Tuesday 23 May 1665

Up, and at the office busy all the morning. At noon dined alone, my wife and mother being gone by invitation to dine with my mother’s old servant Mr. Cordery, who made them very welcome. So to Mr. Povy’s, where after a little discourse about his business I home again, and late at the office busy.

Late comes Sir Arthur Ingram to my office, to tell me that, by letters from Amsterdam of the 28th of this month (their style),1 the Dutch fleete, being about 100 men-of-war, besides fire-ships, &c., did set out upon the 23rd and 24th inst. Being divided into seven squadrons; viz., 1. Generall Opdam. 2. Cottenar, of Rotterdam. 3. Trump. 4. Schram, of Horne. 5. Stillingworth, of Freezland. 6. Everson. 7. One other, not named, of Zealand.


24 Annotations

First Reading

JWB  •  Link

"The new style was adopted by most of the countries of Europe long before it was legalized in England"

Reminds me of the Venerable Bede's railling v. Britons for not accepting the newfangled Anglo-Saxon dating of Easter. The more thngs change, ...

Larry Bunce  •  Link

Soviet Russia adopted the new style calendar in 1918, so Wheatley was correct in 1893 that they still used the old calendar. England remained 11 days behind Europe until 1752.
September 4th that year was followed by the 15th.
The next January 1st (1753) became the official new year with the calendar change.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"One other, not named, of Zealand."

Phil has him linked rightly according to L&M to D. Kerkoven, who was of the Maas, and not of the Zeeland squadron (say they).

CGS  •  Link


written vs english as spoken?

6. Everson.[ Vice-Admiral Johan Evertsen,]
Stillingworth,[ Auke Stellingwerf [f] ]

Generall Opdam. Jacob, Banner Lord of Wassenaer, Lord Obdam, Hensbroek, Spanbroek, Opmeer, Zuidwijk and Kernhem (1610,
3. Trump. Tromp
4. Schram, of Horne Volckert Schram

2. Cottenar, of Rotterdam. ????

CGS  •  Link

2. Cottenar, of Rotterdam. ???? flag captain Egbert Bartholomeuszoon Kortenaer, [ was it the same]

Miss Ann fr Home  •  Link

"... my wife and mother being gone by invitation to dine with my mother’s old servant Mr. Cordery, who made them very welcome."

Obviously Mrs Pepys is being well behaved during this visit, and showing no signs of the early on-set dementia which we have discussed in the past (this is my presumption alone I note). Going out to dine with her old servant once again shows us the "familial" relationship between such people at that time in history. I really can't see anyone from the 18th or 19th centuries having such a relationship with "the servants", if all my reading and watching of old movies is anything to go by, and I'm sure the current British (and Australian) Royal Family would not have such a relationship with "those below stairs".

Am really enjoying the information on the Dutch Wars interspersed with the home stories, and fashion too - we really do get a lot for our interest here don't we!

CGS  •  Link

Relationships come in endless ways.
As Hobbes points out People want freedoms but they also want dominion as outlined in the bible, man being given dominion over those that have less DNA:

Those that are confident in their skin can will be natural with all levels of endeavour , others Laud it.

Read some where that Downing was a laudly one, a story goes that when he be suppling a meal to his collection of servants he would give only the slops, unlike many others that provided a good decent meal.

Some Command respect others are given it, regardless of the amount of chest displays or epaulets flapping.

Here we see Sam being a rather good man but distant as he seems to live on another plane, now if Mama [Mater] had the purse strings one would see a differing type of behaviour.
I have known many a man of humble birth that having risen to prominence fully respects his Mother, but others MaMa rules and yet others do not give their good mothers the time of day, there is no rule , each situation is different and has to be judge on its own merits..

Samuell's writing of his Mother just shows a lack of communication.

Cactus Wren  •  Link

Miss Ann, I wondered slightly if Sam might not mean "servant" in the sense he used it back in January of 1662/63: http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

(Probably not, this is after all his *mother* he's writing about.)

andy  •  Link

by letters from Amsterdam of the 28th of this month (their style),

intercepted letters? Or an agent in place in Amsterdam?

