Kidney/bladder stones In our time, stones are most commonly crystallized calcium compounds, but they can also form from other sources, including uric acid (as happened in my case). Since uric acid crystals can also cause gout, which was prevalent in Sam's day (probably because of the excessive consumption of red meat by the upper classes, who were the most subject to gout), it's entirely possible that Sam's stones were not calcium based. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blad…
Interestingly, the Wikipedia article says that a calcium-deficient diet can also cause stones, and explains why.
Private boxes in the cabinet Interesting that these elaborate devices came without a user's manual or tech support from the manufacturer. The user was on his/her own to figure them out. Sam should have found himself a 7-year-old.
La Belle Pierce? As a glance at the annotations under her entry reminds us, Mrs. Pierce has always been noted for her extraordinary beauty, which Sam has remarked on a number of times, although he found fault with her housekeeping. But "eeriest slattern" doesn't sound like a description of someone easy on the eyes. Wonder what might have happened to her?
To Sam and Jeannine, and anyone else who "cannot get any thing to take place in [their] mind" because of distractions, I recommend Robert Benchley's wonderful essay "How to get things done," which explains how to make constructive use of distractions. You can find it at http://www.hackvan.com/pub/stig/e… P.S. Today's poetic outpouring has been marvelous.
Terry, I parsed the apparent contradiction as meaning they wanted to see some more churches where needed, but not a lot of associated buildings such as parish halls, manses, etc. I have no idea whether that's right or not, but at least it makes the passage coherent.
Re: Mademoiselle I think this must be Mademoiselle Le Blanc, the Montagu's French nanny or governess. Captain Ferrers has been known to escort her to the theater on at least one previous occasion. See http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo… re Mlle. Le Blanc, and Glyn's note at http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo… re her connection with the captain. Glyn surmises that she was his mistress, but it may be that they just had a love of the theater in common.
"ya think Pepys had a little 17th century pr0n hidden under all those mast invoices?" Probably not. Although ribald, bawdy, and erotic tales go back to the beginnings of recorded language, porn in the modern sense, i.e. prose designed specifically for the purpose of sexual arousal, is generally regarded to have started with the publication of John Cleland's "Fanny Hill" in 1748-49.
"my Lord pays use now for above 9000l" Reading between the lines, I sense that Sam may have been sounding Mr. Moore out about recovering his money that is in my Lordship's keeping, and Moore trying to discourage him from pressing the matter.
As to the exchange between Alan Bedford and CSG, I would say the word "for" clearly indicates that the 9K is the principal amount, not the interest.
Michael Robinson, re "our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor": we had a brief discussion of this point in the annotations to the entry for 1 April 1664. See http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
"Sons of leaders do not always lead to a succesful rein [sic], ala Suleiman (I)followed be the son." We needn't look further than the first few months of our Diary, and the unfortunate Richard Cromwell, for a prime illustration of that dictum.
"A similar freedom from arrest provision was included in the U.S. Constitution" Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there are a couple of crucial differences: 1) The freedom pertains only to actual presence in Congress, and traveling to and from, not everywhere and in all circumstances (otherwise some of our currently incarcerated former Congressmen could not have been); 2) In the case of a prohibited arrest, the member of Congress would be released without charge, but there would be no civil or criminal penalties for the arresting officer, unless the arrest was a false arrest under general terms of law.
I wouldn't say Sam is accusing Scott of dereliction of duty. He understands quite well why Scott is leery of this assignment; Scott is afraid it is going to cost him money. The letter is Sam's assurance to Scott that that will not happen.
Thanks to Dave for that fun link. The instructions say to put a normal pie in the big one with the birds, so you'll have something for your guests to eat when the birds fly out, but I'm not sure I'd want to eat a pie that had been sharing a space with a lot of live birds.
Tripe is considered a delicacy in Mexican cooking, where it is called menudo. It is on the special Sunday menu in many Mexican restaurants in the southwestern U.S. I'm not overly fond of it, but it doesn't inspire the gag reflex (maybe if I were trying to cook it ...). As Paul Dyson says, it has little taste of its own, just adding a chewy texture to the soup or whatever that it's in.
