Wednesday 26 December 1666

Up, and walked all the way (it being a most fine frost), to White Hall, to Sir W. Coventry’s chamber, and thence with him up to the Duke of York, where among other things at our meeting I did offer my assistance to Sir J. Minnes to do the business of his office, relating to the Pursers’ accounts, which was well accepted by the Duke of York, and I think I have and shall do myself good in it, if it be taken, for it will confirm me in the business of the victualling office, which I do now very little for. Thence home, carrying a barrel of oysters with me. Anon comes Mr. John Andrews and his wife by invitation from Bow to dine with me, and young Batelier and his wife with her great belly, which has spoiled her looks mightily already. Here was also Mercer and Creed, whom I met coming home, who tells me of a most bitter lampoone now out against the Court and the management of State from head to foot, mighty witty and mighty severe. By and by to dinner, a very good one, and merry. After dinner I put the women into a coach, and they to the Duke’s house, to a play which was acted, “The ————.” It was indifferently done, but was not pleased with the song, Gosnell not singing, but a new wench, that sings naughtily. Thence home, all by coach, and there Mr. Andrews to the vyall, who plays most excellently on it, which I did not know before. Then to dance, here being Pembleton come, by my wife’s direction, and a fiddler; and we got, also, the elder Batelier to-night, and Nan Wright, and mighty merry we were, and I danced; and so till twelve at night, and to supper, and then to cross purposes, mighty merry, and then to bed, my eyes being sore. Creed lay here in Barker’s bed.

16 Annotations

First Reading

mary k mcintyre  •  Link

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Meant to post yesterday, Sam looking for a play to take in on Xmas afternoon = us looking to go see Avatar or Sherlock Holmes.

andy  •  Link

Return of Pembleton! Sam's philandering not gone unnoticed?

Bradford  •  Link

Cross-purposes: one senses the comic possibilities of this parlor game (roll over for OED definition), but one wonders just how it worked in practice.

Boxing Day---not then so called---means Twelfth Night is hoving into view once again!

language hat  •  Link

"and they to the Duke’s house, to a play which was acted, 'The ————.'"

Anybody know what's going on with the mysterious dash? Was the name illegible in the MS?

Mary  •  Link

"to a play which was acted, 'The -------"

There is a complete blank in the manuscript and L&M state that the name has not been traced.

Not memorable as far as Pepys was concerned.

CGS  •  Link

first instance of the phrase ever????
a Pepys' entry:

2. pl. The name of a parlour game: cf. CROSS-QUESTION n. c. Often fig.
1666 PEPYS Diary 26 Dec., Then to cross purposes, mighty merry; and then to bed.

3. to be at cross-purposes: (of persons) to have plans intended for the same end, but which cross and interfere with each other; to act counter from a misconception by each of the other's purpose. (Perh. derived from the game.)
1688 MIEGE Fr. Dict. s.v. Cross, Cross Purposes, contradictions.''''

1. Contrary or conflicting purpose; contradictoriness of intention.
1681 COTTON Wond....

CGS  •  Link

OED: "cross-question" first entry:
1760:verb
1694 : noun

The delay between the spoken word and the noted written word can leave us at cross purposes.

cross-ruff
1. An obsolete game at cards: see RUFF. Obs.
1592 GREENE Def. Conny Catch. (1859) 6 As thus I stood looking on them playing at cros-ruffe, one was taken revoking:

Australian Susan  •  Link

"sings naughtily"

Does this just been badly? Or had the word also got a meaning of "saucily" by this time?

CGS  •  Link

SP gets another special mention: SEE 2:

naughtily, adv.
Forms: 15 naughtelye, 15 naughtyly, 15 noughtely, 15- naughtily.

1. a. Wickedly, viciously. In later use also in weakened sense: nastily. Obs.
1523

....
1632 W. LITHGOW Totall Disc. Trav. x. 434 Their deserts are naught, and the fruite thereof as naughtily spent.
1640 R. BRATHWAIT Ar't Asleepe Husband? 121 She wondred (pretending Puritanisme) how people could be so naughtily given and prophane as to feast in such Booths and Brothels of sin.
..

b. Wrongly, dishonestly. Obs.com 1153
1577 J. NORTHBROOKE Spiritus est Vicarius Christi: Treat. Dicing 95 A peny naughtily gotten, sayth Chrysostome, is like a rotten apple layd among sounde apples. a1640 J. FLETCHER et al. Beggers Bush IV. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Ll4v/1, How cam'st thou by this mighty summ? if naughtily I must not take it of thee. 1668 F. KIRKMAN Eng. Rogue II. xi. 107 One of these Prentices..had..made use of him, and thereby much wronged his Master, spending that money riotously which he had got naughtily.

c. Promiscuously, licentiously; in a sexually suggestive or provocative manner.

1609 SHAKESPEARE Troilus & Cressida IV. ii. 40 My Lord, come you againe into my chamber, You smile and mock me, as if I meant naughtily.
1611 R. COTGRAVE Dict. French & Eng. Tongues, Mauvaisement,..lewdly, naughtily.
a1677 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE Triumphant Widow (1677) V. ii. 80, I ask you, Did you never naughtily together?

d. Mischievously; in a wayward or transgressive manner.
Freq. of a child; in recent use also humorously or depreciatively of adult behaviour.
1827

2. Poorly, ineffectually, unsatisfactorily. Obs.
1574 R. SCOT Perfite Platf. of Hoppe Garden To Rdr., It grieueth me dailye to see tyme yll spent,..good grounde naughtily applyed.
1600 R. HAKLUYT tr. G. B. Ramusio in Princ. Navigations (new ed.) III. 427 Maiz and a roll of the same naughtily grinded.

1666 S. PEPYS Diary 26 Dec. (1972) VII. 422 Gosnell not singing it, but a new wench that sings naughtily.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Gosnell and Pembleton...Neat. All we need is Wayneman to show.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Pepys at his Fezziwigest... Nice that Bess got her hand in as well in setting up this lovely day of pleasure.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Consider the pace of this sentence, how it pulls us along through the evening's entertainments:

"Then to dance, here being Pembleton come, by my wife’s direction, and a fiddler; and we got, also, the elder Batelier to-night, and Nan Wright, and mighty merry we were, and I danced; and so till twelve at night, and to supper, and then to cross purposes, mighty merry, and then to bed, my eyes being sore. "

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

" Creed...tells me of a most bitter lampoone now out against the Court and the management of State from head to foot, mighty witty and mighty severe."

Possibly The third advice to a painter, which Pepys copied out on 20 January 1667, suggest L&M. http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

The third advice to a painter, how to draw the effigies of the whore of Rome whose character is lively represented by a bad woman.
Marvell, Andrew, 1621-1678., Rochester, John Wilmot, Earl of, 1647-1680.
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/…

mc  •  Link

Thank you JWB for that definition of "cross purposes" - I had been looking for that :-)

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