A ‘piece of eight’ was ‘a Spanish silver dollar, or peso, worth eight reals . . ’. The English pound was a piece of gold. So the exchange rate between them fluctuated as the relative value of the two precious metals varied, as it has throughout history. http://www.silverseek.com/article… charts the Au/Ag ratio over 45 years: the range is 20 (1980) to 98 (1991); it is currently 80, so silver is very cheap (93rd %ile) relative to gold. The ratio was set at 12 by the Romans; it stayed in the range 14.5 - 15.5 from Pepys’ time to the 1870s; see: https://www.measuringworth.com/da…
Re:‘ . . Pepys was now reminded of similar problems which had led to the national rising of 1637 . . ’
which led to the two Bishops’ Wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bis… which were ended by the Treaty of Ripon in October 1640. The impoverished King Chales I had to summon another parliament to grant him the supplies which he needed to pay the Scots off; this Long Parliament attacked his Government, impeaching (and eventually executing) his chief supporters, Strafford and Laud - and him, the Man of Blood. It sat until it was dissolved by Oliver Cromwell in 1653:
‘It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonored by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice . . Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? . . So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors. In the name of God, go!’
‘cavil, v. < Old French . . 1. a. intr. ‘To raise captious and frivolous objections’ (Johnson); to object, dispute, or find fault unfairly or without good reason . . . . 1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi i. §3. 14 After this manner, such mockers reasoned and cavilled with S. Peter. . . 1750 Bp. W. Warburton Lett. (1809) 61 Without finding anything considerable to cavil with you upon . . ‘
' . . Coincidentally at about the same time (before Cromwell died in September 11658), Pepys acquired a part-time place as teller in the exchequer under George Downing, after whom the street would be named . . ' [DNB]
‘lionize, v. . . 3. intr. To see the ‘lions’ of a place. 1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 137 We sallied forth to lionize..which is the Oxford term for gazing about, usually applied to strangers . . ‘
‘eel < Old English ǽl . . . . 1. d. salt eel: a rope's end used for flogging. Obs. [ < the use of an eel skin as a whip.] 1663 S. Pepys Diary 24 Apr. (1971) IV. 109 With my salt Eele went down in the parler, and there got my boy and did beat him.’
Four half-crowns = 10/- old money = 50p current money which doesn’t sound much now but was a huge sum then: £1,050 in ‘labour value’ = average earnings or £2,600 in ‘income value’ = per capita GDP. See: http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…
‘tune < Latin tonus n. . . 5. fig. Frame of mind, temper, mood, disposition, humour . . 1600 Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iii. iv. 38 Hero How now? do you speake in the sicke tune? Beat. I am out of all other tune, me thinkes. 1608 Shakespeare King Lear xvii. 40 [Lear] some time in his better tune remembers, What we are come about. . . a1691 J. Flavell Faithful Narr. Sea-deliv. in Wks. (1701) II. 72 Our Fancies were out of Tune to be pleasant with any thing.’
Re: How was Buccleuch pronounced? etc . . : Buccleuch is a pair of wee hamlets tucked away in a fold of the Scottish Borders which get their name from Buck Cleuch (Scots; pron: Brit. /kluːx/, /kluː/, U.S. /kluk/ , /klux/ , /klu/ , Scottish /kl(j)uːx/). a steep sided small valley carved into a hillside: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/….
Monmouth’s new wife was Anne Scott, 4th Countess of Buccleuch. She was created Duchess of Buccleuch in her own right along with her husband, so that the title was unaffected by Monmouth's attainder of 1685. The wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duk… explains all and displays several coats-of-arms with the royal arms with bar sinister in the first quarter.
The current Duke of Buccleuch, Richard Scott, the 10th Duke, is the largest private landowner in the United Kingdom.
‘hereupon, adv. 1. Upon this thing, point, subject, or matter. . . 1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iii. xxxvi. 226 Hereupon a question may be asked.
2. Immediately following upon this (in time or consequence). . . 1706 tr. L. E. Du Pin New Eccl. Hist. 16th Cent. II. iii. xviii. 261 Hereupon there was a great murmur . . ‘
‘sugar-sop, n. < Old English sopp . . †1. pl. A dish composed of steeped slices of bread, sweetened and sometimes spiced . . . . 1663 S. Pepys Diary 17 Apr. (1971) IV. 104 Our dinner, it being Goodfriday, was only sugar sopps and fish . . ‘
ˈtruckle-bed, n. < Anglo-Norman trocle < Latin trochlea = Greek τροχιλία sheaf of a pulley . . A low bed running on truckles or castors, usually pushed beneath a high or ‘standing’ bed when not in use; a trundle-bed. . . 1662 S. Pepys Diary 1 May (1970) III. 75 To bed all alone, and my Will in the truckle-bed.’
