Annotations and comments

Chris Squire UK has posted 896 annotations/comments since 16 February 2013.

Comments

Second Reading

About Monday 6 July 1663

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

re: ‘ . . he had his tallys up . . ’

A tally came in 2 bits - he had ‘tallies of pro’ from the Navy Office in settlement of his expense account; the other halves, ‘tallies of sol’, were sent to the tax collecting office that was to pay him in ready money. To get his money he had had to present his bit to that office which would pay him if and when they had the other bit and some cash. I take ‘up’ to mean that he’d been ‘paid in tallies’ in full - which was not the same as being paid in full in ready money as the first quote makes clear.

OED has:
‘tally, n.1 < Anglo-Latin . .
1. a. A stick or rod of wood, usually squared, marked on one side with transverse notches representing the amount of a debt or payment. The rod being cleft lengthwise across the notches, the debtor and creditor each retained one of the halves, the agreement or tallying of which constituted legal proof of the debt, etc.
. . 1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. ii. ii. 385 In 1696 tallies had been at forty, and fifty, and sixty per cent. discount, and bank notes at twenty per cent.
1847 J. Francis Hist. Bank Eng. iv. 59 Tallies lay bundled up like Bath faggots in the hands of brokers, and stock-jobbers.
1848 J. J. S. Wharton Law Lexicon (at cited word), The use of tallies in the Exchequer was abolished by 23 Geo. III c. 82, and the old tallies were ordered to be destroyed by 4 & 5 Wm. IV c. 15.
1892 W. R. Anson Law & Custom of Constit. II. vii. ii. §1. 310 In 1834..orders were given to destroy the tallies. They were used as fuel in the stoves which warmed the Houses of Parliament; they overheated the flues, and burned down the Houses.’

So they did, bequeathing us the present unique ramshackle Palace of Westminster. http://www.parliament.uk/about/li…

‘ . . c. tally of pro (i.e. pro, for or in favour of some one), tally of sol (i.e. solutum, paid) . .
. . 1696 London Gaz. No. 3157/4 Lost..a Tally of Pro, dated the 18th of May 1695, in the Name of John Richards, Esq; for 300 l. struck on the Commissioners of His Majesty's Hereditary and Temporary Revenues of Excise.
. . 1843 Fourth Rep. Dep. Kpr. App. ii. 166 The Tally of Pro..operated as a modern cheque on a banker, being given forth in payment from the Exchequer, as a charge upon some public accountant, for him to pay the sum expressed thereon, out of the revenues in his hands . . ‘

About Saturday 4 July 1663

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

Re: "he told us of one wipe the Queen a little while ago did give her":

OED has:

‘wipe, n. < Old English . .
. . 3. fig. A cutting remark; a sarcastic reproof or rebuff; a jeer, jibe.
. . a1652 A. Wilson Hist. Great Brit. (1653) 96 The Lord Treasurer gave him a wipe, for suffering his Coachman to ride bare before him in the streets.
. . 1705 J. Vanbrugh Confederacy v. ii, So, that's a wipe for me now, because I did not give her a New-Years-Gift last time . . ‘

About Saturday 4 July 1663

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

Re: "...beat by the most ordinary fellows..." and “ . . the military men that had served under Cromwell, who he thought were the best officers he had ever seen . . ", recall: “I had rather have a plain russet-coated captain that knows what he fights for, and loves what he knows, than that which you call a gentleman and is nothing else.” (Letter from Cromwell to Sir William Spring. Sept. 1643.)

About Friday 3 July 1663

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘clink, n.2 < The evidence appears to indicate that the name was proper to the Southwark ‘Clink’, and thence transferred elsewhere; but the converse may have been the fact. If the name was originally descriptive, various senses of clink . . might have given rise to it . . later used elsewhere . . for a small and dismal prison or prison-cell . . Now used generally for: prison, cells.
c1530 A. Barclay Egloges i. sig. F, Then art thou clappyd in the flete or clynke.
. . 1691 A. Wood Athenæ Oxonienses I. 325 Our author..was committed first to the Gatehouse in Westminster, and afterwards to the Clink in Southwark.
. . 1890 R. Kipling Barrack-room Ballads (1892) 20 And I'm here in the Clink for a thundering drink and blacking the Corporal's eye . . ‘

‘clink, v.2 < Northern form corresponding to clinch n.1 . . trans. To clench, rivet, fix or fasten with nails or rivets.’