Tripe is considered a delicacy in Mexican cooking, where it is called menudo. It is on the special Sunday menu in many Mexican restaurants in the southwestern U.S. I'm not overly fond of it, but it doesn't inspire the gag reflex (maybe if I were trying to cook it ...). As Paul Dyson says, it has little taste of its own, just adding a chewy texture to the soup or whatever that it's in.
These three puzzlers sent me off to the OED. There is no entry for "pallatte" as such, but "pallate" is given as an obsolete spelling for "palate," and one example in the entry for "palate," from 1771, is "To fricasey Ox Palates," suggesting that they were used for food. So maybe that would be something you would put in pea soup.
As to "comb," the only definitions that seemed even remotely possible were a rooster's comb and a honeycomb. Your guess is as good as mine as to which would make a better soup ingredient.
The only example for "platerer" is today's Diary entry. The OED calls it an obsolete form of "plater," but I think they may be giving Sam too much credit; I'll bet it was just a mistake on his part. "Plater" here refers of course to someone who goldplates or silverplates metal objects, not the later (19th) century use in shipbuilding referring to someone who attaches iron armor plates to ships.
Thanks to Jeannine for that great recipe. It's the most precise and detailed I've ever seen from that period. I may try it sometime (but without palates or combs).
Comments
First Reading
About Wednesday 18 May 1664
Paul Chapin • Link
Kidney/bladder stones
In our time, stones are most commonly crystallized calcium compounds, but they can also form from other sources, including uric acid (as happened in my case). Since uric acid crystals can also cause gout, which was prevalent in Sam's day (probably because of the excessive consumption of red meat by the upper classes, who were the most subject to gout), it's entirely possible that Sam's stones were not calcium based. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blad…
Interestingly, the Wikipedia article says that a calcium-deficient diet can also cause stones, and explains why.
About Wednesday 18 May 1664
Paul Chapin • Link
Private boxes in the cabinet
Interesting that these elaborate devices came without a user's manual or tech support from the manufacturer. The user was on his/her own to figure them out. Sam should have found himself a 7-year-old.
About Monday 16 May 1664
Paul Chapin • Link
La Belle Pierce?
As a glance at the annotations under her entry reminds us, Mrs. Pierce has always been noted for her extraordinary beauty, which Sam has remarked on a number of times, although he found fault with her housekeeping. But "eeriest slattern" doesn't sound like a description of someone easy on the eyes. Wonder what might have happened to her?
About Monday 9 May 1664
Paul Chapin • Link
To Sam and Jeannine, and anyone else who "cannot get any thing to take place in [their] mind" because of distractions, I recommend Robert Benchley's wonderful essay "How to get things done," which explains how to make constructive use of distractions. You can find it at http://www.hackvan.com/pub/stig/e…
P.S. Today's poetic outpouring has been marvelous.
About Thursday 5 May 1664
Paul Chapin • Link
Terry, I parsed the apparent contradiction as meaning they wanted to see some more churches where needed, but not a lot of associated buildings such as parish halls, manses, etc. I have no idea whether that's right or not, but at least it makes the passage coherent.
About Tuesday 3 May 1664
Paul Chapin • Link
May we all avoid slabbering our bands with chocolate.
About Barbara Palmer (Countess of Castlemaine)
Paul Chapin • Link
A full copy of the painting of Villiers can be found at http://entertainment.timesonline.…
Barry, thanks for the lead.
About Monday 2 May 1664
Paul Chapin • Link
Re: Mademoiselle
I think this must be Mademoiselle Le Blanc, the Montagu's French nanny or governess. Captain Ferrers has been known to escort her to the theater on at least one previous occasion. See http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo… re Mlle. Le Blanc, and Glyn's note at http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo… re her connection with the captain. Glyn surmises that she was his mistress, but it may be that they just had a love of the theater in common.
About Sunday 24 April 1664
Paul Chapin • Link
"ya think Pepys had a little 17th century pr0n hidden under all those mast invoices?"
Probably not. Although ribald, bawdy, and erotic tales go back to the beginnings of recorded language, porn in the modern sense, i.e. prose designed specifically for the purpose of sexual arousal, is generally regarded to have started with the publication of John Cleland's "Fanny Hill" in 1748-49.
