Sasha Clarkson

Annotations and comments

Sasha Clarkson has posted 752 annotations/comments since 16 February 2013.

Comments

Second Reading

About Monday 12 October 1663

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

"some fears" : given the every-day ubiquity of mortality, rather litotic I suspect!

I am impressed that Pepys was able to function at all: having been an ulcerative colitis sufferer for almost 30 years, I have experienced (the non-renal) half of Sam's symptoms from time to time. When that end refuses to function, it's as though one's consciousness is removed from one's brain to the back passage: very little else matters.

About Sunday 11 October 1663

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

"my wife forebore to make herself clean to-day, but continued in a sluttish condition till to-morrow."

I take the use of the word "sluttish" as purely descriptive, possibly slightly ironic, but not judgemental. The OED defines the original meaning of the word as "dirty and untidy in dress or habit".* I don't get the sense that Sam was being in any way critical of Elizabeth: he usually lets us know if he's annoyed or upset. He's just observing that that despite it being Sunday, they made no effort to recognize the Lord's Day, as, in addition to Sam's internal disorder, they both wanted to finish the ordering of the house to their joint satisfaction.

*The first attested use of "sluttish" is actually of a man, by Chaucer in 1386: "Why is thy Lord so sluttish?" As the centuries have passed, the word has become more offensive than descriptive, but its meaning in Pepys' time depended upon the context.

As for the comment: "But apparently Sam wants them to boil water and carry it up two flights of stairs to make Elizabeth a bath so she looks fine for him???", one should beware of rushing to judgement based upon an anachronistic misreading of language followed by a specious extrapolation of desires which were neither expressed nor hinted at. Following this by the general sexist comment "Typical man", adds nothing to our understanding or appreciation of the diary and the history it reveals!

About Friday 9 October 1663

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

If I'd been commissioner Pett, I'd have been nervous too, and looking to be able to make a quick getaway if "The Great Fart" arrived!

Incidentally, in French, "péter" means "to fart", and "pet" is the noun "fart": I imagine that visiting French shipwrights/merchants might have a bit of fun with his name!

About Wednesday 7 October 1663

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Coltsfoot used to be put in "Coltsfoot Pine and Honey" cough mixture. When it was removed, the remedy became noticeably less effective, but the herb is still available over the counter in some shops selling complementary remedies.

I make a strong tincture of coltsfoot using vodka, and add a small amount (~3-4%) to the cough mixture, which restores its original efficacy. I also add the herb to steam inhalations, as it helps ease discomfort in respiratory tract infections.

One can also buy "coltsfoot rock"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col…

About Sunday 4 October 1663

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Will's a young adult, wanting - needing - more independence, but also still in need of guidance.

I remember the worries I gave my parents at that age!

About Monday 28 September 1663

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Re "shrievalty", and the office of sheriff or "shire reeve".

About 10 miles from where I live, the ancient town of Laugharne in Carmarthenshire has a 'port reeve/portreeve' instead of a Mayor. Indeed, the office of Lord Mayor of London was also that of a portreeve.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lau…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Por…

'Reeve' also survives as a not uncommon English surname. The word derives the Anglo-Saxon 'ġerēfa' and its etymology is related to the German noble title of 'graf'.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ree…

About Sunday 27 September 1663

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

There are few relationships which don't have a rocky patch, and that between Sam and Will is having one now. Will is twenty-one this year, on the verge of legal adulthood, and is probably chafing at being a servant in another man's household: especially given that his own background is prosperous.

We know that the difficulties are eventually overcome: the how will be interesting!

About Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

It it considered that Godmancester, not Manchester in Lancashire, gave its name to the title of the Earls/Dukes of Manchester, as they were local landowners in Huntingdonshire.

About Tuesday 15 September 1663

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

"Oliver Cromwell (Protector) hated the Montagu family for living in what he considered his birthright"

I have read this assertion before, but never any evidence for it. Apart from the fact that as a descendant of a younger son, it was never *his* birthright, pursuing petty grudges was not part of Cromwell's character. Indeed, Sandwich, as mere Edward Mountague, was trusted and well treated by Cromwell. This was obviously reciprocated as Mountague was one of those who urged Protector Cromwell to accept the crown. In contrast, the Protector did not have particularly good relations with his namesake Sir Oliver, a royalist.

