✹ in Aqua Scripto on 21 Feb 2006 • Link • Flag ”The Charles” 'Tis a reference to his fast boat [jatcht] that he and Jimmy [no 2] run around in sometimes, 'til they tire of playing games and go back chaseing hinds. Then the Navy use it for many jobs running errands. The Dutch had these fast boats to supply their Cod* fearing Busses or was it red herring fearing buss trade. To day it appears tired of running up and down the Tems winning his furlongs on sea.
Meetings: Who took the Minutes? Did everyone keep their own log of the discussion and their responsibilities? Pepys must have taken a trunk of documents to some of the Whitehall meetings with James, Duke of York. Or did he have a "cheat sheet" summary, and everyone took his word for details and money? The Queen still receives a daily red Dispatch Box of documents to read. I suppose boxes came before briefcases. How did they manage???? How we fought WWII with manual typewriters, carbon paper and the Gestetner still boggles my mind.
Charles II's conversion to Catholicism: According to http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/0… "In 1651 Father Huddleston was residing at Moseley Old Hall, Staffordshire, as chaplain to the Whitgreave family. After the defeat at Worcester on 3 September, 1651, Charles II was conducted by Colonel Gyfford to Whiteladies, where he was sheltered by the Penderell family, and it was while seeking for some safer hiding place for the King that John Penderell happened to meet Father John Huddleston. Accordingly Charles was disguised as a peasant and removed to Moseley Old Hall during the night of Sunday, 7 September. To guard against surprise, Father John Huddleston was constantly in attendance on Charles II; his three pupils were stationed as sentinels at upper windows and Thomas Whitgreave patrolled the garden. On Tuesday, 9 September, Cromwell's soldiers came to search the house. Charles II and Father John Huddleston were hurriedly shut away in the priest's hiding place, and the troops, after first seizing Thomas Whitgreave as a fugitive cavalier from Worcester, were eventually convinced that he had not left the house for some weeks and were persuaded to depart without searching the mansion. That night Charles II left for Bentley Hall, after promising to befriend Father John Huddleston when restored to his throne. At the Restoration in 1660, Father John Huddleston was invited to live at Somerset House, London, under the protection of the Queen Dowager, Henrietta Maria. ... Shortly after the Queen Dowager's death in 1669 Father John Huddleston was appointed Chaplain to Queen Catherine, with a salary of 100 pounds a year besides a pension of like amount. ... When Charles II lay dying "upon Thursday, 5 February, 1685, between 7 and 8 o'clock in the evening" James, Duke of York brought Father John Huddleston to his bedside, saying, "Sire, this good man once saved your life. He now comes to save your soul." Charles received him gladly, declaring that he wished to die in the faith and communion of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. Huddleston then heard the King's confession, reconciled him to the Church and absolved him, afterwards administering Extreme Unction and the Viaticum. On the accession of James II, Father John Huddleston continued to reside with the Queen Dowager at Somerset House.
According to http://www.english-heritage.org.u…, after the Battle of Worcester Charles II of Scotland hid at remote Boscobel House, also home of the Catholic Giffard family. And many of the places Charles sheltered during his exile were Catholic, and he was mostly treated kindly by them.
It's fair to think Charles was quite fond of Catholics, more so than most of his subjects.
"... he carried me beyond the Old Exchange, and there set down his fare, ..." The Old Exchange? The link is to the Royal Exchange, but that's not what Pepys says. Any other ideas anyone?
February 2, 1663: "This day at my Lord’s I sent for Mr. Ashwell, and his wife came to me, and by discourse I perceive their daughter is very fit for my turn if my family may be as much for hers, but I doubt it will be to her loss to come to me for so small wages, but that will be considered of." (Elizabeth is in need of a companion, and Jane left today -- it is unclear which position the daughter is being considered for.) http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…
Candlemas is a Christian holiday celebrated annually on February 2. It celebrates three occasions according to Christian belief: 1. the presentation of the child Jesus; 2. Jesus’ first entry into the temple; and 3. the Virgin Mary’s purification (mainly in Catholic churches). So why was this one of three annual Collar Days? The linked annotation seems to refer to modern tradition, so more clarification would be appreciated if you know it. Were there other/more/fewer Collar Days back then? What dates were they, and what is the significance?
