Friday 30 May 1662

This morning I made up my accounts, and find myself ‘de claro’ worth about 530l., and no more, so little have I increased it since my last reckoning; but I confess I have laid out much money in clothes.

Upon a suddaine motion I took my wife, and Sarah and Will by water, with some victuals with us, as low as Gravesend, intending to have gone into the Hope to the Royal James, to have seen the ship and Mr. Shepley, but meeting Mr. Shepley in a hoy, bringing up my Lord’s things, she and I went on board, and sailed up with them as far as half-way tree, very glad to see Mr. Shepley. Here we saw a little Turk and a negroe, which are intended for pages to the two young ladies. Many birds and other pretty noveltys there was, but I was afeard of being louzy, and so took boat again, and got to London before them, all the way, coming and going, reading in the “Wallflower” with great pleasure. So home, and thence to the Wardrobe, where Mr. Shepley was come with the things. Here I staid talking with my Lady, who is preparing to go to-morrow to Hampton Court. So home, and at ten o’clock at night Mr. Shepley came to sup with me. So we had a dish of mackerell and pease, and so he bid us good night, going to lie on board the hoy, and I to bed.

29 Annotations

First Reading

dirk  •  Link

Lady Fanshawe's Memoirs for today...

"[...] about eleven o'clock, the Duchess of Ormond and her daughter, the now Lady Cavendish, and myself, went to wait on her Majesty as soon as her Majesty was dressed; where I had the honour from the King, who was then present, to tell the Queen who I was, saying many kind things of me to ingratiate me with her Majesty, whereupon her Majesty gave her hand to me to kiss, with promises of her future favour. After this we remained in Hampton Court, in the Requests' lodgings, my husband being then in waiting until the 10th day of August, upon which day he received his despatches for Ambassador to Portugal."

Australian Susan  •  Link

"afeard of being louzy"
I read this as being that Elizabeth,Sarah and Will Hewer were left on board the hoy with Mr Shepley, lice or no lice and Sam set off in another boat, reading a book. Or did they all get into the "other boat" and the "them" refers to Mr Shepley and the two little captives? If so, it seems very rude of Sam to read the whole time and not pay attention to his party - or was that why Sarah came along - to talk to Elizabeth and Will could entertain himself.

dirk  •  Link

John Evelyn's diary - 30 May 1662

"The Queene arivd, with a traine of Portugueze Ladys in their mo[n]strous fardingals or Guard-Infantas: Their complexions olivaster, & sufficiently unagreable: Her majestie in the same habit, her foretop long & turned aside very strangely: She was yet of the handsomest Countenance of all the rest, & tho low of stature pretily shaped, languishing & excellent Eyes, her teeth wronging her mouth by stiking a little too far out: for the rest sweete & lovely enough: This day was solemnly kept the Anniversary of his Majesties Birth, & restauration: Dr. Alestree preaching in the Chapell:"

Alan Bedford  •  Link

"afeard of being louzy"

I think that, as we’ve previously discussed, Sam is being a little sloppy about naming the people who travel with him. I’d guess that Elizabeth, Sarah and Will accompanied him as he left the hoy. I can’t imagine that he’s want his wife and servants to become infested with lice, either.

In the phrase “…and got to London before them…”, the “them” probably includes Shepley, the new servants and the cargo of the hoy.

dirk  •  Link

"afeard of being louzy"

Is he afraid of the lice - or of spending his time with idle chatting, unproductively (cfr. modern English lazy)? Transcription error? Language.hat?

Elizabeth Vongvisith  •  Link

I read it as only Sam and Elizabeth boarding the hoy; since he says they sailed as far as the half-way tree with Mr. Shepley, then got off the boat and made it back to London ahead of him, it sounds as if he'd left his servants in his own boat and had them follow along until the fear of lice made him get off the hoy.

BTW, anyone know what kind of boat Sam had?

Bradford  •  Link

Catching lice from birds and "other pretty novelties"---live animal ones?

Somebody tell us more about the "Wallflower." A scandal sheet of spied-on doings by an unassuming but all-seing observer?

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"Lice" from foreign and unusual animals may at that time have referred to any disease organism one might catch from them. Sam may well have been wise to take precautions.

A Hamilton  •  Link

half-way tree

Does L&M -- or any other known source -- shed light as to its location?

Australian Susan  •  Link

"Her foretop looped"
This is illustrated very clearly in the picture link provided in yesterday's postings. It looks odd to our eyes, but now we know English contemporaries thought it curious too.

Pauline  •  Link

half-way tree
A. Hamilton, L&M Companion says:
"Pepys's two references are far from clear, but it appears to be a landmark between Deptford and Rotherhithe."

I googled and only came up with a brochure title. John B. Lee's "Reading the River. The Halfway Tree"

Pauline  •  Link

"de claro" worth
It would be interesting to have an ongoing accounting of these quarterly “worth” reports as they are made—in Background somewhere? Ideas? Additional financial trackings possible?

Mary  •  Link

"louzy"

is also the reading given in L&M. Sam may fear contamination from the animals and/or from the two little foreigners. (Note that within living memory, older Londoners could be heard referring to human lice as "little strangers").

Mary  •  Link

"The Wallflower".