Cromwell certainly had differences with the Manchester branch of the Montagus (the Earldom is likely to be named after Godmanchester in Huntingdonshire, mentioned above, not Manchester in Lancashire), but that was for a multiplicity of other reasons, described in detail in Antonia Fraser's biography.

About Monday 14 September 1663

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Bishopsgate street is the street which leads to Bishops Gate in what used to be the London Wall. Simple enough.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon…

BUT in York, where the names derive from Norse rather than Saxon, "'gates" are streets and 'bars' are gates. Eg Micklegate is the street (Great Street), and the gate at the end of it is Micklegate bar.

If you look on Google maps at any town in Denmark, you will find that a street is a "gade" to this day, and a Hovedgade is a High Street.

About Wednesday 9 September 1663

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

There is no evidence at all that Sandwich was "hated at court", nor, by the standards of his time, was there any reason for him to be hated.

There were centuries old traditions of bloody rebellions against both English and Scottish crowns, followed by reconciliations of greater or lesser sincerity. There was no personal bad blood, as Sandwich wasn't a regicide, so the only questions were
1) was he useful?
&
2) was he a threat?

The answers were yes to the first, and no to the second.

Yes to the first, because of his military & naval experience, & his moderating influence in the shires & parliament.

No to the second, because he was not a fanatic, but was a loyal servant to the new regime, and not indulging in faction fighting or seeking any more rewards than he already had. The loyalist Clarendon was truly hated my many, because he still wanted power as well as office, was father in law to James, and stood in the way of others' promotion. Many loyalist Cavalier MPs were far more of a threat to the Stuarts because they insisted on having minds of their own and not bending to the Royal whim. Sandwich & his ilk, like Sir William Penn, had prostituted themselves to the Restoration and stayed bought.

About Monday 31 August 1663

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Hi Louise: I'm sure Pepys enjoyed gossip, but he was very loyal to Sandwich, and kept doubts about his actions private, except to his most trusted confidants, eg Moore.

He had to protect Sandwich by being publicly loyal to Creed over his accounts, and he didn't like it. His diary helped him let off steam safely! :)

About Monday 31 August 1663

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Recording things on shorthand in a personal diary is not gossip. There's no evidence that Sam is anything but a loyal member of "Team Sandwich", unlike, say, Ned Pickering whom he rather despises.

About Sunday 30 August 1663

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

"There were 111 churches in the City in the 16th century; 80 were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 and 51 subsequently rebuilt under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren." So, plenty to choose from. As Sarah says, policing compulsory church attendance would be difficult.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/vie…

Enforcement would have different aims in London than in the provinces. In London, the aim would be suppress Presbyterian and more radical puritans, like Pepys' clerk Hayter. This could be done by preventing their meetings/services. In country areas away from London, like Lancashire, recusancy was more likely to be associated with Roman Catholicism. Different groups feared different things for different reasons.

Given the number of available churches, it seems that Pembleton has it bad: whether it's lust, love, obsession - or the need/hope for money ...

About Thursday 27 August 1663

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

It's possible at this time that the sugar came from Madeira, not Brazil.

Wherever it came from, it was a product of slave labour, and thus it was a part of Europe's moral corruption!

About Monday 24 August 1663

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

The most prominent Parliament/Commonwealth man still left is not *our* Montagu, Sandwich, but his cousin Edward Montagu Earl of Manchester, his cousin, currently the Lord Chamberlain.

About George Cocke ("Captain")

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

I imagine his Riga connections began when he was in Danzig. Both were Hanseatic ports, trading with the vast Slavic hinterlands of Eastern Europe, and with significant commerce and social contacts with each other.

By her surname/patronymic, his wife may have had Jewish origins.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gda…

About Wednesday 19 August 1663

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Re "Hollyard" Hollier: this still happens today: a local teacher named Hillier was known as "Hillyard" by many of the students and parents.