The Eikon Basilike and its portrait of King Charles' execution as a martyrdom were so successful that, at the Restoration, a special commemoration of the late King on 30 January was added to the Book of Common Prayer, directing that the day be observed as an occasion for fasting and repentance. On 19 May 1660, the Convocation of Canterbury and York cannoned King Charles at the urging of Charles II, and added his name to the prayer book. Charles I is the only saint formally canonized by the Church of England.
I'm surprised no-one picked up on Robert Gertz: "I dunno, Charlie. Every year for your people to be reminded that Cromwell defeated and executed God's Anointed ... "
The missing ending of this thought is that many expected a millennial catastrophe as punishment for the execution, which seems not to have struck. (If you lived in London, 1665 and 1666 could be interpreted as that, quite reasonably. But this is 1663, and the sky had not fallen when Charles I died 13 years before.)
Charles II and James, Duke of York spend much time quelling insurrections and conspiracies, so that conversation was being had in some homes. Of course, Cromwell had the same problem.
To me the message is that God didn't care either way, which is something Charles II wouldn't like.
" ... Lord Sandwich’s, whom I find missing his ague fit to-day, and is pretty well, playing at dice ... with Ned Pickering and his page Laud." Is anyone else surprised that Sandwich is gambling with a page? Young Laud wouldn't have enough money for a stake, would he? If this was a low stakes practice game to amuse his Lordship after his illness, I don't think Pepys would be upset like this. If my page had enough money to gamble with a Earl, I would suspect he was earning money on the side selling information.
GRAFT: a Pepys historian posted this today: I edited 1/3 to fit this format:
"Samuel Pepys Posted by J D Davies
It is a truth universally acknowledged that those who get outraged by things on Twitter are in need of a life.
Occasionally one sees something on Twitter which is so crass any pretense at possessing a life must be laid aside. So it was with the normally uncontentious Twitter feed of the National Maritime Museum, referring to Samuel Pepys. I quote: ‘How did a a tailor’s son turn a corrupt & inefficient Navy into a powerful fighting force?‘
The person who runs the NMM Twitter feed quotes from the museum’s website, linked to the current exhibition on Pepys and his times, reviewed generally positively in this blog. I’m not shooting the messenger. But whoever came up with the original message needs to go to the exhibition shop and look at the book called Pepys’s Navy: Ships, Men and Warfare 1649-89. It contains the author's 30 years of research, and the writings of others who independently came to the same conclusion, that ‘He didn’t, and it wasn’t corrupt and inefficient to begin with’.
It would take too long to prove those points here. I’ve written books to prove it (a paperback edition of Pepys’s Navy will be out this summer) and am working on a third, Kings of the Sea: Charles II, James II and the Navy, due out from Seaforth Publishing in 2017, which will produce more evidence. Besides, criticizing Samuel Pepys is like shooting Bambi’s mother: people brought up on Sir Arthur Bryant, or the various books and websites that essentially maintain the same tired line, can't be converted by one blog post or three books, and umpteen articles, but one has to try…
My point is: The idea Pepys ‘saved the navy’ is based on books published between 40 and 120 years ago, drawing on a narrow range of sources, shaped by schools of historical interpretation long fallen by the wayside.
To describe Pepys' navy as ‘corrupt and inefficient’ is wrong, an attempting to measure an earlier age by modern standards. These days I argue organisations, media outlets, etc., with wide reach – like the BBC, newspapers, national museums, and schools – have a responsibility to present historical stories that either reflect the best possible consensus of modern scholarship, or, at least, don’t recycle dated and discredited myths and theories. Wikipedia has a policy of not allowing articles to be based on original, primary research – and one can see why failsafes must be in place to prevent abuse, the alternative, and the current policy, as Wikipedia makes clear, is articles can only refer to published works, the implication being even if they are known to be wrong, and to other unimpeachably reliable sources such as ‘mainstream newspapers’.
