Wednesday 26 September 1660
Office day. That done to the church, to consult about our gallery. So home to dinner, where I found Mrs. Hunt, who brought me a letter for me to get my Lord to sign for her husband, which I shall do for her.
At home with the workmen all the afternoon, our house being in a most sad pickle.
In the evening to the office, where I fell a-reading of Speed’s Geography for a while.
So home thinking to have found Will at home, but he not being come home but gone somewhere else I was very angry, and when he came did give him a very great check for it, and so I went to bed.
19 Annotations
First Reading
Paul Miller • Link
"where I fell a-reading of Speed's Geography”
John Speed
1552?-1629, English historian and cartographer. He abandoned his trade as a tailor to engage in mapmaking. Many of his maps of parts of England and Wales were published in The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain (1611). His major work, The History of Great Britain, and his Genealogies Recorded in Sacred Scripture were published c.1611.
These links provide good pictures of Speed’s maps.
http://www.maphisteria.com/speed_…
http://www.btinternet.com/~nigels…
Paul Brewster • Link
brought me a letter for me to get my Lord to sign for her Husband
L&M: "Possibly a certificate of loyalty which John Hunt required in order to keep his job in the Excise."
Paul Brewster • Link
where I fell a-reading of Speed's Geography
L&M: “John Speed, ‘A prospect of the most famous parts of the world’ (1631), PL 2901 (1); or one of the two excerpts from it (‘Theatre of the empire of Great Britain’, PL 2901 (2), and ‘England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland described and abridged from a farr larger volume’), both of which had been published in several editions by 1660.” PL=Pepysian Library
Paul Brewster • Link
That done, to the church, where we did consult about our gallery.
L&M replace "to consult" with "we did consult". It seems odd for Wheatley to have interpreted it so. I almost think that not seeing any companion mentioned for this consultation at the church, he removed the "we".
Could it be that SP is taking on the 'royal we' or could it be simply that he chooses not to mention the other members of the Navy Board who had an interest in their new gallery and accompanied him on his consult at the church.
ellen • Link
What is a very great check? A beating or a scolding?
Paul Brewster • Link
per the OED, check, n1 [note the SP citation]
4. a. A reproof, reprimand, rebuke. Obs. exc. dial.
1540 Elyot Image Gou. ... The terrible checke that the good maister in the gospell gave to his idell servaunt. 1600 Hakluyt Voy. ... The Captaine had a great checke of the gouernour because he had not gone forwards. 1660 Pepys Diary 26 Sept., I was very angry, and did give him a very great check for it, and so to bed. 1679
language hat • Link
our house being in a most sad pickle:
I was delighted to see this pungent turn of phrase, and surprised to find (on consulting the OED) that it goes even further back:
1562 J. HEYWOOD Prov. & Epigr. 157 Freilties pickell. 1573 TUSSER Husb. 125 Reape barlie with sickle, that lies in ill pickle. 1585 FOXE Serm. on 2 Cor. v. 21 In this pickle lyeth man by nature, that is, all wee that be Adams children.
vincent • Link
Fatherly interest?, consciense pricking? or a delouseing session missed?
"So home thinking to have found Will at home, but he not being come home but gone somewhere else I was very angry, and when he came did give him a very great check for it, and so I went to bed."
Second Reading
Bill • Link
"our house being in a most sad pickle"
ALONSO:
And Trinculo is reeling ripe: where should they
Find this grand liquor that hath gilded 'em?
How camest thou in this pickle?
TRINCULO:
I have been in such a pickle since I
saw you last that, I fear me, will never out of
my bones: I shall not fear fly-blowing.
---The Tempest. Shakespeare.
Terry Foreman • Link
"L&M: “John Speed, ‘A prospect of the most famous parts of the world’ (1631), PL 2901 (1); or one of the two excerpts from it (‘Theatre of the empire of Great Britain’, PL 2901 (2), and ‘England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland described and abridged from a farr larger volume’)," This Wikipedia page on Speed has map images and links to websites with more.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John…
Third Reading
MartinVT • Link
"At home with the workmen all the afternoon" — as he has been for frequently for hours at a time. Why?
Surely Sam is not helping out by plastering and doing finish carpentry himself. Nor is he particularly qualified to supervise the workers in his house. And I doubt he is shooting the breeze with them and keeping them from their labors. So why is he hanging out with them?
A few possibilities: Most likely there are no architectural drawing and specifications for this job. Decisions are made on the fly: "Mr. Pepys, how high would you like this wainscoting to be?" "What kind of moulding would you like where the walls meet the ceiling?" "Do you like this color stain, or should it be a tad darker?" Etc. You would want to be around for this, so the crew doesn't start guessing.
There is also the question of security — he might want someone to be around while they are in his house where all his worldly good now are, and if Liz is out shopping or visiting, the duty falls to Sam.
San Diego Sarah • Link
Good points, Martin VT -- or they might have ended up in the kitchen with Jane, sampling Pepys' lunch and sharing a beer and a smoke.
David G • Link
Probably not a smoke but from the occasional references to tobacco later on, maybe a worker might have had a chew. It’s a lovely image to picture the crew sitting around in the kitchen and talking with Sam while the plasterwork dries.
San Diego Sarah • Link
It's said that Walter Raleigh brought back smoking tobacco from South America. The first time his servants in Devonshire saw him doing this, they emptied a bucket of water over his head.
San Diego Sarah • Link
"So home thinking to have found Will at home, but he not being come home but gone somewhere else ..."
The house is in such a pickle that Pepys finds it necessary to take his reading to the office for some peace and quiet.
When he gets home he finds Will has also "escaped" the mayhem, leaving Elizabeth and Jane with the workmen, or cleaning up by themselves. He's supposed to be helping out at home as well as escorting Pepys.
But this is a first offense, and he saw what happened to the other Will recently. Hopefully words of warning will do the trick.
David G • Link
The Walter Raleigh model is unlikely. None of the nine references to tobacco in the Diary refers to smoking tobacco.
San Diego Sarah • Link
Introduction of Tobacco to England
by Ben Johnson
The most common date given for the arrival of tobacco in England is 27th July 1586, when it is said Sir Walter Raleigh brought it to England from Virginia.
Indeed, one legend tells of how Sir Walter’s servant, seeing him smoking a pipe for the first time, threw water over him, fearing him to be on fire.
However it is much more likely that tobacco had been around in England long before this date. Tobacco had been smoked by Spanish and Portuguese sailors for many years and it is likely that the habit of pipe smoking had been adopted by British sailors before 1586. Sir John Hawkins and his crew could have brought it to these shores as early as 1565.
https://www.historic-uk.com/Histo…
Chewing tobacco was probably the earliest form of tobacco used in the Americas. In its simplest form, it requires no special preparation, although some Native Americans did mix lime with the tobacco to increase its effect. Tobacco chewing was especially prevalent in the vicinity of the Andes Mountains where coca leaf was also chewed.
When Europeans arrived in America, they learned the use of tobacco from Native Americans and took the habit back to Europe. As the tobacco habit spread throughout the world, few people practiced tobacco chewing, but one major exception was, for example, sailors who could not safely smoke onboard ship. It is difficult to ascertain exactly how much tobacco was consumed by chewing because prior to the 1800s most tobacco was manufactured in the same form, regardless of how it was consumed.
https://www.encyclopedia.com/hist…
They did both, David G.
David G • Link
Definitely. Just not recorded in the Diary.
San Diego Sarah • Link
We have a TOBACCO encyclopedia page:
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…