‘clinch, n.1< A variant of clench n. . .
. . 1. A fastening in which the end of a nail is turned over and driven back into the substance through which it has passed, or in which the end of a bolt is beaten down and flattened upon a metal ring or washer put round it for the purpose . . ‘

About Tuesday 30 June 1663

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘balk < Common Germanic . .
. . II. 2. b. fig. To pass over, overlook, refrain from noticing (what comes in one's way); to shirk, ignore.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 22 Balkyn, or ouerskyppyn, omitto.
. . 1656 R. Sanderson 20 Serm. 160 The spying of motes in our brother's eye, and baulking of beams in our own.
1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. ix. 42 Let me tell you, (nor will I balk it) my Brother..will want one Apology for his Conduct . . ‘

About Tuesday 30 June 1663

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘policy, n.1 < Middle French . .
5. a. Prudent conduct . . Formerly also: †cunning, craftiness (obs.).
Now generally merged in sense 4, e.g. in the proverbial phrase honesty is the best policy, originally in this sense, now usually understood as in sense 4.
. . 1533 T. More Debellacyon Salem & Bizance i. v. f. xxxiiiiv, I wyll peraduenture..here after..vse the same cyrcumspeccyon and polycye that I lerne of his ensample here.
1587 J. Higgins Mirour for Magistrates (new ed.) Malin x, Secretly by pollecy and sleight Hee slewe mee with his swoord, before I wist . .

b. spec. Political prudence . . Formerly also: †political cunning (obs.). Now rare.
. . 1598 Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 i. iii. 107 Neuer did bare and rotten pollicy Colour her working with such deadly wounds.
c1650 J. Spalding Memorialls Trubles Scotl. & Eng. (1851) II. 427 Bot heirin wes deip policie, as efter do appeir . . ‘

It’s ‘cunning’ that applies here. Once again we find SP using a word in a sense that was already obsolescent in his day and is now completely obsolete.

About Wednesday 1 July 1663

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

DNB has:

‘ . . in 1663 (Sunderland) . . court(ed) Lady Anne Digby (1645/6–1715), younger daughter of George Digby, earl of Bristol, with whom a marriage was arranged that summer. At the last moment, however, the groom panicked and fled abroad. By the time he got back to England his mind was made up, and he married Lady Anne on 9 June 1665. When they settled at Althorp, their seat in Northamptonshire, they virtually rebuilt it and used it for glittering social gatherings . . ’

About Thursday 2 July 1663

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

The Treaty of Uxbridge of early 1645 was a negotiation to try to end the First English Civil War. It came between two major Parliamentary victories, Marston Moor in 1644 and Naseby in 1645, but when some minor victories for the Royalists made Charles I still unwilling to compromise. So nothing came of it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tre…

Part of the house in which the negotiations took place remains and is now the Crown and Treaty public house. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cro…

About Monday 29 June 1663

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

A google of ‘"my fancy" site:pepysdiary.com’ turns up only one other example of it in this sense - with an unexpected object; it’s coming soon so no spoiler from me.
....
OED has:

‘touse, v. < Middle English
. . 1. c. To pull (a woman) about rudely, indelicately, or in horse-play; to tousle. Obs.
1624 P. Massinger Bond-man i. iii. sig. B4, They are rough, Boystrous and sawcy, and at the first sight Ruffle, and towze vs.
. . 1675 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Odysses xvi. 105 Maids tous'd ill-favouredly . . ‘

About Saturday 27 June 1663

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘composition, n . .< Latin
. . 24. An agreement or arrangement involving surrender or sacrifice of some kind on one side or on both; a compromise.
. . 1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. iii. 6 The French speech..was fain at last to come to a composition with the English tongue.
. . 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 265 With the Elector of Saxony a composition was made..Instead of the four hundred thousand rixdollars which he had demanded, he consented to accept one hundred thousand and the Garter . . '

Terry: your post is an unwelcome spoiler: please resist the temptation to spoil!