That’s right, ‘mainstream newspapers’. Like the Daily Mail and The Sun.
Sorry, my shirt seems to be starting to stretch a bit…"
GRAFT: a Pepys historian posted this today: I edited 1/3 to fit this format:
"Samuel Pepys Posted by J D Davies
It is a truth universally acknowledged that those who get outraged by things on Twitter are in need of a life.
Occasionally one sees something on Twitter which is so crass any pretence at possessing a life must be laid aside. So it was with the normally uncontentious Twitter feed of the National Maritime Museum, referring to Samuel Pepys. I quote: ‘How did a a tailor’s son turn a corrupt & inefficient Navy into a powerful fighting force?‘
The person who runs the NMM Twitter feed quotes from the museum’s website, linked to the current exhibition on Pepys and his times, reviewed generally positively in this blog. I’m not shooting the messenger. But whoever came up with the original message needs to go to the exhibition shop and look at the book called Pepys’s Navy: Ships, Men and Warfare 1649-89. It contains the author's 30 years of research, and the writings of others who independently came to the same conclusion, that ‘He didn’t, and it wasn’t corrupt and inefficient to begin with’.
It would take too long to prove those points here. I’ve written books to prove it (a paperback edition of Pepys’s Navy will be out this summer) and am working on a third, Kings of the Sea: Charles II, James II and the Navy, due out from Seaforth Publishing in 2017, which will produce more evidence. Besides, criticising Samuel Pepys is like shooting Bambi’s mother: people brought up on Sir Arthur Bryant, or the various books and websites that essentially maintain the same tired line, can't be converted by one blog post or three books, and umpteen articles, but one has to try…
My point is: The idea Pepys ‘saved the navy’ is based on books published between 40 and 120 years ago, drawing on a narrow range of sources, shaped by schools of historical interpretation long fallen by the wayside.
To describe Pepys' navy as ‘corrupt and inefficient’ is wrong, an attempting to measure an earlier age by modern standards. These days I argue organisations, media outlets, etc., with wide reach – like the BBC, newspapers, national museums, and schools – have a responsibility to present historical stories that either reflect the best possible consensus of modern scholarship, or, at least, don’t recycle dated and discredited myths and theories. Wikipedia has a policy of not allowing articles to be based on original, primary research – and one can see why failsafes must be in place to prevent abuse, the alternative, and the current policy, as Wikipedia makes clear, is articles can only refer to published works, the implication being even if they are known to be wrong, and to other unimpeachably reliable sources such as ‘mainstream newspapers’.
That’s right, ‘mainstream newspapers’. Like the Daily Mail and The Sun.
Sorry, my shirt seems to be starting to stretch a bit…"
" ... Sandwich held high naval and diplomatic appointments for the rest of his life; but both his physique and his morals deteriorated rapidly at the Restoration Court. In religion, his servant and kinsman Samuel Pepys, 'found him to be a perfect sceptic, and [he] said that all things would not be well while there was so much preaching, and that it would be better if nothing but homilies were to be read in churches.' "He favoured uniformity, just as he had always favoured monarchy, because they were conducive to an ordered society. He was well rewarded for his part in the Restoration; to support the dignity of his earldom he was granted lands and fee-farm rents worth £4,000 p.a. But he was extravagant; his embassies were expensive, and the wardrobe proved unprofitable. He estimated his annual income at £8,000, but by 1664 he was £10,000 in debt." With these stresses in place by now, perhaps Sandwich was helping Charles II with some extra-curricular fundraising only hinted at in reports of the back-stairs chats before Christmas. It's expensive remodeling your mansion.