Written by Thomas Bayly. L&M quote its title-page:

"Herba Parietis, or The Wallflower, as it grew out of the stone chamber belonging to Newgate, being a history which is partly true, partly romantick, morally divine; whereby a marriage between reality and fancy is solemnized by divinity. Written by Thomas Bayly DD while he was a prisoner there." (1650).

Bayly graduated from Magdalene College, Cambridge in 1627

A. De Araujo  •  Link

"in a hoy"
what is the origin of the word hoy in this case?could it have anything to do with "day sailor" hoy in spanish= today.

Ruben  •  Link

Hoy

hoy 1 (hoi)n.
1. A small sloop-rigged coasting ship.
2. A heavy barge used for freight.
[Middle English hoie, from Middle Dutch hoey, hoede.]
for more see:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/…

Mary  •  Link

Hoy.

See Background glossary for a number of notes on the hoy.

language hat  •  Link

louzy:
Undoubtedly "lousy" ('full of lice'), for which the OED provides these interesting fish-related citations:
1653 WALTON Compl. Angler 130 If I catch a Trout in one Meadow, he shall be white and faint, and very like to be lowsie.
1677 JOHNSON in Ray's Corr. (1848) 127 The sight of one of these [salmon] makes a fisher leap for joy, especially if his gills be lousy.
1890 C. PATMORE Let. 23 May in B. Champneys Mem. (1900) II. 136 These are both large fish, but they are habitually what the fishermen call "unclean" and "lousy"; so they don’t try to catch them.

And I like this citation as well:
1710 ADDISON Tatler No. 229 p.1 A very ordinary Microscope shows us, that a Louse is itself a very lousy Creature.

“Hoy” is, as Ruben says, from Dutch; beyond that its etymology is unknown.

Glyn  •  Link

Regarding Pauline's comment about Pepys's fortune, he appears to have hit some sort of a plateau.

Almost exactly a year ago, on 24 May 1661, he wrote:

http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

"this is the first time that I do find myself to be clearly worth 500 pounds in money, besides all my goods in my house, &c."

And then on 31 December 1661 he wrote:

“I suppose myself to be worth about 500 pounds clear in the world, and my goods of my house my own,”

There may be other references as well but I found these through Phil’s summaries in “The Story So Far” at the top of this page:

http://www.pepysdiary.com/about/h…

and I guess that’s a logical place for this information to be.

Anyway, it seems as if Pepys cash hasn’t significantly increased in the last year, which I find slightly surprising considering all the potential bribes that could come his way.

Josh  •  Link

Thanks to Mary for "The Wallflower." Now can anyone decide if it is a botanical moral fable, or a human romance ending in holy matrimony? One way to while away the time while in stir.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

A hoy, Mr. Shepley...

Someone had to do it...

Cumgranissalis  •  Link

re: Cash Flow. The best source of perks, were the sealing of papers of people that wanted to be on the 'a droite' side of Carlos, and would pay hansomely to get the papers waxed before seeing the accomadations of the Tower. Those perks be dried up, as mentioned earlier. Then there be status calling and the teatro, fancy wines that he be adjusting to, 'tis why he be thinking "cool it'.
Then all these fineries that be needed by Eliza. Lives for and Loves to hear "That New".

Mary  •  Link

"The Wallflower"

I have found the following:

"Eccentric prose romance, written by the Royalist divine whilst imprisoned on account of some earlier writings. The narrative is set amongst sixth century Roman exiles in Africa and features some lively slapstick comic scenes as well as the usual romantic entanglements - the curious title, which has little to do with the content, suggesting perhaps that it was written to cheer himself up. The preface contains an impassioned defence, however, against criticisms that his account of Charles I's religious opinions, 'Certamen Religiosum', was, in effect, a forgery and a defamation of the king. After his release Bayly became a Roman Catholic and died, according to different accounts, in the household of Cardinal Ottobon or as a poor soldier at Bologna."

Australian Susan  •  Link

Re Glyn's comment on Sam's cash.
Although his net worth has not increased since his last few reckonings, he has had a lot of expenditure and is living a higher sort of lifestyle, yet still mananging to keep the same amount of cash worth, so I think he's not doing too badly - even though he thinks he should be worth more. He has had many temptations: it seems he could be off to the theatre several times a week and it is only self-control, not over demands of work, which keep him from this. Such outings would soon eat up the pennies and pounds.

Second Reading

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

’De claro’ = ‘clear adj. < Latin clārum . . V. Of free, unencumbered condition.
16. a. Of income, gain, etc.: Free from any encumbrance, liability, deduction, or abatement; unencumbered; net.
. . 1625 C. Burges New Discov. Personal Tithes 1 The Tenth part of all his cleere Gaines.
1696 T. Southerne Oroonoko i. i, A clear estate, no charge upon it.
1714 Swift Imit. Horace Sat. ii. 6 I've often wish'd that I had clear For life, six hundred pounds a year . . ‘ [OED]

Third Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"Many birds and other pretty noveltys there was, but I was afeard of being louzy, ..."

Some common words represent puzzles of the English language. "Bird" in this case may harken back to an older usage:

“Bird” sounds Germanic, but doesn’t have cognates in any other Germanic language. It can be found in Old English as a rare variant of bridd, indicating a “young bird”.

Old English speakers used fugel, as in “fowl”, as a standard term for bird. Up to the 15th century, “bird” was used not only to describe a young bird, but also a young animal in general – even a fish or a child.
https://theconversation.com/five-…

OR Pepys had no idea where fleas like to live.

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