About Friday 26 June 1663

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘compass, v.1 < French . .
. . 11. a. To attain to or achieve (an end or object aimed at); to accomplish.
. . 1616 Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) i. ii. 40 That were hard to compasse, Because she will admit no kinde of suite.
1653 H. Cogan tr. F. M. Pinto Voy. & Adventures xxii. 77 The better to compass his intent . . ‘

About Wednesday 24 June 1663

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘break, v. < Old English brecan . . (OED: Many of the uses of this verb are so contextual, that it is difficult, if not impossible, to find places for them in a general scheme of its signification: when not found here, they may be sought under other words of the phrase.)’
The entry = 21,000 words under 42 headings. So it is not surprising Language Hat missed this one:
‘ . . 11. b. intr. (for refl.) To become bankrupt, to ‘fail’ (commercially). Now less usual.
1600   Shakespeare Merchant of Venice iii. i. 107   He cannot choose but breake . 
1662   S. Pepys Diary 19 Jan. (1970) III. 13   Our Merchants here in London do daily break . . ‘
……..
‘cog < This verb and the corresponding cog n.4 appear together in 1532, as ‘Ruffians' terms’ of dice-play; whence they passed into general use in various transferred senses. As in other cant terms, the origin has not been preserved; but the persistent notion is that of dishonest or fraudulent play, cheating
1. a. intr. (Dicing.) To practise certain tricks in throwing dice.
. . 5. a. To employ feigned flattery; to fawn, wheedle.
. . a1661 B. Holyday tr. Juvenal Satyres (1673) 206 He would almost endure anything, cogging with the rich and childless, in hope of an estate.
a1677 I. Barrow Of Contentm. (1685) 127 They are best qualified to thrive in it [sc. the world], who can..finely cog and gloze . . ‘
……..
‘tabby, n. and adj. < French tabis . . < Arabic ʿattābiy, name of a quarter of Bagdad in which this stuff was manufactured . .
adj. (attrib. use of n.)
1. Made or consisting of tabby (see A. 1 ‘ 1.a: A general term for a silk taffeta, app. originally striped, but afterwards applied also to silks of uniform colour waved or watered.).
. . 1661 S. Pepys Diary 13 Oct. (1970) II. 195 This day..put on..my false taby waistcoat with gold lace . .

2. a. Short for tabby cat at sense B. 2a(a): A cat having a striped or brindled coat.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth III. 390 The civet..varies in its colour, being sometimes streaked, as in our kind of cats called Tabbies . . ‘

About Tuesday 23 June 1663

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘rope's end, n. . .
1. The end of a rope; (hist.) a short piece of rope used for flogging, esp. for flogging a sailor.
. . 1663 S. Pepys Diary 23 June (1971) IV. 193, I beat him and then went up to fetch my ropes end . .
1969 P. O'Brian Master & Commander (1970) iii. 88 He heard oaths, laughter, the impact of a rope's end as a bosun's mate started a torpid bewildered hand.’

About Sunday 21 June 1663

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘band, n. < Late Middle English bande . .
. . 4. spec. a. The neck-band or collar of a shirt, orig. used to make it fit closely round the neck, afterwards expanded ornamentally. Hence, in 16th and 17th century, a collar or ruff worn round the neck by man or woman.
. . 1617 H. Fitzgeffery Satyres iii. sig. F2, Hee is of England by his yellow Band.
. . 1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 264. ⁋2 A Taylor's Widow, who washes and can clear-starch his Bands . . ‘

About Saturday 20 June 1663

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

DNB has:

‘Hewer, William (1642–1715), naval administrator, . . the eldest son of . . Anne Blackborne, sister of Robert Blackborne, navy and admiralty secretary during the Commonwealth and subsequently secretary of the East India Company. It was at Blackborne's prompting that on 18 July 1660 the new clerk of the acts, Samuel Pepys, took on Hewer as his clerk in the Navy Office and as a domestic employee. The relationship with Pepys would mature into professional collaboration and lifelong friendship. In the early days Hewer was occasionally rebuked for small failings in dress and drink, but was soon the trusted aide and favoured companion of Pepys and his wife, Elizabeth . .

