Sasha Clarkson

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

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Second Reading

About Tuesday 3 June 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

My understanding of the Brampton situation is that Sam was uncle Robert's heir, but that his father, John Pepys, was to have possession and income therefrom during his lifetime.

Therefore Sam's reckoning of his own worth will exclude this legacy for now.

http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…

About Monday 26 May 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Interesting that Sam is having a conversation with William Prynne, the man who did so much to help inflame passions in the lead-up to civil war. Above all things, he is remembered for his persecution by, and then prosecution of, Archbishop William Laud, leading to Laud's being attainted and beheaded.

Now the fanatically puritan Prynne, though an occasional thorn in its side, is well in with the new regime and, amongst other things, an elder brother of Trinity House, entertaining young Sam Pepys with lascivious tales of naughty nuns!

About Thursday 22 May 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

The reason that Lee was trawling through the Navy office archive is that Vane was firstly, under both King and Commonwealth, a former Treasurer of the Navy (the post now being held by Sir George Carteret); secondly, he sat on a series of Commonwealth committees to oversee and reform the Navy, including the drafting of articles of war.

This search for incriminating evidence did not really concern Sam, as the relevant events were well before his time. It may well have been of more concern to Penn and Batten, who were in the Navy under Cromwell. The "Sir Williams" were not a target, but they would not want to get caught in the crossfire.

It seems taht the "Sir Williams" dealt with the situation in different ways. Batten kept his distance ("nothing to do with me Guv!"), but Penn joined the "Councellor"* and Sam for lunch, not forgetting to bring his attractive daughter, both to distract the gentleman, and to restrict the conversation to polite topics, ie not potentially treasonous activities!

*I guess that the word "Councellor" here means in the sense of a lawyer.

About Thursday 22 May 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

"muscatt; but I know not yet what that is, and am ashamed to ask." I have no doubt that it was nutmeg (noix de muscade): if it were wine or grapes, Sam would certainly know.

Interestingly, from about 1500, the word "mace", previously referring to various spices, came to be used for the rind of the nutmeg. The (full) OED quotes a source referring to "the rynde of the nux musticata, the notmygge, "

Teddiman obviously sent a labelled package, and they all nodded and smiled wisely whilst wondering something like "what the Deuce is this?" :)

There may well be an etymological link to the muscatel grape, so named because of its musk-like perfume.

About Thursday 22 May 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Charles was not naturally bloodthirsty, so he had previously been quite happy to agree to clemency for Vane. However, Vane had made personal enemies because of his Commonwealth role sitting on both the 'Sequestration Committee ' and the 'Committee for Compounding with Delinquents', which dealt with confiscations and fines levied upon the estates and persons of defeated Royalists. Although the latter had lost the war, they were now elevated back to office due to the power vacuum after Oliver's death. As Vane had fallen out with all sides and had no powerful protectors, his persecutors were in a position to exact revenge, and did so with relish.

Like his father before him, Charles was prepared to allow Parliament to claim its chosen quarry if that was to his (Charles') benefit.

One must see these events in the context that that the loyalty of most members of the Cavalier Parliament was not unconditionally to the King, but to their own perceived collective interest as the landed ruling class. The King was their figurehead, tool, and ally, but as the years went on, divisions grew, both within Parliament, and between Parliament and the King. Thus the English Party system was born

About Tuesday 20 May 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Sam's final words put me in mind of Thomas Morley's madrigal, which Sam must surely have known. Morley (1558-1602) was organist at St Paul's cathedral, but also wrote much secular music, including for Shakespeare.

Sing we and chant it,
While love doth grant it,
Fa la la etc.

Not long youth lasteth,
And old age hasteth;
Now is best leisure
To take our pleasure.
Fa la la etc.

All things invite us
Now to delight us,
Fa la la etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c…

'It was a lover and his lass', words by Shakespeare, music by Morley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l…

About Saturday 10 May 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

The relationship between Pepys and Carteret prospers, as will, perhaps as a consequence, that between Carteret and Sandwich.

About Wednesday 30 April 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Being a burgess might be useful, for either Pepys or his patron, not only to be elected as an MP in the future, but also to be eligible to vote for an MP.

It would not be unreasonable to think that Pepys already had ambitions in that direction: both Batten and Penn were MPs. Pepys later became MP for Castle Rising (1673), and subsequently Harwich.

About The Royal Society

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Pepys was President of the Royal Society from 1684–1686, and thus was responsible for the publication of Newton's Principia.

