Annotations and comments

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

Comments

Second Reading

About Wednesday 1 January 1661/62

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

DNB has:

‘Penn, Sir William (bap. 1621, d. 1670), naval officer, was baptized in St Thomas's Church, Bristol, on 23 April 1621, the son of Giles Penn, a seaman and merchant of the city . . ’

‘Penn, William (1644–1718), Quaker leader and founder of Pennsylvania, was born in the liberty of the Tower of London on 14 October 1644, the son of Sir William Penn . .

Penn entered Christ Church, Oxford, in 1660 as a gentleman commoner. . . By the winter of 1661 Penn left Oxford and went to the continent, ostensibly to escape the political controversy that was arising from the stringent enforcement of the Act of Uniformity on the university which even required students to wear surplices . . ‘

About Friday 27 December 1661

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘1. Archaeol. A treasury, as of a temple, etc. . .

2. a. A ‘treasury’ or ‘storehouse’ of knowledge, as a dictionary, encyclopædia, or the like.
[1565 T. Cooper (title) Thesaurus Linguæ Romanæ et Britannicæ [etc.].
1736 R. Ainsworth (title) Thesaurus Linguæ Latinæ compendiarius; or..Dictionary of the Latin Tongue.] . .

b. A collection of concepts or words arranged according to sense; also (U.S.) a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms.
1852 Roget (title) Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases classified and arranged [etc.] . .

. . c. A classified list of terms, esp. key-words, in a particular field, for use in indexing and information retrieval.
1957 H. Brownson in Proc. Internat. Study Conference on Classification for Information Retrieval 100 The best answer..may be the application of a mechanized thesaurus based on networks of related meanings . . ‘

About Friday 20 December 1661

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘coxcomb . . 3. a. A fool, simpleton (obs.); now, a foolish, conceited, showy person, vain of his accomplishments, appearance, or dress; a fop; ‘a superficial pretender to knowledge or accomplishments’ (Johnson).
. . 1667 S. Pepys Diary 13 Feb. (1974) VIII. 59 A vain coxcomb..he is, though he sings and composes so well.’

I think ‘A fool, simpleton’ is the meaning here.

About Friday 13 December 1661

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

ˈdead colour The first or preparatory layer of colour in a painting.
. . 1672 C. Beale Pocket-bk. in H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting (1763) III. i. 70, 5 June, Dr. Tillotson sat..to Mr. Lely for him to lay in a dead colour of his picture.
. . 1901 Scribner's Monthly Aug. 255/1 There was, indeed, an early method employed by painters of laying in their pictures in what they were pleased to term ‘dead color’, as a kind of foundation or preparation for their succeeding painting.’

About Tuesday 10 December 1661

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

DNB has:‘ . . In the king's coronation honours of 1661 [John Crew] was created Baron Crew of Steane, retiring from public prominence thereafter. However, he continued to feature in the political gambits of the Cavalier Parliament, is known to have frowned upon its Anglican policies, and was marked as ‘an opposition peer’ from 1675 . . Crew is frequently referred to by Pepys, who seems to have entertained a very high respect for him . . ‘.

We are in December 1661 so it seems obvious to me that when SP wrote ‘my Lord Crew’ he meant Lord Crew, who was still around, and not his son, ‘one of the least active Members of the Cavalier Parliament’.

So the link above is wrong and needs to be corrected [I humbly submit to our esteemed Editor] . .

About Sir Thomas Crew

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

DNB has:‘ . . In the king's coronation honours of 1661 [John Crew] was created Baron Crew of Steane, retiring from public prominence thereafter. However, he continued to feature in the political gambits of the Cavalier Parliament, is known to have frowned upon its Anglican policies, and was marked as ‘an opposition peer’ from 1675 . . Crew is frequently referred to by Pepys, who seems to have entertained a very high respect for him . . ‘.

We are in December 1661 so it seems obvious to me that when SP wrote ‘my Lord Crew’ he meant Lord Crew, who was still around, and not his son, ‘one of the least active Members of the Cavalier Parliament’.

So the link above is wrong and needs to be corrected [I humbly submit to our esteemed Editor] . .

About Monday 9 December 1661

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘downs . . 4. the Downs: the part of the sea within the Goodwin Sands, off the east coast of Kent, a famous rendezvous for ships. (It lies opposite to the eastern termination of the North Downs.)

a1460 Gregory's Chron. in Hist. Coll. Citizen London (Camden) 178 The vyntage come by londe ynne cartys unto London fro the Downys.
. . 1667 S. Pepys Diary 2 Jan. (1974) VIII. 1 To send all the ships we can possible to the Downes.
. . 1778 S. Whatley England's Gazetteer (ed. 2) Downs, a road on the coast of Kent, through which ships generally pass, in going out and returning home. It is 6 miles long between the North and South Foreland.’