‘OH, to be in England now that April ’s there And whoever wakes in England sees, some morning, unaware, That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf, While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough In England—now! . . ‘
‘Norway, n.< Norway, the name of a country in Scandinavia.... 1. attrib. Designating plants, animals, etc., native to or originating from Norway, and things made in or associated with Norway. . . 1711 E. Ward Life Don Quixote I. 39 As tough As Norway Seal-skin, and as rough. 1759 Newport (Rhode Island) Mercury 26 June 4/3 To be sold by Jacob Richardson... Brass kettles and skillets... Rub and Norway Rag Stones. . . 1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Norway Ragstone, the coarsest variety of the hone-slates, or whetstones . .
†5. slang. Norway neckcloth n. a pillory. Obs. 1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Norway neckloth[sic], the pillory, usually made of Norway fir.’
‘pitch, v.2 < Of uncertain origin. . . 22. intr. With on or upon. To settle or decide on; to select, choose . . 1628 W. Prynne Briefe Suruay Mr. Cozens 62, I shall onely pitch vpon these ensuing passages. 1674 W. Allen Danger of Enthusiasm 86 The way and method which God pitcht upon . . ‘
‘pettish, adj.< Apparently formed within English < pet n.3 Of a person or his or her behaviour: subject to fits of offended ill humour; childishly bad-tempered and petulant; peevish, sulky . . a1641 R. Montagu Acts & Monuments (1642) iv. 272 He became pettish, wayward, frantick, bloudy. 1666 S. Pepys Diary 6 Aug. (1972) VII. 236, I checked her, which made her mighty pettish . . ‘
In a world made up of rank and deference to it, the Sirs regarded attendance on the Royals as part of their duties:
’attendance, n. < Old French . . 3. The action or condition of waiting upon, accompanying, or escorting a person, to do him service; ministration, assiduous service. in attendance: waiting upon, attending. . . 4. The action or condition of an inferior in waiting the leisure, convenience, or decision of a superior.’
but some onlookers would say:
‘ . . 5. In senses 3, 4 the phrases to wait attendance (obs.), to dance attendance, occur= ‘to attend’; the latter usually with some shade of sarcasm or contempt. . . 1628 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy (ed. 3) iii. ii. ii. iv. 451 Shut him out of doores once or twice, let him dance attendance . . ‘
They may well have made it clear to our man that his attendance was not required as he was too junior; he may have been miffed at this or glad not to have to waste the time hanging about to no good purpose.
‘skelm, n. and adj. < Dutch < German schelm rascal, devil, pestilence, carcass, etc. . . 1. A rascal, scamp, scoundrel, villain. Now arch. (except in S. Africa). . . 1663 S. Pepys Diary 3 Apr. (1971) IV. 93 He ripped up Hugh Peters (calling him ‘that execrable Skellum’). 1693 T. Urquhart & P. A. Motteux tr. Rabelais 3rd Bk. Wks. xlviii. 386 Pander, Knave, Rogue, Skelm, Robber or Thief . . 1956 T. Huddleston Naught for your Comfort ii. 29 As for Absalom—he is a ‘skellum’, a ‘tsotsi’—the kind of Kaffir who ought to be sjambokked every day: it would teach him sense . . ‘
‘ stem-piece n. (see quots.). c1860 H. Stuart Novices or Young Seaman's Catech. (rev. ed.) 67 What is the stem piece for? It lies between the knight heads, and strengthens that part of the ship which the bowsprit passes through. 1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. 2373 Stem-piece (Shipbuilding), a piece in front of the stem, into which the main piece of the head is stepped.’
‘betimes, adv. < betime v. + adverbial genitive -s; compare beside, besides. . . 2. spec. At an early hour, early in the morning. . . 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Josh. vii. 16 Iosua gat him vp by tymes in the mornynge. a1616 Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. iii. 2 Not to bee a bedde after midnight, is to be vp betimes. 1663 S. Pepys Diary 1 Sept. (1971) IV. 293 Up pretty betimes and after a little at my Viall, to my office.’
‘beˈtime | bitime, v. . . a. intr. To betide.’
