So how was your first pasty, Nate? I don't think their pastry was like ours, and it certainly wasn't frozen! For about a year in 1662-1663 people posted a lot about recipes and food, so if you want to know more about venison pie, etc., do some searches on the tab top right. It's amazing what can be found buried in the annotations.
Merry Christmas, Al, Nate, Harvey, Colin, Colin and JB. Happy 2019 annotations.
Merry Christmas Elizabeth, Robert and Arby ... as an elderly friend of mine who read a lot told me many years ago, "Not all of my best friends are alive."
Phil Gyford and the annotators past and present have brought an incredible group of 16th century friends alive for us. Please put your two cents' worth in anytime. You know things, have read books, visited old houses, have life experience, to share. Good questions are priceless too.
Happy 2019, and looking forward to getting to know you better.
My first reaction to this was that Pepys was doing the publique official Navy and Tangier accounts, but also his private version which reflected his commissions and side agreements. Quadrupal bookkeeping takes time.
Then I remembered that he also does his Pepys' household expenditures, necessary to get to that figure of which he is so proud ... the new net worth. Maybe that is what he means by private accounts.
He must have kept a book of agreements somewhere or he'd forget what his commission were to be when the ships' accounts are finally cleared months/years later.
The phrase “Merry Christmas” can be traced to the 16th century.
The earliest known greeting is found in a letter by an English Bishop, John Fisher, who wrote in his correspondence to Thomas Cromwell: “And this our Lord God send you a merry Christmas, and a comfortable, to your heart’s desire.”
Around the same time the carol “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” was written (although it was not published until the 18th century). The English vocabulary was different then, so “rest ye merry” did not mean to relax and be happy.
The word “rest” meant “to keep, cause to continue to remain,” and merry could mean happy, but also “bountiful” and “prosperous”.
So the opening line should be translated to, “[May] God keep you and continue to make you successful and prosperous, Gentlemen.” This definition of “merry” makes sense regarding the Nativity, which they believed brought great prosperity to the world through its salvation.
Note the comma in the carol must come after the word “merry”, as it would change the meaning if it were placed before. The comma after “merry” means, “God keep you prosperous, gentlemen.” When it comes before it means, “God keep you, prosperous gentlemen.”
It is a common mistake to move the comma, so this may help explain where the “Merry Christmas” greeting comes from.
The use of the phrase developed over several hundred years. What may be a greater mystery than where the greeting came from is that it is no longer what people say in Britain, where they tend to wish each other a “Happy Christmas.”
Perhaps by adding a unique descriptive term, one which we only use for Christmas, gives it a special feeling and gets Americans ready for the Christmas season – which traditionally is from December 24/25 to January 6. The addition of the American Thanksgiving as the start of the shopping and party season has changed the focus and stolen the meaning of Christmas.
In November 1659, with William Love and other City radicals, Theophilus Biddulph MP opposed the appeal from the London militia officers to George Monck in Scotland as inimical to ‘the government of the Commonwealth’, but unlike them, he signed the City petition for the readmission of the secluded Members and the calling of a free Parliament. He was appointed to the committee to draft the City’s petition against the excise on 2 Mar. 1660, and that to prepare the City’s answer to the Declaration of Breda -- he was knighted by Charles II as one of the delegation which presented it. He was on the committee to raise a loan of £100,000 in the City in August 1660 for disbanding the army, and gave evidence against Thomas Scot at the trial of the regicides. In 1661, no doubt with the assistance of his elder brother, Biddulph was returned to the Cavalier Parliament as a Member for Lichfield. He was an inactive Member, serving on only 50 committees. In the first session he was appointed to the committees for inspecting the disbandment accounts and the execution of those under attainder. During the second session he was a member of the committees for the bills concerning grants of offices in London, and the better ordering and collecting of the hearth-tax. He had a home in Greenwich -- Pepys met him planning how to fight the plague there in 1665. Biddulph inherited the family’s Staffordshire estates in 1666, and began to build a new house at Elmhurst.
"... and by a fine glosse did bring him to desire tallys for what orders I have to pay him and his company for Tangier victualls, and I by that means cleared to myself 210l. coming to me upon their two orders, which is also a noble addition to my late profits, ..."