Either way, an early example of miltary intelligence in action. Now for a swift perusal of ye "Jane's Fighting Ships" (1665 edition, no Naval Office should be without one) and you have the firepower, speed etc of the enemy vessels.

Michael Robinson  •  Link

Or an agent in place in Amsterdam?

"Ambassadors were usually required to leave on the outbreak of hostilities between their nation and the host, but most attempted to delay their departure fro as long as they could. George Downing was till at The Hague in June 1665, four months after the declaration of hostilities between England and the Dutch Republic. Downing was under great pressure to leave and facing hostility from the mob so he sought to barricade himself in his house with arms and powder rather than be forced out. In any case, the outbreak of hostilities in the period was nearly always paralleled by diplomatic negotiations to end them almost as soon as they had begun. This provided an excuse for the diplomat to put off his departure and enabled him to carry on gathering intelligence."

A. Marshall 'Intelligence and Espionage in the Reign of Charles II, 1660-1685,' 1994. p. 251.

E  •  Link

Miss Ann, what is your evidence that people in the 18th or 19th century did not have a "familial" relationship with their servants? Certainly in the 20th century it would be quite normal to go and visit your old servant. Indeed, I can think of several examples of people going to see the former servants of deceased family members, that is to say people who had not been their own servants at all, but with whom they naturally continued friendly relationships.

I would be shocked if the Queen did not visit old servants, and I am sure that I did read a recent news story of her taking tea with one while on an official visit. I remember there was great excitement when Lord Mountbatten (Prince Philip's uncle and a wartime admiral) briefly visited Auckland on one occasion in the mid-seventies. Many ex-servciemen wished to see him, and all sorts of official events would have been laid on for him if he would accept. He could have visited the Devonport (NZ) naval base for pomp and ceremony. Instead he insisted on going to see a sailor who had acted as his steward, now working behind the bar at an ex-servicemen's club.

JWB  •  Link

Squadrons by state

To Ingram's intelligence let me add this from Mahan: "The general character of the government (Dutch)... was a loosely knit confederacy, administered by what may not inaccurately be called a commercial aristocracy, with all the political timidity of that class, which has so much to risk in war. The effect of these two factors, sectional jealousy and commercial spirit, upon the military navy was disastrous. It was not kept up properly in peace, there were necessarily rivalries in a fleet which was rather a maritime coalition than a united navy, and there was too little of a true military spirit among the officers...professional training scarcely existed in any navy of that day, but its place was largely supplied in monarchical countries by the feeling of a military caste." p99

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13…

Pedro  •  Link

The Dutch Fleet.

Interesting that the fleet set out on the 12th (English) just after the English had set sail and reached Dogger Bank at 8 o’clock in the evening.

The details of Obdam’s instructions are given by Sandwich in his Journal on the 18th of April, and said to have been resolved at the Hague on the 8/18th April.

On the 19th he gives great detail of the Dutch Fleet, and the spellings seem to be Dutch.

Everson appears as Evertsz…Cottenar is Edgar Kortenaer…Stillingworth is Stellingwerf.

Later on the 26th another list appears where the first 5 squadrons and ships are under their Admirals, and the remaining 2 under Zeeland (Evertsz) and De Maes (Kerckhove)

A. De Araujo  •  Link

"over those that have less DNA"
Well, the predominant Y chromosome haplogroup in Europe is R1b,up to 90% in western Ireland; it is said to come with the Cro Magnon men,those wonderful folks that gave us Lascaux and probably exterminated the Neanderthals; was it because the Neanderthals had a "less DNA"?

Pedro  •  Link

“Or an agent in place in Amsterdam?”

Sandwich records in his Journal today…

“We had intelligence from Holland that Obdam with their fleet sailed out of Texel on Saturday the 13th instant and are going towards the Dogger Bank to seek the English fleet. They account themselves 160 sail, including fireships and doggers and smacks etc., of which capital ships of war 105.”

