Hmmm ...
Sasha Clarkson • Link
Of course Sam is merely following Biblical instructions:
"Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities."
1 Timothy, chapter 5, verse 23 (King James version).