My reading of this is that Pepys manipulated Andrews into thinking it would be a good idea to take tallys -- giving Pepys a profit of 210l. Maybe it was a way of avoiding payment this Quarter Day? The way Pepys writes this confession makes it clear he 'pulled a fast one' over his friend.
"now the river is frozen I know not how to get to him."
To begin with I thought "just walk across," and then I realised the ice must be thick first. That will take a few weeks. In the meantime Sam must go across London Bridge and then from the City along the Strand to Westminster. Since he frequently goes to the Exchange on business, and sees his wife at Seething Lane, adding Whitehall to his itinerary can't be that inconvenient -- unless he wants it to be.
Just over a month ago: https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… "I took horse and rode to Eriffe, where, after making a little visit to Madam Williams, who did give me information of W. Howe’s having bought eight bags of precious stones taken from about the Dutch Vice-Admirall’s neck, of which there were eight dyamonds which cost him 60,000l. sterling, in India, and hoped to have made 2000l. here for them. And that this is told by one that sold him one of the bags, which hath nothing but rubys in it, which he had for 35s.; and that it will be proved he hath made 125l. of one stone that he bought. This she desired, and I resolved I would give my Lord Sandwich notice of."
Pepys has been looking for something on Howe for a while ... plus by turning him in, Pepys becomes one of the "good guys" and not a plunderer.
That's how I read it. Mentally substitute "an ounce" for "a turd" and it becomes more palatable. It's Pepys' way of saying he's not worth any more of his time.
"... and a good dish of fowle we dressed ourselves."
Used to be, in my grandfather's time, undressed fowl were hung in the cool cellars (i.e. with feathers and giblets) until considered "ripe" (i.e. crawling with maggots) before being cooked. My father used to laugh about this and wondered why they did not poison themselves.
In this case it sounds as if the gang found the beef was inedible even though there was other meat to eat; they were still hungry, so they raided the larder and found this fowl hanging. They plucked the feathers and pulled the giblets and threw it in a pot. A group effort took over the kitchen -- who knows what happened to the cook and the maids. It sounds like they had fun -- but I suspect Capt. Cocke had some strong words for the staff later.
"Dressing" meat means butchering, skinning, trimming, and presenting the meat, but not cooking.
"Dressed weight (also known as dead weight or carcass weight) refers to the weight of an animal after being partially butchered, removing all the internal organs and oftentimes the head as well as inedible (or less desirable) portions of the tail and legs." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dre…
"... I have so complexed an account for these last two months for variety of layings out upon Tangier, occasions and variety of gettings that I have not made even with myself now these 3 or 4 months, which do trouble me mightily, finding that I shall hardly ever come to understand them thoroughly again, as I used to do my accounts when I was at home."
Maybe Povy's bookkeeping challenges do not look so stupid now? A suggestion: perhaps Carteret can help you figure things out, now he has lost control of his own department thanks to you and Coventry.
The Oxford DNB has a wonderful assessment of Fletcher's work with Massingham, Shakespeare, Ford, Field, Beaumont, et al -- but sadly you have to be a subscriber to access it.
His work was political and sexually explicit. For instance, he was critical of King James' refusal to support the Protestant cause at the start of the Thirty Years War, and his writing caused Dryden to observe after the Restoration: '[t]here is more Baudry in one play of Fletcher's, call'd The Custom of the Country, than in all ours together' (Dryden, sig.*D2v).
Pepys doesn't like the annual Christmas office parties. He's missing it again -- just like last year. I haven't researched any other year, so keep it in mind for 1666 and see if I'm right.
It's probably a class thing: Is he one of the bosses now, entitled to be styled “My Honour” and keep his hat on? Or is he a glorified office boy to be manipulated by the Sir Williams, Brouncker, Carteret, etc., and expected to take his hat off?
Attending a drunken binge like this might not only be an unwelcome revelation to him, but to many.
James, I think being "dogged" by someone or something has an element of intrusion, irritation, stalking, unnwanted-ness. I am closely dogged by my dog, and there are times I want to slam the bathroom door in his face ... I long to have some unsupervised time away from those big brown eyes.
So that's where being dogged by a bad back comes in. You can't escape it's constant intrusion.