‘betide, v. . . 1. a. intr. To happen, befall. Only in 3rd pers. and often impers. . . ‘
Comments
Second Reading
About Monday 11 May 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
A ‘piece of eight’ was ‘a Spanish silver dollar, or peso, worth eight reals . . ’. The English pound was a piece of gold. So the exchange rate between them fluctuated as the relative value of the two precious metals varied, as it has throughout history. http://www.silverseek.com/article… charts the Au/Ag ratio over 45 years: the range is 20 (1980) to 98 (1991); it is currently 80, so silver is very cheap (93rd %ile) relative to gold. The ratio was set at 12 by the Romans; it stayed in the range 14.5 - 15.5 from Pepys’ time to the 1870s; see: https://www.measuringworth.com/da…
About Sunday 10 May 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
Re:‘ . . Pepys was now reminded of similar problems which had led to the national rising of 1637 . . ’
which led to the two Bishops’ Wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bis… which were ended by the Treaty of Ripon in October 1640. The impoverished King Chales I had to summon another parliament to grant him the supplies which he needed to pay the Scots off; this Long Parliament attacked his Government, impeaching (and eventually executing) his chief supporters, Strafford and Laud - and him, the Man of Blood. It sat until it was dissolved by Oliver Cromwell in 1653:
‘It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonored by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice . . Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? . . So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors. In the name of God, go!’
http://www.britpolitics.co.uk/spe…
About Friday 8 May 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED hasa:
‘cavil, v. < Old French . .
1. a. intr. ‘To raise captious and frivolous objections’ (Johnson); to object, dispute, or find fault unfairly or without good reason . .
. . 1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi i. §3. 14 After this manner, such mockers reasoned and cavilled with S. Peter.
. . 1750 Bp. W. Warburton Lett. (1809) 61 Without finding anything considerable to cavil with you upon . . ‘
About Thursday 7 May 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
' . . Coincidentally at about the same time (before Cromwell died in September 11658), Pepys acquired a part-time place as teller in the exchequer under George Downing, after whom the street would be named . . ' [DNB]
About Friday 1 May 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
This video shows several 'traditions' of Morris dancing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g…
and here are the Quayside Cloggies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U…
About Thursday 30 April 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED says this was the original sense:
‘lionize, v.
. . 3. intr. To see the ‘lions’ of a place.
1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 137 We sallied forth to lionize..which is the Oxford term for gazing about, usually applied to strangers . . ‘
Lionising applied to celebrities came later.
About Friday 24 April 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘eel < Old English ǽl . .
. . 1. d. salt eel: a rope's end used for flogging. Obs. [ < the use of an eel skin as a whip.]
1663 S. Pepys Diary 24 Apr. (1971) IV. 109 With my salt Eele went down in the parler, and there got my boy and did beat him.’
About Wednesday 22 April 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
Four half-crowns = 10/- old money = 50p current money which doesn’t sound much now but was a huge sum then: £1,050 in ‘labour value’ = average earnings or £2,600 in ‘income value’ = per capita GDP. See: http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…
About Wednesday 22 April 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘tune < Latin tonus n. . . 5. fig. Frame of mind, temper, mood, disposition, humour . .
1600 Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iii. iv. 38 Hero How now? do you speake in the sicke tune? Beat. I am out of all other tune, me thinkes.
1608 Shakespeare King Lear xvii. 40 [Lear] some time in his better tune remembers, What we are come about.
. . a1691 J. Flavell Faithful Narr. Sea-deliv. in Wks. (1701) II. 72 Our Fancies were out of Tune to be pleasant with any thing.’
About Monday 20 April 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
Re: How was Buccleuch pronounced? etc . . : Buccleuch is a pair of wee hamlets tucked away in a fold of the Scottish Borders which get their name from Buck Cleuch (Scots; pron: Brit. /kluːx/, /kluː/, U.S. /kluk/ , /klux/ , /klu/ , Scottish /kl(j)uːx/). a steep sided small valley carved into a hillside: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/….
Monmouth’s new wife was Anne Scott, 4th Countess of Buccleuch. She was created Duchess of Buccleuch in her own right along with her husband, so that the title was unaffected by Monmouth's attainder of 1685. The wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duk… explains all and displays several coats-of-arms with the royal arms with bar sinister in the first quarter.
The current Duke of Buccleuch, Richard Scott, the 10th Duke, is the largest private landowner in the United Kingdom.
About Saturday 18 April 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘hereupon, adv.
1. Upon this thing, point, subject, or matter.
. . 1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iii. xxxvi. 226 Hereupon a question may be asked.
2. Immediately following upon this (in time or consequence).
. . 1706 tr. L. E. Du Pin New Eccl. Hist. 16th Cent. II. iii. xviii. 261 Hereupon there was a great murmur . . ‘
Sense 2 here, I think.
About Friday 17 April 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘sugar-sop, n. < Old English sopp . .
†1. pl. A dish composed of steeped slices of bread, sweetened and sometimes spiced . .
. . 1663 S. Pepys Diary 17 Apr. (1971) IV. 104 Our dinner, it being Goodfriday, was only sugar sopps and fish . . ‘
About Thursday 16 April 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
ˈtruckle-bed, n. < Anglo-Norman trocle < Latin trochlea = Greek τροχιλία sheaf of a pulley . .
