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Ruslan has posted 88 annotations/comments since 26 October 2022.

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Third Reading

About Friday 19 June 1663

Ruslan  •  Link

jerry Atkinson on 20 Jun 2006:
> apply yourself to him
Can anyone help me with this phrase?

I read this passage:

Here Mr. Moore showed us the French manner, when a health is drunk, to bow to him that drunk to you, and then apply yourself to him, whose lady’s health is drunk, and then to the person that you drink to, which I never knew before; but it seems it is now the fashion.

Like so:

Mr. Moore showed us the French custom of toasting, which involves bowing to the person who toasted you, then to the person whose lady's health is being toasted, and finally to the person you're toasting. I didn't know this before, but it seems to be the fashion now.

About Monday 15 June 1663

Ruslan  •  Link

Australian Susan on 17 Jun 2006
> "without any control"
> Without a ballot?

I read this to mean that Sir W. Batten was elected as master without anyone contesting or challenging his election. i.e. there were no other candidates or objections to his appointment.

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Broken links on the Internet Archive:

Dirk's "Have a look at ... for the kind of accidents that might occur (19th c., and New Zealand, but I guess not much different in Sam's time)."

https://web.archive.org/web/20060…

And "On coaches & carriages:"
https://web.archive.org/web/20060…

About Sunday 14 June 1663

Ruslan  •  Link

Bill's Magdalene College Libraries link now forwards to a different domain.
For the sake of posterity, here is the new link: https://magdlibs.com/2014/10/10/p…

> By now we've all seen Downton Abbey...
Downton Abbey is a fantastic programme, yet in some respects it is highly unrealistic. For example, the easy interaction and conversation between the upstairs world of the family and their peers and the downstairs world of the hired help. That just didn’t happen.

See: https://britishheritage.com/art-c…

About Friday 15 May 1663

Ruslan  •  Link

"… where I found it almost night, and my wife and the dancing-master alone above, not dancing but talking."

L&M have:

"… not dancing but walking."

About Saturday 4 April 1663

Ruslan  •  Link

The link that San Diego Sarah posted to "The Supersizers Go... Restoration" has been blocked.

Here's an updated link to the whole show (not just part 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z…

Description:

The Supersizers Go... Restoration

BBC 2 Series in which restaurant critic Giles Coren and writer and comedian Sue Perkins experience the food culture of years gone by.

This time the pair try the food of Restoration Britain in the 1660s, a time of fire and plague. They both don wigs, with Giles in tight breeches and Sue in wide skirts. They snack on coxcombs, eel pie and copious amounts of small beer.

About Sunday 22 March 1662/63

Ruslan  •  Link

> "while I went to the church expecting to see the young ladies of the school, Ashwell desiring me"

I read this as:
while I attempted to visit the church to see the schoolgirls, as Ashwell had suggested…

> L&M note in part: "Henry Cromwell...cousin of the Protector, but a royalist, changed his surname...and adopted that of his early [16th c] ancestor, Richard Williams...."

According to the encyclopedia page, Henry Cromwell was the fourth son of Oliver Cromwell, not cousin.
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

About Sunday 2 November 1662

Ruslan  •  Link

Having read a little further, there seems to be evidence in this entry: https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

"She [Elizabeth] now read it, and it was so piquant, and wrote in English, and most of it true, of the retiredness of her life, and how unpleasant it was;"

The fact that Elizabeth's letter was written in English is worthy of comment, makes one think that she could speak a second language, i.e. French.

About Saturday 3 January 1662/63

Ruslan  •  Link

> Having nothing now in my mind of trouble in the world, but quite the contrary, much joy, except only the ending of our difference with my uncle Thomas, and the getting of the bills well over for my building of my house here, which however are as small and less than any of the others.

Louise Hudson said: "I take that to mean less than any of the other bills he has to pay."

Another interpretation is that his concerns are minor compared to those of others. To reinforce this point, he then records that Sir W. Penn is "fallen very ill again".