"Mr. Pierce to me, who tells me how W. Howe has been examined on shipboard by my Lord Bruncker to-day, and others, and that he has charged him out of envy with sending goods under my Lord’s seale and in my Lord Bruncker’s name, thereby to get them safe passage, which, he tells me, is false, but that he did use my name to that purpose, and hath acknowledged it to my Lord Bruncker, but do also confess to me that one parcel he thinks he did use my Lord Bruncker’s name, which do vexe me mightily that my name should be brought in question about such things, though I did not say much to him of my discontent till I have spoke with my Lord Bruncker about it. "
Sounds like the preparation with Brouncker and Teddiman bore fruit, not all of which Pepys likes. Hopefully Brouncker had heard enough from Pepys to be able to tell what was true and what was not:
Last Friday 15 December 1665: "... and to my Lord Bruncker’s where I met with a great good dinner and Sir T. Teddiman, with whom my Lord and I were to discourse about the bringing of W. Howe to a tryall for his jewells, and there till almost night, ..."
That Pepys turned in Howe makes him one of the "good guys" for now. Let's hope the reputation sticks.
The word 'envy' puzzles me. And was "my lord" Sandwich or Brouncker?
Comments
Second Reading
About Saturday 23 December 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
Merry Christmas Louise ... I haven't made it to O.C. all year! Hope you are well, and dry.
About Sunday 24 December 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
So how was your first pasty, Nate? I don't think their pastry was like ours, and it certainly wasn't frozen! For about a year in 1662-1663 people posted a lot about recipes and food, so if you want to know more about venison pie, etc., do some searches on the tab top right. It's amazing what can be found buried in the annotations.
Merry Christmas, Al, Nate, Harvey, Colin, Colin and JB. Happy 2019 annotations.
About Monday 25 December 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
Merry Christmas Elizabeth, Robert and Arby ... as an elderly friend of mine who read a lot told me many years ago, "Not all of my best friends are alive."
Phil Gyford and the annotators past and present have brought an incredible group of 16th century friends alive for us. Please put your two cents' worth in anytime. You know things, have read books, visited old houses, have life experience, to share. Good questions are priceless too.
Happy 2019, and looking forward to getting to know you better.
About Friday 29 December 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... my accounts, publique and private, ..."
My first reaction to this was that Pepys was doing the publique official Navy and Tangier accounts, but also his private version which reflected his commissions and side agreements. Quadrupal bookkeeping takes time.
Then I remembered that he also does his Pepys' household expenditures, necessary to get to that figure of which he is so proud ... the new net worth. Maybe that is what he means by private accounts.
He must have kept a book of agreements somewhere or he'd forget what his commission were to be when the ships' accounts are finally cleared months/years later.
Hand shakes only go so far.
About Christmas
San Diego Sarah • Link
The phrase “Merry Christmas” can be traced to the 16th century.
The earliest known greeting is found in a letter by an English Bishop, John Fisher, who wrote in his correspondence to Thomas Cromwell: “And this our Lord God send you a merry Christmas, and a comfortable, to your heart’s desire.”
Around the same time the carol “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” was written (although it was not published until the 18th century). The English vocabulary was different then, so “rest ye merry” did not mean to relax and be happy.
The word “rest” meant “to keep, cause to continue to remain,” and merry could mean happy, but also “bountiful” and “prosperous”.
So the opening line should be translated to, “[May] God keep you and continue to make you successful and prosperous, Gentlemen.” This definition of “merry” makes sense regarding the Nativity, which they believed brought great prosperity to the world through its salvation.
Note the comma in the carol must come after the word “merry”, as it would change the meaning if it were placed before. The comma after “merry” means, “God keep you prosperous, gentlemen.” When it comes before it means, “God keep you, prosperous gentlemen.”
It is a common mistake to move the comma, so this may help explain where the “Merry Christmas” greeting comes from.
The use of the phrase developed over several hundred years. What may be a greater mystery than where the greeting came from is that it is no longer what people say in Britain, where they tend to wish each other a “Happy Christmas.”
Perhaps by adding a unique descriptive term, one which we only use for Christmas, gives it a special feeling and gets Americans ready for the Christmas season – which traditionally is from December 24/25 to January 6. The addition of the American Thanksgiving as the start of the shopping and party season has changed the focus and stolen the meaning of Christmas.