. . Hewer acquired [in 1688] . . a handsome house on the north side of Clapham Common . . Here Pepys came to live in his old age and to die in 1703 . . Hewer was Pepys's executor . . [he] lived ‘very handsomly and friendly to every body’ and who had in particular assisted Pepys's wayward in-laws . . He died . . there on 3 December 1715 . . ‘

About Saturday 20 June 1663

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘ready, adj., adv., int., and n Middle English . .
3. a. Willing or eager to act when required; prompt to oblige. Also: quick at one's work; skilled.
. . 1647 J. Howell New Vol. of Lett. 22 So I am Your most affectionate ready servant, J. H. . .

4. a. Of the mind or mental faculties: quick to understand, plan, etc.; alert, perceptive, incisive. Now chiefly in ready wit.
. . 1688 P. Rycaut tr. G. de la Vega Royal Comm. Peru i. xxxviii. 479 Atahualpa..was of a quick and ready Understanding . . ‘

About Friday 19 June 1663

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘apply, v. < Anglo-Norman applier,
. . 13. a. intr. To make an approach to (a person) for information or aid; to have recourse or make application to, to appeal to; to make a (formal) request for.
. . 1661 R. L'Estrange Relaps'd Apostate sig. B2, Kept from them, to whom they seemingly apply for Satisfaction.

. . b. trans. (refl.). = sense 13a. Now arch. and rare.
. . 1650 T. Bayly Worcesters Apophthegmes 22, I spied a young man..I applyed myself to him.

14. trans. To address or direct (words) to. Now arch. and rare.
. . 1725 Pope tr. Homer Odyssey III. x. 32 And sacred vows, and mystic song apply'd To griesly Pluto.
1843 C. F. Briggs Bankrupt Stories i. iv. 33 The little fellow..applied an epithet to the house-keeper which it is hoped he did not fully understand . . ‘

The phrase is ‘. . apply yourself to him, whose lady’s health is drunk . . ‘; it is the transitive reflexive version of 14. When you propose a toast to the absent wife of another, you should address them directly and turn to them and half-bow in you seat, I think, instead of merely turning towards them or not even doing that.

No doubt a book of advice for young gentlemen would explain all.

About Monday 15 June 1663

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

As a farmer’s son, I know that ‘beast’ is the current generic for bovines of unspecified gender and emasculation (“Are they bullocks or bulls? Can you see their dangly bits?”).

OED has:

‘beast, n. < Old French beste . .
. . 3. A domesticated animal owned and used as part of farm ‘stock’ or cattle; at first including sheep, goats, etc., but gradually more or less restricted to the bovine kind; now chiefly applied by farmers, graziers, etc. to fatting cattle . .
. . 1863 J. C. Atkinson Whitby Gloss. Beast, an..animal of the Ox kind . . applied to Cows or fatting-stock collectively.
1865 Daily Tel. 22 Aug. 6/5 One half..is devoted to ‘beasts’; the other half to sheep, pigs, and calves, none of which creatures are ‘beasts’ according to the natural history of the Caledonian-road . . ‘

About Thursday 18 June 1663

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘retrenchment, n.2 < Middle French
. . 2. b. A reduction in expenditure; a cutback.
1667 S. Pepys Diary 9 Aug. (1974) VIII. 378 We did talk of many retrenchments of charge of the Navy which he will put in practice . . ‘
…………
Peace, Retrenchment and Reform was a political slogan used in early nineteenth century British politics by Whigs, Radicals and Liberals.