"Their neighbor was famed diarist Samuel Pepys, who was friendly at first but later secretly hostile to Admiral Sir William Penn, perhaps embittered in part by his failed seductions of both Margaret Jasper Van der Schure Penn and their daughter, Peggy/Pegg."[7] 7 Fantel, p.16
“all the afternoon writing orders myself to have ready against tomorrow, that I might not appear negligent to Mr. Coventry.” -- paranoia about Mr. Coventry again. Last week Sam was hiding in Westminster hoping not to bump into him. What is this about?
While I appreciate the points Aqua Scripto made on 12 Jan 2006 regarding how few lasses were in Elizabeth's position, "Bess is only asking for a companion." I would have thought there were a lot of educated but impoverished young women around ... widows and daughters of fallen Cavaliers, survivors of two Civil Wars and 10 years of persecution by the Puritans. Charles II tried to reinstate families to their original properties, but so much had been destroyed and there are many stories of Royalists dying years later in poverty. They needed MeetUp.com, The Lady and The Women's Institute. Or were there Want Ads back then?
Sam referred to this somewhat in his Dec. 31 year-end summary, saying in effect it would likely put some distance between the Pepys' and Penns' ("we make ourselves a little strange"),
Sam has a strange way of doing this: He's been visiting the old sick Admiral Penn almost every day for weeks. I wonder what they talked about.
Charles II's LABORATORY In a book I read on Sir Robert Moray and the founding of the Royal Society, it says ... "Moray was chosen to preside at many of the early gatherings of the Royal Society (his combination of genuine scientific enthusiasm and connection to Charles II, who set up his own laboratory near Moray's rooms, proving irresistibly attractive), ..." and in a book on St. James' Palace it said Charles II's bedroom had an open door policy (when he was dying, about 80 people were in the room). His only privacy was in a small closet next door, where he kept his collection of samples. So Charles embraced learning, and would have welcomed a flush toilet had they been available.
Coach use: The weather is awful ... James didn't go hunting last Monday. Plus on January 4 Pepys reports http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1… After dinner I and she walked, though it was dirty, to White Hall (in the way calling at the Wardrobe to see how Mr. Moore do, who is pretty well, but not cured yet), being much afeard of being seen by anybody, and was, I think, of Mr. Coventry, which so troubled me that I made her go before, and I ever after loitered behind. So if Pepys is riding around in a carriage more than usual recently, the weather might account for it. Elizabeth probably put her foot down about taking long hikes in the dirt, and being made to walk apart from the paranoid Sam. Plus I guess a new pair of shoes to replace the water-logged leather ones would cost more than a coach ride. We shall see what Pepys does when the weather improves.
"Why so shy?" of being "willing to be seen at this end of the town"? Seems to me he was acting paranoid about being seen by Coventry yesterday, and noted that people were recognizing him so he didn't need to visit so often any more. So I agree: he was worried Coventry and others would know he wasn't working at the office, and he and Elizabeth "hid out" with friends.
Comments
Second Reading
About Charles
San Diego Sarah • Link
February 20, 1663: http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
✹ in Aqua Scripto on 21 Feb 2006 • Link • Flag
”The Charles” 'Tis a reference to his fast boat [jatcht] that he and Jimmy [no 2] run around in sometimes, 'til they tire of playing games and go back chaseing hinds. Then the Navy use it for many jobs running errands. The Dutch had these fast boats to supply their Cod* fearing Busses or was it red herring fearing buss trade. To day it appears tired of running up and down the Tems winning his furlongs on sea.
✹ in Aqua Scripto on 21 Feb 2006 • Link • Flag
Xref leads to Yacht
http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…
http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…
About Thursday 19 February 1662/63
San Diego Sarah • Link
Meetings: Who took the Minutes? Did everyone keep their own log of the discussion and their responsibilities? Pepys must have taken a trunk of documents to some of the Whitehall meetings with James, Duke of York. Or did he have a "cheat sheet" summary, and everyone took his word for details and money? The Queen still receives a daily red Dispatch Box of documents to read. I suppose boxes came before briefcases. How did they manage???? How we fought WWII with manual typewriters, carbon paper and the Gestetner still boggles my mind.