The “prosperous” Merry continues to rule.
About Edward Vaughan
San Diego Sarah • Link
I hope Pepys was nice to this young Welsh man, and made a good impression. In later years they will cross paths again.
https://www.historyofparliamenton…
Right now, he seems a rather dull 30-year-old lawyer, who had married Letitia Hooker (settlement 23 Mar. 1665, with £2,050).
About Ald. Sir Theophilus Biddulph
San Diego Sarah • Link
In November 1659, with William Love and other City radicals, Theophilus Biddulph MP opposed the appeal from the London militia officers to George Monck in Scotland as inimical to ‘the government of the Commonwealth’, but unlike them, he signed the City petition for the readmission of the secluded Members and the calling of a free Parliament.
He was appointed to the committee to draft the City’s petition against the excise on 2 Mar. 1660,
and that to prepare the City’s answer to the Declaration of Breda -- he was knighted by Charles II as one of the delegation which presented it.
He was on the committee to raise a loan of £100,000 in the City in August 1660 for disbanding the army,
and gave evidence against Thomas Scot at the trial of the regicides.
In 1661, no doubt with the assistance of his elder brother, Biddulph was returned to the Cavalier Parliament as a Member for Lichfield.
He was an inactive Member, serving on only 50 committees.
In the first session he was appointed to the committees for inspecting the disbandment accounts and the execution of those under attainder.
During the second session he was a member of the committees for the bills concerning grants of offices in London, and the better ordering and collecting of the hearth-tax.
He had a home in Greenwich -- Pepys met him planning how to fight the plague there in 1665.
Biddulph inherited the family’s Staffordshire estates in 1666, and began to build a new house at Elmhurst.
For more information, see https://www.historyofparliamenton…
About Anne Lethieulier
San Diego Sarah • Link
Anne Hooker Lethieullier (1643–1703) -- daughter of Alderman William Hooker (1612-1697), Kt. 1666, Lord Mayor of London 1673-1674.
Married John Lethieullier on 18 May 1659. Kt. 1674, merchant of St. Olaves' and Lewisham, Sheriff 1674-5, Lord Mayor 1676-1677.
About Friday 22 December 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... and by a fine glosse did bring him to desire tallys for what orders I have to pay him and his company for Tangier victualls, and I by that means cleared to myself 210l. coming to me upon their two orders, which is also a noble addition to my late profits, ..."
My reading of this is that Pepys manipulated Andrews into thinking it would be a good idea to take tallys -- giving Pepys a profit of 210l. Maybe it was a way of avoiding payment this Quarter Day? The way Pepys writes this confession makes it clear he 'pulled a fast one' over his friend.
About Friday 22 December 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
A jade:
1: a broken-down, vicious, or worthless horse
2a : a disreputable woman
b : a flirtatious girl
What was Pepys thinking? He deserved what he got.
About Friday 22 December 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
"now the river is frozen I know not how to get to him."
To begin with I thought "just walk across," and then I realised the ice must be thick first. That will take a few weeks.
In the meantime Sam must go across London Bridge and then from the City along the Strand to Westminster. Since he frequently goes to the Exchange on business, and sees his wife at Seething Lane, adding Whitehall to his itinerary can't be that inconvenient -- unless he wants it to be.
About Tuesday 19 December 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Why is W Howe being examined?"
Just over a month ago:
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
"I took horse and rode to Eriffe, where, after making a little visit to Madam Williams, who did give me information of W. Howe’s having bought eight bags of precious stones taken from about the Dutch Vice-Admirall’s neck, of which there were eight dyamonds which cost him 60,000l. sterling, in India, and hoped to have made 2000l. here for them. And that this is told by one that sold him one of the bags, which hath nothing but rubys in it, which he had for 35s.; and that it will be proved he hath made 125l. of one stone that he bought. This she desired, and I resolved I would give my Lord Sandwich notice of."
Pepys has been looking for something on Howe for a while ... plus by turning him in, Pepys becomes one of the "good guys" and not a plunderer.
A win-win.
About Tuesday 19 December 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
That's how I read it. Mentally substitute "an ounce" for "a turd" and it becomes more palatable. It's Pepys' way of saying he's not worth any more of his time.