Principia was written in Latin: its famous title page, with the inscription
"IMPRIMATUR S Pepys.." is shown in the link below, and was usually reproduced in subsequent English editions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil…

About Monday 28 April 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Cromwell too had a soft spot for Quakers. In his 'England under the Stuarts', GM Trevelyan quotes from a 1654 entry in Quaker founder George Fox's diary, that, at the end of one of their several meetings, Cromwell "caught me by the hand, and with tears in his eyes said 'Come here again to my house, for if thou and I were to have but an hour a day together, we should be nearer to one another' ".

In the blasphemy case against James Nayler, Cromwell intervened to dissuade the second Protectorate Parliament from ordering Naylor's execution, and attempted but failed to mitigate the harshness of Naylor's punishment. Incidentally, this shows that even at the height of his power, Cromwell governed as a chief executive, but not as a dictator.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jame…

About Monday 28 April 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

"college of virtuosoes" So, this is one of the really important diary entries, as it marks the beginning of Pepys' long association with the Royal Society. Pepys thereby would become acquainted with (even more) of the most learned and forward thinking men of his day. He would also become the society's president in 1684, and thus be responsible for the publication of Newton's Principia.

Principia was written in Latin: its famous title page is shown in the link below, and was usually reproduced in subsequent English editions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil…

About Sunday 27 April 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

"playing around when he should have been dressing"? Men generally slept in their clothes in inns in those days: it's unlikely to have been fresh linen!

Penn might have been in a hurry to get to see Ormonde, because of his extensive land holdings in Ireland, acquired in dubious circumstances from dispossessed Royalists during the civil war. After the restoration, some were restored to their previous owners, but wily old Penn managed to get some other lands in exchange: according to the second link below, "This land was already largely settled with Protestant tenants under their previous land owner, a Colonel Wallis." One might guess from this that although major Royalist landowners had their lands restored, their tenants were not so fortunate.

http://www.macroom.ie/tourism/216…

http://celebratingcorkpast.com/pe…

About Sunday 27 April 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

I have always found marriage by proxy to be a most peculiar idea. Of course, the King consummated it by proxy too, with lady Castlemaine!

About Saturday 26 April 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

As the old rhyme goes:
(From Richard Gordon's Doctor In The House.)

Caviar comes from the virgin sturgeon;
Virgin sturgeon - very fine fish.
Virgin sturgeon needs no urgin':
That's why caviar's a very rare dish.

About Friday 25 April 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Very amusing Robert! :)

BUT, sorry to be a pedant, the word "closet" was certainly not in use in Sam's time in its modern sense, and I doubt that the word "republic" was used either in the context of the Commonwealth or Protectorate.. Does Pepys use it even once in his diary? I also suspect that the word "denounce" didn't come into general usage until the Terror of the French Revolution. Avoiding anachronism in an historical context is really important.

It's also worth the reminder that discussing past allegiances would have been considered bad taste - especially in the aftermath of the recent executions. Penn, Batten, the Petts, Sandwich had all worked for the other side. Of Pepys closest working colleagues, only Sir George Carteret had an unblemished record as a Royalist - and, at least in the early days of the Restoration, HE was rather resentful of perceived former enemies. Remember that he tried, via Sandwich, to get Pepys to sack Will Hewer because of his connection with Robert Blackburne.

About Tuesday 22 April 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

I'm sure you're right Mary :)

According to one source quoted by Wikipedia, the cost per person of travelling by coach was a shilling for every five miles. Today's distance by motorway is about 75 miles, but the coach may well have used a more circuitous route. Anyway, it would not be unreasonable to estimate the cost of the coach as £2 per person for the return trip - 20 day's wages for the hypothetical carpenter!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stag…

About Tuesday 22 April 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

£88 for 10 nights away, for 7* people, cost approximately 36 shillings per person per day, including the clerks/servants. Price comparisons are difficult, because patterns of spending were very different. But consider that a skilled craftsman, like a carpenter, might be paid 2 shillings per day: a comparable figure today might be £100. So, in modern money, from the point of view of the carpenter, the cost to the public purse of this jolly would have looked like £88 000, (more than £10 000 per person) rather than £88 - and they still shared beds!

The senior person on the trip was Sir George Carteret, Treasurer to the Navy, so there shouldn't have been any problems about approving the cost, but if he didn't bring his wife, that would have set the example for the others. I wonder if Sir George shared a bed?

* or 8, if Sir George brought a servant.

About Saturday 19 April 1662

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Although Sam has witnessed executions before, this time he chooses merely to observe the arrival of the condemned into the City, drawn on sleds. (Aldgate is some considerable distance from Tyburn.)