About Thursday 19 February 1662/63
San Diego Sarah • Link
Charles II's conversion to Catholicism:
According to http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/0…
"In 1651 Father Huddleston was residing at Moseley Old Hall, Staffordshire, as chaplain to the Whitgreave family. After the defeat at Worcester on 3 September, 1651, Charles II was conducted by Colonel Gyfford to Whiteladies, where he was sheltered by the Penderell family, and it was while seeking for some safer hiding place for the King that John Penderell happened to meet Father John Huddleston. Accordingly Charles was disguised as a peasant and removed to Moseley Old Hall during the night of Sunday, 7 September.
To guard against surprise, Father John Huddleston was constantly in attendance on Charles II; his three pupils were stationed as sentinels at upper windows and Thomas Whitgreave patrolled the garden.
On Tuesday, 9 September, Cromwell's soldiers came to search the house. Charles II and Father John Huddleston were hurriedly shut away in the priest's hiding place, and the troops, after first seizing Thomas Whitgreave as a fugitive cavalier from Worcester, were eventually convinced that he had not left the house for some weeks and were persuaded to depart without searching the mansion.
That night Charles II left for Bentley Hall, after promising to befriend Father John Huddleston when restored to his throne.
At the Restoration in 1660, Father John Huddleston was invited to live at Somerset House, London, under the protection of the Queen Dowager, Henrietta Maria. ...
Shortly after the Queen Dowager's death in 1669 Father John Huddleston was appointed Chaplain to Queen Catherine, with a salary of 100 pounds a year besides a pension of like amount. ...
When Charles II lay dying "upon Thursday, 5 February, 1685, between 7 and 8 o'clock in the evening" James, Duke of York brought Father John Huddleston to his bedside, saying, "Sire, this good man once saved your life. He now comes to save your soul." Charles received him gladly, declaring that he wished to die in the faith and communion of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. Huddleston then heard the King's confession, reconciled him to the Church and absolved him, afterwards administering Extreme Unction and the Viaticum.
On the accession of James II, Father John Huddleston continued to reside with the Queen Dowager at Somerset House.
According to http://www.english-heritage.org.u…, after the Battle of Worcester Charles II of Scotland hid at remote Boscobel House, also home of the Catholic Giffard family. And many of the places Charles sheltered during his exile were Catholic, and he was mostly treated kindly by them.
It's fair to think Charles was quite fond of Catholics, more so than most of his subjects.
About Friday 6 February 1662/63
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... he carried me beyond the Old Exchange, and there set down his fare, ..." The Old Exchange? The link is to the Royal Exchange, but that's not what Pepys says. Any other ideas anyone?
About Mr Ashwell
San Diego Sarah • Link
February 2, 1663: "This day at my Lord’s I sent for Mr. Ashwell, and his wife came to me, and by discourse I perceive their daughter is very fit for my turn if my family may be as much for hers, but I doubt it will be to her loss to come to me for so small wages, but that will be considered of." (Elizabeth is in need of a companion, and Jane left today -- it is unclear which position the daughter is being considered for.) http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…
About Monday 2 February 1662/63
San Diego Sarah • Link
Candlemas is a Christian holiday celebrated annually on February 2.
It celebrates three occasions according to Christian belief:
1. the presentation of the child Jesus;
2. Jesus’ first entry into the temple; and
3. the Virgin Mary’s purification (mainly in Catholic churches).
So why was this one of three annual Collar Days? The linked annotation seems to refer to modern tradition, so more clarification would be appreciated if you know it. Were there other/more/fewer Collar Days back then? What dates were they, and what is the significance?