A low bed running on truckles or castors, usually pushed beneath a high or ‘standing’ bed when not in use; a trundle-bed.
. . 1662 S. Pepys Diary 1 May (1970) III. 75 To bed all alone, and my Will in the truckle-bed.’
About Thursday 16 April 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
Time for some Browning for SDS:
‘OH, to be in England now that April ’s there
And whoever wakes in England sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England—now! . . ‘
http://www.bartleby.com/246/647.h…
It's happening around me now . .
About Wednesday 15 April 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘Norway, n.< Norway, the name of a country in Scandinavia....
1. attrib. Designating plants, animals, etc., native to or originating from Norway, and things made in or associated with Norway.
. . 1711 E. Ward Life Don Quixote I. 39 As tough As Norway Seal-skin, and as rough.
1759 Newport (Rhode Island) Mercury 26 June 4/3 To be sold by Jacob Richardson... Brass kettles and skillets... Rub and Norway Rag Stones.
. . 1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Norway Ragstone, the coarsest variety of the hone-slates, or whetstones . .
†5. slang. Norway neckcloth n. a pillory. Obs.
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Norway neckloth[sic], the pillory, usually made of Norway fir.’
‘pitch, v.2 < Of uncertain origin.
. . 22. intr. With on or upon. To settle or decide on; to select, choose . .
1628 W. Prynne Briefe Suruay Mr. Cozens 62, I shall onely pitch vpon these ensuing passages.
1674 W. Allen Danger of Enthusiasm 86 The way and method which God pitcht upon . . ‘
About Tuesday 14 April 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘pettish, adj.< Apparently formed within English < pet n.3
Of a person or his or her behaviour: subject to fits of offended ill humour; childishly bad-tempered and petulant; peevish, sulky
. . a1641 R. Montagu Acts & Monuments (1642) iv. 272 He became pettish, wayward, frantick, bloudy.
1666 S. Pepys Diary 6 Aug. (1972) VII. 236, I checked her, which made her mighty pettish . . ‘
About Tuesday 14 April 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
In a world made up of rank and deference to it, the Sirs regarded attendance on the Royals as part of their duties:
’attendance, n. < Old French
. . 3. The action or condition of waiting upon, accompanying, or escorting a person, to do him service; ministration, assiduous service. in attendance: waiting upon, attending.
. . 4. The action or condition of an inferior in waiting the leisure, convenience, or decision of a superior.’
but some onlookers would say:
‘ . . 5. In senses 3, 4 the phrases to wait attendance (obs.), to dance attendance, occur= ‘to attend’; the latter usually with some shade of sarcasm or contempt.
. . 1628 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy (ed. 3) iii. ii. ii. iv. 451 Shut him out of doores once or twice, let him dance attendance . . ‘
They may well have made it clear to our man that his attendance was not required as he was too junior; he may have been miffed at this or glad not to have to waste the time hanging about to no good purpose.
About Friday 3 April 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘skelm, n. and adj. < Dutch < German schelm rascal, devil, pestilence, carcass, etc. . .
1. A rascal, scamp, scoundrel, villain. Now arch. (except in S. Africa).
. . 1663 S. Pepys Diary 3 Apr. (1971) IV. 93 He ripped up Hugh Peters (calling him ‘that execrable Skellum’).
1693 T. Urquhart & P. A. Motteux tr. Rabelais 3rd Bk. Wks. xlviii. 386 Pander, Knave, Rogue, Skelm, Robber or Thief . .
1956 T. Huddleston Naught for your Comfort ii. 29 As for Absalom—he is a ‘skellum’, a ‘tsotsi’—the kind of Kaffir who ought to be sjambokked every day: it would teach him sense . . ‘
About Wednesday 1 April 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘ stem-piece n. (see quots.).
c1860 H. Stuart Novices or Young Seaman's Catech. (rev. ed.) 67 What is the stem piece for? It lies between the knight heads, and strengthens that part of the ship which the bowsprit passes through.
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. 2373 Stem-piece (Shipbuilding), a piece in front of the stem, into which the main piece of the head is stepped.’
About Thursday 2 April 1663
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘betimes, adv. < betime v. + adverbial genitive -s; compare beside, besides.
. . 2. spec. At an early hour, early in the morning.
. . 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Josh. vii. 16 Iosua gat him vp by tymes in the mornynge.
a1616 Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. iii. 2 Not to bee a bedde after midnight, is to be vp betimes.
1663 S. Pepys Diary 1 Sept. (1971) IV. 293 Up pretty betimes and after a little at my Viall, to my office.’
‘beˈtime | bitime, v.
. . a. intr. To betide.’
‘betide, v.
. . 1. a. intr. To happen, befall. Only in 3rd pers. and often impers. . . ‘