About Monday 25 April 1664
Paul Chapin • Link
"my Lord pays use now for above 9000l"
Reading between the lines, I sense that Sam may have been sounding Mr. Moore out about recovering his money that is in my Lordship's keeping, and Moore trying to discourage him from pressing the matter.
As to the exchange between Alan Bedford and CSG, I would say the word "for" clearly indicates that the 9K is the principal amount, not the interest.
About Thursday 21 April 1664
Paul Chapin • Link
Michael Robinson, re "our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor": we had a brief discussion of this point in the annotations to the entry for 1 April 1664. See http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
About Tuesday 19 April 1664
Paul Chapin • Link
"Sons of leaders do not always lead to a succesful rein [sic], ala Suleiman (I)followed be the son."
We needn't look further than the first few months of our Diary, and the unfortunate Richard Cromwell, for a prime illustration of that dictum.
About Monday 18 April 1664
Paul Chapin • Link
"A similar freedom from arrest provision was included in the U.S. Constitution"
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there are a couple of crucial differences:
1) The freedom pertains only to actual presence in Congress, and traveling to and from, not everywhere and in all circumstances (otherwise some of our currently incarcerated former Congressmen could not have been);
2) In the case of a prohibited arrest, the member of Congress would be released without charge, but there would be no civil or criminal penalties for the arresting officer, unless the arrest was a false arrest under general terms of law.
About Sunday 17 April 1664
Paul Chapin • Link
At least he didn't say "God save our queer old dean," as Rev. Spooner was later reported to have said.
About Saturday 16 April 1664
Paul Chapin • Link
Sam's rushing. This entire entry is one long run-on sentence. Not up to his usual standards of style.
About Saturday 16 April 1664
Paul Chapin • Link
I wouldn't say Sam is accusing Scott of dereliction of duty. He understands quite well why Scott is leery of this assignment; Scott is afraid it is going to cost him money. The letter is Sam's assurance to Scott that that will not happen.
About Friday 8 April 1664
Paul Chapin • Link
Thanks to Dave for that fun link. The instructions say to put a normal pie in the big one with the birds, so you'll have something for your guests to eat when the birds fly out, but I'm not sure I'd want to eat a pie that had been sharing a space with a lot of live birds.
About Tripe
Paul Chapin • Link
Tripe is considered a delicacy in Mexican cooking, where it is called menudo. It is on the special Sunday menu in many Mexican restaurants in the southwestern U.S. I'm not overly fond of it, but it doesn't inspire the gag reflex (maybe if I were trying to cook it ...). As Paul Dyson says, it has little taste of its own, just adding a chewy texture to the soup or whatever that it's in.
About Saturday 9 April 1664
Paul Chapin • Link
Tripe is considered a delicacy in Mexican cooking, where it is called menudo. It is on the special Sunday menu in many Mexican restaurants in the southwestern U.S. I'm not overly fond of it, but it doesn't inspire the gag reflex (maybe if I were trying to cook it ...). As Paul Dyson says, it has little taste of its own, just adding a chewy texture to the soup or whatever that it's in.
About Friday 8 April 1664
Paul Chapin • Link
Pallattes, Combs, and Platerers
These three puzzlers sent me off to the OED. There is no entry for "pallatte" as such, but "pallate" is given as an obsolete spelling for "palate," and one example in the entry for "palate," from 1771, is "To fricasey Ox Palates," suggesting that they were used for food. So maybe that would be something you would put in pea soup.
As to "comb," the only definitions that seemed even remotely possible were a rooster's comb and a honeycomb. Your guess is as good as mine as to which would make a better soup ingredient.
The only example for "platerer" is today's Diary entry. The OED calls it an obsolete form of "plater," but I think they may be giving Sam too much credit; I'll bet it was just a mistake on his part. "Plater" here refers of course to someone who goldplates or silverplates metal objects, not the later (19th) century use in shipbuilding referring to someone who attaches iron armor plates to ships.
Thanks to Jeannine for that great recipe. It's the most precise and detailed I've ever seen from that period. I may try it sometime (but without palates or combs).