About Friday 30 January 1662/63
San Diego Sarah • Link
The Eikon Basilike and its portrait of King Charles' execution as a martyrdom were so successful that, at the Restoration, a special commemoration of the late King on 30 January was added to the Book of Common Prayer, directing that the day be observed as an occasion for fasting and repentance.
On 19 May 1660, the Convocation of Canterbury and York cannoned King Charles at the urging of Charles II, and added his name to the prayer book. Charles I is the only saint formally canonized by the Church of England.
About Friday 30 January 1662/63
San Diego Sarah • Link
I'm surprised no-one picked up on Robert Gertz:
"I dunno, Charlie. Every year for your people to be reminded that Cromwell defeated and executed God's Anointed ... "
The missing ending of this thought is that many expected a millennial catastrophe as punishment for the execution, which seems not to have struck. (If you lived in London, 1665 and 1666 could be interpreted as that, quite reasonably. But this is 1663, and the sky had not fallen when Charles I died 13 years before.)
Charles II and James, Duke of York spend much time quelling insurrections and conspiracies, so that conversation was being had in some homes. Of course, Cromwell had the same problem.
To me the message is that God didn't care either way, which is something Charles II wouldn't like.
Frequent elections make things so much easier.
About Wednesday 28 January 1662/63
San Diego Sarah • Link
" ... Lord Sandwich’s, whom I find missing his ague fit to-day, and is pretty well, playing at dice ... with Ned Pickering and his page Laud." Is anyone else surprised that Sandwich is gambling with a page? Young Laud wouldn't have enough money for a stake, would he? If this was a low stakes practice game to amuse his Lordship after his illness, I don't think Pepys would be upset like this. If my page had enough money to gamble with a Earl, I would suspect he was earning money on the side selling information.
About Financial transactions
San Diego Sarah • Link
GRAFT: a Pepys historian posted this today: I edited 1/3 to fit this format:
"Samuel Pepys
Posted by J D Davies
It is a truth universally acknowledged that those who get outraged by things on Twitter are in need of a life.
Occasionally one sees something on Twitter which is so crass any pretense at possessing a life must be laid aside. So it was with the normally uncontentious Twitter feed of the National Maritime Museum, referring to Samuel Pepys. I quote: ‘How did a a tailor’s son turn a corrupt & inefficient Navy into a powerful fighting force?‘
The person who runs the NMM Twitter feed quotes from the museum’s website, linked to the current exhibition on Pepys and his times, reviewed generally positively in this blog. I’m not shooting the messenger. But whoever came up with the original message needs to go to the exhibition shop and look at the book called Pepys’s Navy: Ships, Men and Warfare 1649-89. It contains the author's 30 years of research, and the writings of others who independently came to the same conclusion, that ‘He didn’t, and it wasn’t corrupt and inefficient to begin with’.
It would take too long to prove those points here. I’ve written books to prove it (a paperback edition of Pepys’s Navy will be out this summer) and am working on a third, Kings of the Sea: Charles II, James II and the Navy, due out from Seaforth Publishing in 2017, which will produce more evidence. Besides, criticizing Samuel Pepys is like shooting Bambi’s mother: people brought up on Sir Arthur Bryant, or the various books and websites that essentially maintain the same tired line, can't be converted by one blog post or three books, and umpteen articles, but one has to try…
My point is: The idea Pepys ‘saved the navy’ is based on books published between 40 and 120 years ago, drawing on a narrow range of sources, shaped by schools of historical interpretation long fallen by the wayside.
To describe Pepys' navy as ‘corrupt and inefficient’ is wrong, an attempting to measure an earlier age by modern standards. These days I argue organisations, media outlets, etc., with wide reach – like the BBC, newspapers, national museums, and schools – have a responsibility to present historical stories that either reflect the best possible consensus of modern scholarship, or, at least, don’t recycle dated and discredited myths and theories. Wikipedia has a policy of not allowing articles to be based on original, primary research – and one can see why failsafes must be in place to prevent abuse, the alternative, and the current policy, as Wikipedia makes clear, is articles can only refer to published works, the implication being even if they are known to be wrong, and to other unimpeachably reliable sources such as ‘mainstream newspapers’.