About Thursday 21 December 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... and a good dish of fowle we dressed ourselves."
Used to be, in my grandfather's time, undressed fowl were hung in the cool cellars (i.e. with feathers and giblets) until considered "ripe" (i.e. crawling with maggots) before being cooked. My father used to laugh about this and wondered why they did not poison themselves.
In this case it sounds as if the gang found the beef was inedible even though there was other meat to eat; they were still hungry, so they raided the larder and found this fowl hanging. They plucked the feathers and pulled the giblets and threw it in a pot. A group effort took over the kitchen -- who knows what happened to the cook and the maids. It sounds like they had fun -- but I suspect Capt. Cocke had some strong words for the staff later.
About Thursday 21 December 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Dressing" meat means butchering, skinning, trimming, and presenting the meat, but not cooking.
"Dressed weight (also known as dead weight or carcass weight) refers to the weight of an animal after being partially butchered, removing all the internal organs and oftentimes the head as well as inedible (or less desirable) portions of the tail and legs."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dre…
About Wednesday 20 December 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... I have so complexed an account for these last two months for variety of layings out upon Tangier, occasions and variety of gettings that I have not made even with myself now these 3 or 4 months, which do trouble me mightily, finding that I shall hardly ever come to understand them thoroughly again, as I used to do my accounts when I was at home."
Maybe Povy's bookkeeping challenges do not look so stupid now? A suggestion: perhaps Carteret can help you figure things out, now he has lost control of his own department thanks to you and Coventry.
What goes around, comes around, Pepys.
About John Fletcher
San Diego Sarah • Link
The Oxford DNB has a wonderful assessment of Fletcher's work with Massingham, Shakespeare, Ford, Field, Beaumont, et al -- but sadly you have to be a subscriber to access it.
His work was political and sexually explicit. For instance, he was critical of King James' refusal to support the Protestant cause at the start of the Thirty Years War, and his writing caused Dryden to observe after the Restoration: '[t]here is more Baudry in one play of Fletcher's, call'd The Custom of the Country, than in all ours together' (Dryden, sig.*D2v).
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.…
About Tuesday 19 December 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
Pepys doesn't like the annual Christmas office parties. He's missing it again -- just like last year. I haven't researched any other year, so keep it in mind for 1666 and see if I'm right.
It's probably a class thing: Is he one of the bosses now, entitled to be styled “My Honour” and keep his hat on? Or is he a glorified office boy to be manipulated by the Sir Williams, Brouncker, Carteret, etc., and expected to take his hat off?
Attending a drunken binge like this might not only be an unwelcome revelation to him, but to many.
About Monday 18 December 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
James, I think being "dogged" by someone or something has an element of intrusion, irritation, stalking, unnwanted-ness. I am closely dogged by my dog, and there are times I want to slam the bathroom door in his face ... I long to have some unsupervised time away from those big brown eyes.
So that's where being dogged by a bad back comes in. You can't escape it's constant intrusion.
About Monday 18 December 1665
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Mr. Pierce to me, who tells me how W. Howe has been examined on shipboard by my Lord Bruncker to-day, and others, and that he has charged him out of envy with sending goods under my Lord’s seale and in my Lord Bruncker’s name, thereby to get them safe passage, which, he tells me, is false, but that he did use my name to that purpose, and hath acknowledged it to my Lord Bruncker, but do also confess to me that one parcel he thinks he did use my Lord Bruncker’s name, which do vexe me mightily that my name should be brought in question about such things, though I did not say much to him of my discontent till I have spoke with my Lord Bruncker about it. "
Sounds like the preparation with Brouncker and Teddiman bore fruit, not all of which Pepys likes. Hopefully Brouncker had heard enough from Pepys to be able to tell what was true and what was not:
Last Friday 15 December 1665: "... and to my Lord Bruncker’s where I met with a great good dinner and Sir T. Teddiman, with whom my Lord and I were to discourse about the bringing of W. Howe to a tryall for his jewells, and there till almost night, ..."
That Pepys turned in Howe makes him one of the "good guys" for now. Let's hope the reputation sticks.
The word 'envy' puzzles me. And was "my lord" Sandwich or Brouncker?