John York

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John York has posted 57 annotations/comments since 23 March 2015.

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Second Reading

About Tuesday 16 June 1663

John York  •  Link

It sounded to me as though Brewer was staging an exhibition of paintings which were possibly for sale and that Pepys didn't like any enough to buy them.
The Companion states Brewer was a "Liveryman of the Painter Stainers' Company; ......... His bills for 'divers painted works' in the Navy Office buildings appear in the Treasurer's ledgers"
Some commentators read this as though he was a painting contractor bit I wonder whether he also supplied pictures individually.

About Tuesday 5 May 1663

John York  •  Link

Coming up tomorrow at Tennants Auctions Leyburn (available on line through The-Saleroom.com)
Lot 2042 - Pepys (Samuel) The Diary of Samuel Pepys, 1893-6, Bell, thirteen volumes, including Index, 1899; Pepysiana, 1899; Correspondence of Samuel Pepys, 1926, (two volumes), and Further Correspondence of Samuel Pepys, 1929, t.e.g., uniform cloth gilt; Combe (William), The First Tour of Doctor Syntax ..; The Second Tour .., The Third Tour .., 1855, Nattali and Bond, three volumes, coloured plates, t.e.g., uniform half morocco by Galwey; Thackeray (William Makepeace), A collection of six novels, uniformly bound with t.e.g., in half crimson morocco by Sotherans; with nine others Estimated at £200 to £400.
Lot 2043 - [Pepys (Samuel)] Memoires Relating to the State of the Royal Navy of England, For Ten Years, Determin'd December 1688, 1690, large paper, portrait frontis, folding plate, calf (re-backed)
Estimated at £600 to £1,000
All plus buyers premium @ 21.5%
http://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb…

About Saturday 2 May 1663

John York  •  Link

Pricklouse - whatever Bess meant, is not a word I would have expected a girl educated in a Fench Convent to know. In her years in England she has picked up some colourful language.

Was Sam vexed at being called Pricklouse or was he vexed that they had angry words?

About Friday 1 May 1663

John York  •  Link

Re Celtcahill's comment above, I thought John still had 3 unmarried children at this time, Tom, Pall and John(Jnr). Have I missed something?

Stortlow may be sold - this producing £200 for his father and the balance paying off some of the oustanding debts & legacies. Interesting that on 11 February 1661/62 Sam was proposing the selling of Stortlow for Tom's benefit "he needs money, and has no mind to marry."
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

John(Jnr) was at Cambridge University but never is taken into account as being in need of money in the present or for his future. I wonder who was funding his study.

About Saturday 28 March 1663

John York  •  Link

JayW makes comment about the University Boat Race. The section of the Thames between Seething Lane and Deptford is further downstream and much more subject to the effects of the open sea, the waves would be much bigger here. One further thought is that if they did not take a boat they would need to cross The Thames and that would mean going up as far as London Bridge, which would then necessitate coming back down stream to Seething Lane, backwards and forwards.

About Saturday 14 February 1662/63

John York  •  Link

Chris Squire, thanks for the OED extract. I notice the first reference is to hanging fallow deer until it is tender comes from 1599.
Contrast this with Dirk's annotation on 13 February 166/63
"In the 17th c most if not all game was eaten within days after the kill -- as was the case with all meat. Hanging game to "improve" the taste was not yet a custom."
It certainly looks as though venison was routinely hung at the end of the 16th Century - so why not other meat?

About Friday 6 February 1662/63

John York  •  Link

@SDS
A point well made, they are in very different places. I think the problem is that we do not always know which one Pepys is referring to. As I am on occasions told the answer lies in the Encyclopedia.
New Exchange - Built in 1608-9 by the Earl of Salisbury, it was located on the south side of the Strand. It featured many small shops supplying luxury goods. See: http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…

The Royal Exchange - opened on 23 January 1571 by Queen Elizabeth I who awarded the building its royal title and a licence to sell alcohol. It is on Threadneedle Street. Gresham's original building was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. See:
http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…

So I think Bill is correct, Pepys is using old here to distinguish the Royal Exchange building (92 years old) from the New Exchange (54 years old).

About Collar Day

John York  •  Link

"Collar days are designated days on which the collar forming part of the insignia of certain members of orders of knighthood may be worn. Collars are special large and elaborate metal chains worn over the shoulders, hanging equally in front and back, often tied with a bow at the shoulders, with a distinctive pendant attached to the front."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col…
From the list quoted in the 1831 London Gazette there are 32 days listed (excluding royal birthdays) and these are nearly all religious festivals where members of the court would have been expected to attend chapel.
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Lond…...
Whilst in the 17th century this would principally relate to the British Orders of Knighthood no doubt foreign ambassadors to the court would wear the orders of their respective countries.