That’s right, ‘mainstream newspapers’. Like the Daily Mail and The Sun.
Sorry, my shirt seems to be starting to stretch a bit…"
http://jddavies.com/2016/01/25/sa…...
About Saturday 24 January 1662/63
San Diego Sarah • Link
GRAFT: a Pepys historian posted this today: I edited 1/3 to fit this format:
"Samuel Pepys
Posted by J D Davies
It is a truth universally acknowledged that those who get outraged by things on Twitter are in need of a life.
Occasionally one sees something on Twitter which is so crass any pretence at possessing a life must be laid aside. So it was with the normally uncontentious Twitter feed of the National Maritime Museum, referring to Samuel Pepys. I quote: ‘How did a a tailor’s son turn a corrupt & inefficient Navy into a powerful fighting force?‘
The person who runs the NMM Twitter feed quotes from the museum’s website, linked to the current exhibition on Pepys and his times, reviewed generally positively in this blog. I’m not shooting the messenger. But whoever came up with the original message needs to go to the exhibition shop and look at the book called Pepys’s Navy: Ships, Men and Warfare 1649-89. It contains the author's 30 years of research, and the writings of others who independently came to the same conclusion, that ‘He didn’t, and it wasn’t corrupt and inefficient to begin with’.
It would take too long to prove those points here. I’ve written books to prove it (a paperback edition of Pepys’s Navy will be out this summer) and am working on a third, Kings of the Sea: Charles II, James II and the Navy, due out from Seaforth Publishing in 2017, which will produce more evidence. Besides, criticising Samuel Pepys is like shooting Bambi’s mother: people brought up on Sir Arthur Bryant, or the various books and websites that essentially maintain the same tired line, can't be converted by one blog post or three books, and umpteen articles, but one has to try…
My point is: The idea Pepys ‘saved the navy’ is based on books published between 40 and 120 years ago, drawing on a narrow range of sources, shaped by schools of historical interpretation long fallen by the wayside.
To describe Pepys' navy as ‘corrupt and inefficient’ is wrong, an attempting to measure an earlier age by modern standards. These days I argue organisations, media outlets, etc., with wide reach – like the BBC, newspapers, national museums, and schools – have a responsibility to present historical stories that either reflect the best possible consensus of modern scholarship, or, at least, don’t recycle dated and discredited myths and theories. Wikipedia has a policy of not allowing articles to be based on original, primary research – and one can see why failsafes must be in place to prevent abuse, the alternative, and the current policy, as Wikipedia makes clear, is articles can only refer to published works, the implication being even if they are known to be wrong, and to other unimpeachably reliable sources such as ‘mainstream newspapers’.
That’s right, ‘mainstream newspapers’. Like the Daily Mail and The Sun.
Sorry, my shirt seems to be starting to stretch a bit…"
http://jddavies.com/2016/01/25/sa…
About Saturday 17 January 1662/63
San Diego Sarah • Link
Finally a clue as to why Sam was so anxious NOT to be seen by Coventry over Christmas. He has been worried about this showdown for a month.
About Monday 12 January 1662/63
San Diego Sarah • Link
Sam hasn't told us everything he knows about Sandwich's relationship with Charles II.
According to http://www.historyofparliamentonl… :
" ... Sandwich held high naval and diplomatic appointments for the rest of his life; but both his physique and his morals deteriorated rapidly at the Restoration Court. In religion, his servant and kinsman Samuel Pepys, 'found him to be a perfect sceptic, and [he] said that all things would not be well while there was so much preaching, and that it would be better if nothing but homilies were to be read in churches.'