(Journal of Edward Montague edited by Anderson.)

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Lets say "more variable DNA", less or lesser doesn't really apply and the use by folks who often don't understand molecular genetics and have their own ax to grind (we are superior, the science of genetics or skull size or our holy Book or our managing to conquer you proves it, hah!) has had such a bad (eugenics, Nazi theories, American slavery/ segregation, bell curves, etc, etc) history. In the sense that organisms with more opportunity for variation often (but not always) have a significant advantage over those well fitted to their environment. The environment changes and the dinosaur can't adapt quickly enough (at least to stay huge and dominant) while the lowly proto-mammal finds its window. That's why the dominant organisms on our planet, the bacteria, are so well endowed for survival...Maximum flexibility to adapt to changing times. Long after we're gone they'll be merrily chugging along, probably a few even escaping Earth's destruction by the sun's expansion in 10-15 billion years, floating off through space to colonize some new world or having already done it. Likewise in simpler context, in his world, our own Sam and his friend/enemy Creed...Maximum adaptability.

Michael Robinson  •  Link

" the Dutch fleete, ... did set out "

“The Dutch constitution shaped the Dutch navy. With no central government there was no single national navy, but five provincial admiralties; nominally federal institutions, though in practice dominated by provincial interests. The Admiralty of Amsterdam was the wealthiest and politically most influential, but its rival the Admiralty of the Maze at Rotterdam was the senior. Next in importance was the Admiralty of Zeland, with its headquarters at Middleburg and its naval yard at Flushing. There was a third Holland Admiralty, that of the “North Quarter,” which alternated its establishment every six months between Hoorn and Enkhuizen, and finally the little admiralty of Friesland at Harlingen. Each of these admiralties had its own fleet and naval establishments, supported by its own revenues, but they did not exhaust the Republic’s naval resources. The two great joint stock companies, the East and West India Companies each owned substantial fleets of well armed ships which could, by negotiation, be made available to the Republic.”

“The Dutch fleet organization … reflected political rather than operational priorities. Rivalry between the admiralties had generated a plethora of flag-officers, to accommodate whom the fleet was divided into seven squadrons, each with three admirals or commodores. Most of the squadrons were made up of ships from mixed admiralties, commanded in many cases by admirals unknown to their subordinates, and their was no established order of seniority between them. Nor was their any arrangement of the squadrons in a line of battle, which the Dutch had not yet adopted …”

N. A. M. Rodger The Command of the Ocean A Naval History of Britain, 1649 - 1815 NY: 2005 (London: 2004)
pp. 9-10, 69.
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Robert Gertz  •  Link

The Missus warns me that I may have unintentionally been too strident. I hope it's understood I refer to no one here as lacking understanding in mg. However, molecular genetics and epidemiology is my profession and too often in the past and even today its concepts and terminology have been misused (rather like Christianity) for political or social control reasons by groups and individuals who rarely know or care to know about the science. Therefore I get nervous hearing or seeing "less or lesser" in regard to DNA or genes.

Anyway sorry for the soapbox digression...Back to Sam.

Michael Robinson  •  Link

I may have unintentionally been too strident.

Far from it, Robert, imo. Hope I am not treading on your toes but people are often unaware of the vast mass of bacteria, and hence bacterial D.N.A, they live with and, certainly in the gut, are necessary for human survival; I believe some argue that the human is a complex of organisms of which the human DNA is the smaller part and the larger is bacteria. And then there are the near ineradicable biofilms ...

http://discovermagazine.com/2007/…
http://www.erc.montana.edu/CBEsse…

CGS  •  Link

DNA: I be referring to those that have only percentages
like our kissing cousin the Bonobo, and the animal life kingdoms down to the that processing aid in the gut.
"..."Lets us make man in our image, after our likeness,
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle,
and over all the earth and over every creeping thing
that creepeth upon the earth.

http://www.dhushara.com/book/cons…
Man wants his freedom but still wants total dominion over all.
Of course there be exceptions.