About Monday 2 February 1662/63

John York  •  Link

Collar days
"Collar days are designated days on which the collar forming part of the insignia of certain members of orders of knighthood may be worn. Collars are special large and elaborate metal chains worn over the shoulders, hanging equally in front and back, often tied with a bow at the shoulders, with a distinctive pendant attached to the front."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col…
From the list quoted in the 1831 London Gazette there are 32 collar days (excluding royal birthdays) and these are nearly all religious festivals where members of the court would have been expected too attend chapel.
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Lond…
The London Gazette was only established in 1665 so we are a few years short of being able to look in there for the collar days for 1663.

About Friday 23 January 1662/63

John York  •  Link

The way to be Rich, according to the Practice of the great Audley
Terry Foreman thank you for posting a link to an on line version of the book in the encyclopedia.
http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…
This is published by E. Davis, London 1662.
Is this the same person referred to as Thomas Davies in the diary?
Pepys refers to Davis as "my old schoolfellow at Paul’s, and since a bookseller in Paul’s Church Yard" and also notes that he received a substantial legacy from Audley
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
And later says that "Davis, the little fellow, my schoolfellow, — the bookseller, who was one of Audley’s Executors, and now become Sheriffe".

About English Royal Africa Company ("Guinea Company")

John York  •  Link

From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy…
"The Royal African Company was a mercantile company set up by the Stuart family and London merchants to trade along the west coast of Africa. It was led by James, Duke of York, Charles II's brother. Its original purpose was to exploit the gold fields up the Gambia River identified by Prince Rupert during the Interregnum, and it was set up once Charles II gained the English throne in the Restoration of 1660. However, it was soon engaged in the slave trade as well as with other commodities.
With the help of the army and navy, it established forts on the West African coast that served as staging and trading stations and was responsible for seizing any English ships that attempted to operate in violation of the company's monopoly. In the prize court, the King received half of the proceeds and the company half.
The company fell heavily into debt in 1667, during the war with the Netherlands, the very war it had itself started when its Admiral Robert Holmes had attacked the Dutch African trade posts in 1664, as it had lost most of its forts on the African coast except for Cape Corse. For several years after that, the company maintained some desultory trade, including licensing single-trip private traders."
So by the end of the diary the company was doing little, although it was involved in the promotion of The Gambia Company which began to trade on 1 January 1669.
"In 1672, the original Company re-emerged, re-structured and with a new charter from the king, as the new Royal African Company. Its new charter was broader than the old one and included the right to set up forts and factories, maintain troops and exercise martial law in West Africa, in pursuit of trade in gold, silver and slaves."
Terry Foreman's posting of 13 January 2015 relates to this re-structured company not to the original Pepys era Company.

About Friday 16 January 1662/63

John York  •  Link

It appears that Pall has no say in this. If Sam or his father say that she will do it, then she will have to do it.
However I don't think she enjoyed her previous stay with Sam, would she fight against coming again?

About Friday 24 February 1659/60

John York  •  Link

@ Tripleransom
Baited is being used here in the sense of stopping for food
Oxford English Dictionary II 7 "Of Travellers : To stop at an inn, orig to feed the horses, but later also to rest and refresh themselves"
This useage is still current in the rural parts of Yorkshire in the sense of the food taken in the morning break. I think it is the food element that is important here, the derivation is from bite.

About Monday 12 January 1662/63

John York  •  Link

"the poor boy was in a pitifull taking and pickle"

OED Pickle 4 "A condition or situation, usually disagreeable; a sorry plight or predicament" this useage first quoted from 1562.
OED Taking 4a "Condition, situation, state, plight (in unfavourable sense)" this quotation from Pepys Diary used as one of the illustrations.

About Saturday 10 January 1662/63

John York  •  Link

Venison Pasty
Apologies I should have said the section was 29½ minutes into the programme for those interested in watching.

About Saturday 10 January 1662/63

John York  •  Link

Venison Pasty

I have just watched James Martin Food on the Go – Series 3 Episode 4 – Grub on the Go (available on the BBC I-Player until 7 February 2016)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis…

In it there is a 5 minute section where the food Historian Ivan Day makes a Venison Pasty to an original 17th Century Recipe.

He makes the point that many Aristocrats had Deer Parks on their Country Estates and wanted to send the Venison as a present to their friends in London He demonstrates the making of the pasty and explains that it was in fact a method of preserving the meat whilst it travelled by road or sea to London. He also says that he made one and ate it three months later demonstrating just how good a method of preserving the meat it would have been.

He also quotes the diary for 1 August 1667 for a failure of preservation where Pepys “dined on a damned venison pasty, that stunk like a devil.”