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Ricadus has posted 10 annotations/comments since 23 November 2019.

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Third Reading

About Sunday 29 September 1661

Ricadus  •  Link

“…and what at dinner and supper I drink I know not how, of my own accord, so much wine, that I was even almost foxed”

It sounds like Sir W Penn’s cunning plan to ambush Sam by way of goodfellowship, as perhaps revenge for last month’s ‘stolen’ tankard escapade, didn’t quite come off.

Second Reading

About Thursday 21 November 1667

Ricadus  •  Link

The probable location of the taverne in St. Clement’s Churchyard, as well as interesting information on the use of tokens for low denomination coinage.

https://c17thlondontokens.com/201…

Apparently there was an acute shortage of base metal coins for use in everyday transaction (such as paying for a drink) so local tradesmen resorted to issuing their own coins

This problem is described in the front page of the blog — the 1660s were the peak period for this — and helped me understand more why the Navy office might have resorted to tickets to pay their wages to sailors and boatyard men:

https://c17thlondontokens.com/

About Sunday 1 September 1667

Ricadus  •  Link

Mention of the Old Swan Tavern reminded me of this recent blog post about “Doggett’s Coat and Badge” race, an annual boat race held in late summer that had it’s starting line at the Old Swan.

https://knowyourlondon.wordpress.…

In its early years contestants apparently raced against the outgoing tide, so that the event could take hours to be completed. Presumably this also enabled spectators to walk along the riverside and shout encouragements and to reach the endpoint — the Swan Inn at Chelsea — in time to see the finish.

The event began just a few years after Pepys’s lifetime, in 1715, and apparently continues to this day, making it the oldest boat race in the world, although it is not nearly as famous as the annual University Boat Race held further upstream at Putney

About Christopher Pett

Ricadus  •  Link

The Pett family owned a large area of land in what is now suburban Southeast London called Petts Wood. The woodland, which still exists, was leased for the production of timber.

About Mary Mercer

Ricadus  •  Link

She and her brother both died young, in their twenties.

About Thursday 22 November 1666

Ricadus  •  Link

“..some bottles of new French wine of this year, mighty good...”

An early reference to the Beaujolais Nouveaux? Nowadays marked in France on the third Thursday of November and celebrated with fireworks and festivals in that region.