A. Hamilton  •  Link

Opdam

I'm happy to see the appearance of my late brother-in-law's ancestor on this stage.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"the Dutch fleete, being about 100 men-of-war, besides fire-ships, &c., did set out upon the 23rd and 24th inst. Being divided into seven squadrons; viz., 1. Generall Opdam. 2. Cottenar, of Rotterdam. 3. Trump. 4. Schram, of Horne. 5. Stillingworth, of Freezland. 6. Everson. 7. One other, not named, of Zealand."

Cf. the lists given to Sandwich, pp. 216-20. There were 103 men-of-war (not counting yachts, fireships and galliots) according to one official Dutch list: Hollantdse Mercurius (Haarlemm 1670), pp. 69-70. Obdam was in supreme command. The other admirals mentioned here were Lt-Adm. Egbert Meüssen Cortenaer, Lt-Adm. Cornelis Tromp, Vice-Adm. Volkert Schram, Lt-Adm. Augustus Stellingwerf, Lt-Adm. Jan Evertsen (commanding the Zeeland squadron). The unnamed Admiral was D. Kerkhoven of the Maas (not Zeeland) squadron. (L&M note)

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

"At noon dined alone, my wife and mother being gone by invitation to dine with my mother’s old servant"
Just another hint that the diary gives only part of the story. That Sam finds it worthwhile to mention that he dined alone, implies that Bess and mum have been with him on other occasions, although unmentioned.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

The Dogger Bank.

Highlights from https://www.britannica.com/place/…

The Dogger Bank is an extensive isolated shoal in the North Sea, lying about 60 miles (100 km) off the northeastern coast of England. It rises 70 feet (20 metres) higher than the surrounding seafloor, is 160 miles (260 km) long and 60 miles wide at the 120-foot (35-metre) level, and reaches its shallowest point (50 feet [15 metres] below the sea surface) at its western end.

The bank is a huge moraine deposited at the southern limit of the last glaciation. For centuries it has been a well-known fishing ground.

The constant mixing of waters in the shallow sea basin provides a rich supply of nutrient salts upon which the lower forms of marine organisms — the basis of the sea’s food chain — depend. The resulting abundance of plant and animal plankton supports a varied and rich supply of commercially valuable fish, including sizable quantities of plaice, cod, haddock, turbot, dabs, and herring, and over the centuries led to Fishery Wars.

The major fishing countries are Norway, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. These days a unique fisheries arrangement, the Common Fisheries Policy, has been adopted by members of the European Community establishing catch quotas each year for the various North Sea species beyond territorial sea limits.

The origin of the name is obscure, but the Dutch dogger (a trawling vessel) was formerly applied to two-masted ships employed in North Sea fishing and, by extension, to their crews (doggermen) and the fish taken (doggerfish).

The lines demarcating the international rights of Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and Norway to the North Sea intersect just north of the Dogger Bank; all but Norway have rights to the bank itself.

Few parts of the North Sea are more than 300 feet (90 metres) in depth. The floor dips to the north and is irregular. In the south, depths measure less than 120 feet (35 metres); many shallow, shifting banks, presumably of glacial origin, have been reworked by tidal currents. These present serious navigational hazards.

In contrast, the waters deepen in the Norwegian Trench, an unusual depression that runs parallel to the coast of southern Norway from north of Bergen around to Oslo. It is between 15 and 20 miles (20 to 30 km) wide and is some 1,000 feet (300 metres) deep in the vicinity of Bergen, reaching a maximum depth of about 2,300 feet (700 metres) in the Skagerrak.

There are also deep trenches in the western part of the North Sea, including Devils Hole off Edinburgh (where depths exceed 1,500 feet (450 metres)), and Silver Pit (nearly 320 feet (95 metres) deep) off the bay of The Wash.
These trenches may have been formed at the time of the last glaciation, when parts of the North Sea were free of ice, and rivers coming off the mainland could have eroded deep channels in the basin floor.

Log in to post an annotation.

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