"He favoured uniformity, just as he had always favoured monarchy, because they were conducive to an ordered society. He was well rewarded for his part in the Restoration; to support the dignity of his earldom he was granted lands and fee-farm rents worth £4,000 p.a. But he was extravagant; his embassies were expensive, and the wardrobe proved unprofitable. He estimated his annual income at £8,000, but by 1664 he was £10,000 in debt."
With these stresses in place by now, perhaps Sandwich was helping Charles II with some extra-curricular fundraising only hinted at in reports of the back-stairs chats before Christmas. It's expensive remodeling your mansion.
About Lady Margaret Penn
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Their neighbor was famed diarist Samuel Pepys, who was friendly at first but later secretly hostile to Admiral Sir William Penn, perhaps embittered in part by his failed seductions of both Margaret Jasper Van der Schure Penn and their daughter, Peggy/Pegg."[7] 7 Fantel, p.16
http://www.answers.com/topic/will…
About Sunday 11 January 1662/63
San Diego Sarah • Link
“all the afternoon writing orders myself to have ready against tomorrow, that I might not appear negligent to Mr. Coventry.” -- paranoia about Mr. Coventry again. Last week Sam was hiding in Westminster hoping not to bump into him. What is this about?
About Sunday 11 January 1662/63
San Diego Sarah • Link
While I appreciate the points Aqua Scripto made on 12 Jan 2006 regarding how few lasses were in Elizabeth's position, "Bess is only asking for a companion." I would have thought there were a lot of educated but impoverished young women around ... widows and daughters of fallen Cavaliers, survivors of two Civil Wars and 10 years of persecution by the Puritans. Charles II tried to reinstate families to their original properties, but so much had been destroyed and there are many stories of Royalists dying years later in poverty. They needed MeetUp.com, The Lady and The Women's Institute. Or were there Want Ads back then?
About Wednesday 7 January 1662/63
San Diego Sarah • Link
Sam referred to this somewhat in his Dec. 31 year-end summary, saying in effect it would likely put some distance between the Pepys' and Penns' ("we make ourselves a little strange"),
Sam has a strange way of doing this: He's been visiting the old sick Admiral Penn almost every day for weeks. I wonder what they talked about.
About Monday 5 January 1662/63
San Diego Sarah • Link
Charles II's LABORATORY
In a book I read on Sir Robert Moray and the founding of the Royal Society, it says ... "Moray was chosen to preside at many of the early gatherings of the Royal Society (his combination of genuine scientific enthusiasm and connection to Charles II, who set up his own laboratory near Moray's rooms, proving irresistibly attractive), ..." and in a book on St. James' Palace it said Charles II's bedroom had an open door policy (when he was dying, about 80 people were in the room). His only privacy was in a small closet next door, where he kept his collection of samples. So Charles embraced learning, and would have welcomed a flush toilet had they been available.
About Tuesday 6 January 1662/63
San Diego Sarah • Link
Coach use: The weather is awful ... James didn't go hunting last Monday. Plus on January 4 Pepys reports
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
After dinner I and she walked, though it was dirty, to White Hall (in the way calling at the Wardrobe to see how Mr. Moore do, who is pretty well, but not cured yet), being much afeard of being seen by anybody, and was, I think, of Mr. Coventry, which so troubled me that I made her go before, and I ever after loitered behind.
So if Pepys is riding around in a carriage more than usual recently, the weather might account for it. Elizabeth probably put her foot down about taking long hikes in the dirt, and being made to walk apart from the paranoid Sam. Plus I guess a new pair of shoes to replace the water-logged leather ones would cost more than a coach ride.
We shall see what Pepys does when the weather improves.
About Tuesday 6 January 1662/63
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Why so shy?" of being "willing to be seen at this end of the town"? Seems to me he was acting paranoid about being seen by Coventry yesterday, and noted that people were recognizing him so he didn't need to visit so often any more. So I agree: he was worried Coventry and others would know he wasn't working at the office, and he and Elizabeth "hid out" with friends.