About Sunday 8 December 1661

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘physic, n. I. Medical, curative, and extended uses.
1. A medicinal substance; spec. a cathartic, a purgative . .
. . 1605 Abp. G. Abbot Briefe Descr. Worlde (rev. ed.) sig. T3, The people..do vse it [sc. Tobacco] as phisicke to purge themselues of humors.
a1616 Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) v. iii. 49 Throw Physicke to the Dogs, Ile none of it.
. . 1748 Best Method preserving Uninterrupted Health 182 The Salt in the Air..shrinks up the Fibres of their Guts, and makes them [sc. seamen] generally very costive, insomuch as to require a double quantity of physic to purge them . . ‘

About Saturday 7 December 1661

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

DNB has:

‘Palmer, Roger, earl of Castlemaine, diplomatist and Roman Catholic apologist, . . married . . the beautiful Barbara Villiers . . In marrying above himself he espoused a woman whose beauty was as famous as her conduct was already scandalous . . At the Restoration Palmer's wife became Charles II's mistress. [In] 1661 she bore a daughter, Anne, whose paternity was disputed between her husband and the king. On 11 December Charles created Palmer . . earl of Castlemaine in the Irish peerage merely to give his wife a title and rank to her children. The patent added insult to injury by confining the remainder to the heirs of her, not his, body. . The recipient showed his contempt by never taking his seat in the Irish parliament.

The arrival of . . Catherine of Braganza, in May 1662, did not terminate the liaison . . Humiliated beyond endurance Castlemaine left the country, unable to bear the reproach of being thought a complaisant husband.

. . The accession of James II in 1685 transformed Castlemaine's fortunes. No longer an outcast, he was welcomed into royal favour . . [he] died [in] 1705 . . A devout Catholic, he remained staunchly loyal to James II and his son. Though much maligned in his day, and persistently underrated by historians, the scholar Elias Ashmole thought him both learned and honourable. His writings reveal an alert mind, unafraid to express itself in the defence of an unpopular cause.’

Just who Andy was alluding to 10 years ago, I have no idea.

About Saturday 7 December 1661

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED lets Pepys explain:

‘scallop . . 2.c. Lace or edging of a scalloped pattern; a scalloped lace band or collar. Obs.
. . 1661 S. Pepys Diary 7 Dec. (1970) II. 228 My wife and I were talking about buying of a fine Scallop..which is to cost her 45s.’

About Sunday 1 December 1661

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘clap . . IV. Of action resembling the preceding in its prompt energy, but with no notion of noise.
. . 11. esp. To put (with promptitude or high-handedness) in prison or custody; to imprison, confine. Also simply to clap up ( †to clap fast ): ‘to imprison with little formality or delay’ (Johnson).
. . a1616 Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) i. iv. 50 Let them be clapt vp close.
. . 1720 D. Defoe Capt. Singleton 303 Certain Nobles whom the King had clapt up . . ‘

About Wednesday 20 November 1661

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

Al Doman’s search gives 95 hits, beginning:

Much good discourse, and I think him a very just man, only a little conceited, but yet very able in his way, and so he by water also with me also ...
William Howe come to see me, being come up with my Lord from sea: he is grown a discreet, but very conceited fellow. He tells me how little ...
This fellow Deane is a conceited fellow, and one that means the King a great deal of service, more of disservice to other people that go away ...
... a very hopeful young man, but only a little conceited …

Mainly from 1663 on, perhaps because by then he he is secure in his own status and confident in his judgement of those he meets.

‘Conceited’ at that date meant both:

‘ . .1.c †c. Clever, witty, amusing: said of persons and their words or writings. Obs.
. . 1649 Ld. Herbert Life Henry VIII anno 1534, The pleasure he had in his conceited and merry language . . ‘

and

‘3. a. Having an overweening opinion of oneself, or one's own qualities, etc.; vain. Orig. self-conceited. (The principal existing sense.)
. . 1609 Bp. J. Hall Medit. & Vowes (new ed.) I. §96 A conceited man must be a foole. For, that ouerweening opinion, hee hath of himselfe, excludes al opportunity of purchasing knowledge.
. . 1710 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 20 July (1965) I. 45 A tatling, impertinent, vain, and Conceited Creature . .
1872 C. Darwin Emotions xiii. 331 The conceited are rarely shy; for they value themselves much too highly to expect depreciation.’

