Pepys: "[I] . . . talked the while, with Creed, who tells me of Mr. Harry Howard’s giving the Royal Society a piece of ground next to his house, to build a College on, which is a most generous act." TF: "The ground consisted of 400 sq. ft. in Arundel gardens." Four hundred square feet? To build a college on? I must be misunderstanding either what is meant by "four hundred square feet" or what is meant by "a college."
"Up, and to the Office, where all the morning. At noon home to dinner, and then to the Office again . . . till candle-light; and then, as late as it was, I down to Redriffe, and so walked by moonlight to Deptford . . . , and my business I did there was only to walk up and down above la casa of Bagwell . . , it being my intent to have spent a little time con her . . . ; but I did lose my labour, and so walked back again, but with pleasure by the walk . . . . He's walking a great distance, as in the early days of the diary, but primarily to see Bagwell. I've always thought his feeling toward her was rather mutual and that Bagwell had a crush on him. Remember that one year she went to the trouble to show up (at his office, of all places) to be his valentine.
Scanning error: . . . to alter their manner of throwing, arid that with great industry, as if there was anything in it . . . . "arid" should no doubt be "and."
Re Ruben, "in spite there was not an age gap" between Hewer and Pepys, there was a sllight one. Hewer was ten years younger than Pepys, an age gap that meant a lot when Hewer first came into the Pepys household at 17 and behaved like a teenage boy -- throwing his cape over his shoulder "like a ruffian," and committing other offenses -- and Pepys treated him as if he were a rebellious son at that time, but a few years later, when both were adults, the relationship was more like a younger brother and an older brother. In the end, it is such an admirable relationship that all of us might wish for one like it in our old age.
Yes, Hewer is a true friend, and an intelligent one, to tell Pepys that his argument won't "hold water" and then convince him to alter his statement. He has certainly moved up from having been one of Pepys' early "boys."
"we went with [the coachman] into a nasty end of all St. Giles’s, and there went into a nasty room, a chamber of his, where he hath a wife and child." "Nasty." That's how the other half lives. Shame on him.
In the US a (non-imperial) gallon of water weighs 8 pounds. In a gallon there are eight pints, so each one weighs a pound. One sunny, blazing-hot summer day I weighed myself and then mowed both of my two yards, one large and one medium-large, with an ordinary "push" power mower. It was quite a job. Then, just out of curiosity, I weighed myself again and was shocked to discover that I had lost three pounds, so I must have sweated out three pints. How surprising it is to me to find that King Charles II had the same curiosity I had.
Elizabeth is truly an impressive housewife. She not only manages all the laundry (surely several maids/boys must be doing the heavy lifting on her trips to and from the whitster) and supervises the purchasing for the kitchen and the cooking (when she can't ever be certain how many will be there for dinner [lunch]), but she also hires and fires as necessary for the efficient staffing of the household. Pepys scored a prize when he married her.
Many of the people who helped Charles escape after Worcester, like Jane Lane and the Pendrells, received pensions in perpetuity. Jane Lane's lapsed because she was childless, but the Pendrell brothers' pensions are still being paid to a number of their descendants.
"and one of them, a brisk young fellow, with his hat cocked like a fool behind, as the present fashion among the blades is" -- reminds me of the present fashion among the blades in the US of wearing their baseball caps backwards. Years back I saw a column by George Will in which he noted that Holden Caulfield already wore his cap this way in "Catcher in the Rye."
So Sam's dearly beloved father is visiting him, and yesterday Elizabeth (his hostess) left Dad to go with Hewer and Jane overnight to Woolwich to gather dew for her complexion, and Sam (his son and host) left him to go meandering through Vauxhall to enjoy the sights and sounds of nightingales and musicians. And today Dad is ignored again. Elizabeth heads for la Pierce's party wearing an outfit that so incenses Sam (unjustifiably, since he agreed to it) that he stays home in a sulk and works on accounts. No mention of Dad at all. Strange.
Comments
Second Reading
About Friday 17 January 1667/68
Batch • Link
Pepys:
"[I] . . . talked the while, with Creed, who tells me of Mr. Harry Howard’s giving the Royal Society a piece of ground next to his house, to build a College on, which is a most generous act."
TF:
"The ground consisted of 400 sq. ft. in Arundel gardens."
Four hundred square feet? To build a college on?
I must be misunderstanding either what is meant by "four hundred square feet" or what is meant by "a college."
About Wednesday 15 January 1667/68
Batch • Link
"Up, and to the Office, where all the morning. At noon home to dinner, and then to the Office again . . . till candle-light; and then, as late as it was, I down to Redriffe, and so walked by moonlight to Deptford . . . , and my business I did there was only to walk up and down above la casa of Bagwell
. . , it being my intent to have spent a little time con her . . . ; but I did lose my labour, and so walked back again, but with pleasure by the walk . . . .