[OED]

About Tuesday 19 November 1661

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘subpoena, n. < classical Latin sub poenā under a penalty . . the opening words of the writ . .
1. a. A writ requiring the attendance of a defendant at court in order to answer a charge alleged against him or her, subject to penalty for non-compliance . . Now hist. In England, Wales, and Ireland such writs were issued by the Court of Chancery in order to commence a suit; the procedure was abolished in 1852.
. . ?1575 J. Hooker Orders Enacted for Orphans f. 39, A Sub pena is graunted against the partie, to compel him to appeer in the Chauncery.
1651 Certaine Observ. conc. Lord Chancellor 31 No Subpœna may be granted without Suerty to satisfie the Defend. for his damages and expences, if the matter cannot be made good.
. . 1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. 443 If the defendant, on service of the subpoena, does not appear..he is then said to be in contempt . . ‘

About Monday 18 November 1661

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

‘Very merry’ = still just about capable of routine work without a mistake though perhaps slow.

‘Drunk’ = incapable of working.

Drunk before dinner meant you were good for nothing and not to be relied on. Drunk after dinner meant much less as you had had ample time before dinner to do the important tasks of the day

About Saturday 16 November 1661

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘eleemosynary
. . 2. Dependent on or supported by alms.
1654 G. Goddard Acct. Parl. in T. Burton Diary (1828) I. Introd. p. lxv, If we be a mere elemosynary Parliament we are bound to do his drudgery . . ‘

About Wednesday 13 November 1661

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

Adding in the 11 days adjustment for the old calendar takes us to Nov 24 New Style, past the transition from autumn to winter, a Little Ice Age winter much older than what we get nowadays.

DNB has: ‘ . . It was in the years 1668–70 that both James and Anne converted to Roman Catholicism. Anne was a devout woman who had practised secret confession since the age of twelve and who clearly valued the visual and the ritual elements in worship: Pepys saw her in James's ‘little pretty chapel’ at her ‘silly devotions’ . .

She gave birth to her eighth child, a daughter, on 9 February 1671, but by now her fatal illness, probably breast cancer, was in an advanced stage . . On 30 March she ate a hearty dinner, but fell ill that night and died at 3 p.m the following day . . ‘ [aged 34]

also:

‘ . . Her husband was certainly no match for her. He was widely seen as under her thumb: ‘the duke of York, in all things but his codpiece, is led by the nose by his wife’ (Pepys, 9.342) . . ‘

About Saturday 9 November 1661

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘lace, n. < Old French laz . . < popular Latin *lacium a noose . .
5. a. Ornamental braid used for trimming men's coats, etc.; †a trimming of this. Now only in gold lace, silver lace, a braid formerly made of gold or silver wire, now of silk or thread with a thin wrapping of gold or silver.
. . 1634 H. Peacham Gentlemans Exercise (new ed.) 135 Garters deepe fringed with gold lace.
1684 Dryden Prol. Univ. Oxf. in Misc. Poems 272 Tack but a Copper-lace to Drugget sute . .

6. A slender open-work fabric of linen, cotton, silk, woollen, or metal threads, usually ornamented with inwrought or applied patterns. Often called after the place where it is manufactured, e.g. Brussels lace n. . .
. . 1613 (title) The King's edict prohibiting all his subjects from using any gold or silver, either fine or counterfeit; all embroiderie, and all lace of Millan, or of Millan fashion.
1715 J. Gay Epist. Earl Burlington 118 The busy town..Where finest lace industrious lasses weave.
lace-man n. a man who manufactures or deals in lace . .

1669 S. Pepys Diary 26 Apr. (1976) IX. 534 Calling at the laceman's for some lace for my new suit.’

About Friday 8 November 1661

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

'scholar, n. Forms: OE scolere, scoliere, ME–16 scholer, ME scolere, ME–15 scoler, ME scolare, skolere, scolier, (Caxton escolyer), ME–15 scolar, ME–16 scoller, 15 scolear, scoleir, scollar, skoller, skolar, 15–16 scholler, schollar, schooler, 16 schoolar, skooller, skollar, ( sholar), 15–18 vulgar schollard, 18 scholard, 15– scholar.'

About Friday 8 November 1661

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

A ‘gent’ nowadays is recognised by his accent - well-spoken - and his manners - polite and often formal. He has usually has had a private education and he may - or may not - have money.

The OED has:

‘ . . 3. a. A man in whom gentle birth is accompanied by appropriate qualities and behaviour; hence, in general, a man of chivalrous instincts and fine feelings . .
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler i. 13, I would rather prove my self to be a Gentleman, by being learned and humble, valiant and inoffensive, vertuous, and communicable, then by a fond ostentation of riches.
1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 207. ⁋4 The Appellation of Gentleman is never to be affixed to a Man's Circumstances, but to his Behaviour in them.
1743 N. Appleton Serm. 153 The Gentle-Man will treat every Man with due Respect, and will be friendly, yielding, condescending, obliging, and ready to do a Kindness . . ‘

which I take to be SP’s sense here.

The question still unanswered is:

‘When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman? . . ’
John Ball 1381
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John…