He's walking a great distance, as in the early days of the diary, but primarily to see Bagwell. I've always thought his feeling toward her was rather mutual and that Bagwell had a crush on him. Remember that one year she went to the trouble to show up (at his office, of all places) to be his valentine.
About Wednesday 1 January 1667/68
Batch • Link
Scanning error:
. . . to alter their manner of throwing, arid that with great industry, as if there was anything in it . . . .
"arid" should no doubt be "and."
About Monday 9 December 1667
Batch • Link
Re Ruben, "in spite there was not an age gap" between Hewer and Pepys, there was a sllight one. Hewer was ten years younger than Pepys, an age gap that meant a lot when Hewer first came into the Pepys household at 17 and behaved like a teenage boy -- throwing his cape over his shoulder "like a ruffian," and committing other offenses -- and Pepys treated him as if he were a rebellious son at that time, but a few years later, when both were adults, the relationship was more like a younger brother and an older brother. In the end, it is such an admirable relationship that all of us might wish for one like it in our old age.
About Thursday 5 December 1667
Batch • Link
San Diego Sarah, thanks for the information about William Penn. He was a visionary, and America was the right place for him.
About Sunday 24 November 1667
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Yes, Hewer is a true friend, and an intelligent one, to tell Pepys that his argument won't "hold water" and then convince him to alter his statement. He has certainly moved up from having been one of Pepys' early "boys."
About Tuesday 15 October 1667
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Nate, thank you for the redirection to the Byrd diary.
About Thursday 3 October 1667
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"we went with [the coachman] into a nasty end of all St. Giles’s, and there went into a nasty room, a chamber of his, where he hath a wife and child."
"Nasty." That's how the other half lives. Shame on him.
About Thursday 26 September 1667
Batch • Link
By varnished "tables" are we to understand something like a tablet?
About Monday 2 September 1667
Batch • Link
In the US a (non-imperial) gallon of water weighs 8 pounds. In a gallon there are eight pints, so each one weighs a pound.
One sunny, blazing-hot summer day I weighed myself and then mowed both of my two yards, one large and one medium-large, with an ordinary "push" power mower. It was quite a job.
Then, just out of curiosity, I weighed myself again and was shocked to discover that I had lost three pounds, so I must have sweated out three pints.
How surprising it is to me to find that King Charles II had the same curiosity I had.
About Wednesday 28 August 1667
Batch • Link
"where I mighty merry among the women" -- this seems to happen a lot.
About Wednesday 14 August 1667
Batch • Link
Elizabeth is truly an impressive housewife. She not only manages all the laundry (surely several maids/boys must be doing the heavy lifting on her trips to and from the whitster) and supervises the purchasing for the kitchen and the cooking (when she can't ever be certain how many will be there for dinner [lunch]), but she also hires and fires as necessary for the efficient staffing of the household. Pepys scored a prize when he married her.
About Tuesday 16 July 1667
Batch • Link
Many of the people who helped Charles escape after Worcester, like Jane Lane and the Pendrells, received pensions in perpetuity. Jane Lane's lapsed because she was childless, but the Pendrell brothers' pensions are still being paid to a number of their descendants.
About Friday 21 June 1667
Batch • Link
sbt: "Pepys is becoming Nautical - the ladies are consuming 'victuals' and Carteret and Fenn are 'aground'." Pepys is like an armchair quarterback.
About Thursday 20 June 1667
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RG, excellent point re "our" gold.
About Saturday 15 June 1667
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Compass, verb:
to attain or achieve;
to accomplish;
to contrive;
to plot or scheme:
"to compass a treacherous plan"
About Thursday 6 June 1667
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Made me think of Iago too
About Monday 3 June 1667
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"and one of them, a brisk young fellow, with his hat cocked like a fool behind, as the present fashion among the blades is" -- reminds me of the present fashion among the blades in the US of wearing their baseball caps backwards.
Years back I saw a column by George Will in which he noted that Holden Caulfield already wore his cap this way in "Catcher in the Rye."
About Wednesday 29 May 1667
Batch • Link
So Sam's dearly beloved father is visiting him, and yesterday Elizabeth (his hostess) left Dad to go with Hewer and Jane overnight to Woolwich to gather dew for her complexion, and Sam (his son and host) left him to go meandering through Vauxhall to enjoy the sights and sounds of nightingales and musicians.
And today Dad is ignored again. Elizabeth heads for la Pierce's party wearing an outfit that so incenses Sam (unjustifiably, since he agreed to it) that he stays home in a sulk and works on accounts.
No mention of Dad at all. Strange.
About Monday 13 May 1667
Batch • Link
Pepys saw mirrors used this way in a house he visited a while back and made mention of admiring the effect at that time.