An L&M footnote revises the figures for Charles's acknowledged children by Castlemaine to 6 infants born between 1661 and 1672. None of those born around this particular time in the diary were acknowledged by him. Not unreasonable of Charles, as Barbara was having an affaire with Henry Jermyn, the Duke of York's Master of the Horse.
The London summer of 1667 appears to have been as warm and dry as the one that we are enjoying at present. Those of us living on unsurfaced roads in eastern/southeastern England know all about the dust - though we're largely spared the quantities of horse-droppings that Sam's fellow citizens encountered.
L&M note that these children were reported to be four and a half feet tall (the boy) and nearly six feet tall respectively and that the girl was 'in thicknesse proportionable." Sam must have been feeling strong to try lifting that hefty lass.
I might go as far as to substitute 'unadorned' for 'unaffected' in this context, but remain convinced that the epithet implies more here than simple, workaday lack of style or fashion.
The Mennonites that I encountered some years ago in Belize and the Amish of Pennsylvania today refer to themselves as 'plain people' and this alludes to their simplicity of dress as much as to their practice, manners and customs. The term has a long history in this context.
I think that Sam and Elizabeth perceived the girl to be 'plain' in just this way; she is remarkable to them in that her beauty cries out for admiration, though her modest style is calculated to be self-effacing.
This sounds like a contradiction in terms to modern ears. However, I suspect that "plain" here refers to the girl's dress. She is dressed "plain" - i.e. in Puritan fashion, in dull colours and without any sort of adornment, not even buttons (which were considered 'fancy' then and still are in some traditions).
I wouldn't advise Sam to take a cue from this observation and suggest that Elizabeth's beauty would be set off even better by plain fashions if she were to give up her silver lace, fine petticoats, earrings and other fancy adornments.
Possibly Coleman had been told that the Pepyses live 'at the Navy Office' and would have looked for them there. However, Sam is not in the office itself today. He's been out and about (St. James's and Whitehall). Thus the porter may have redirected Coleman to the Peyps's domestic quarters. Elizabeth would hardly have been able to take him across to Sam's office and so received him in their 'great chamber.'
[It's not unusual in the 17th century for an finely furnished bed/couch to be placed in the reception room of a house, so that might answer one of the questions raised by the passage].
There is still the question of whether the office itself would be entirely unoccupied on a Saturday. (This is one conclusion that one might draw from the wording "it being Saturday"). I would not have expected the five-day working week to have been in operation at this early date and Sam himself undoubtedly works in the office at all sorts of hours, Saturdays and Sundays included. I wonder whether any other reader has noticed Sam mentioning other people being in the office on Saturdays, or whether the clerks etc. are only required to attend then when specifically briefed to do so? Does Sam give them the morning off when he knows that he will not require their services? Working hours are hardly rigidly fixed.
Confirmation that "cool' has alluded to the prevailing temperature over the past few days and the desirability of getting work done before the day grows too hot for comfort.
Entirely reasonable that tea should have been sold by apothecaries.
Not because it was likely to cure all the ills that were claimed for it, but because it should properly be made with boiling [n.b really boiling, not just hot] water. Hence less likely to transmit noxious bugs to imbibers than water or even doubtfully brewed beer.
There's nothing cod about this representation of 19th century London English in Dickens. If you had heard interviews with the evacuees from Tristan da Cunha following the catastrophic volcanic eruption of 1961, you would have heard evidence of just such a v/w variation in speech. Thanks to their social heritage and isolation the islanders' dialect preserved many aspects of an earlier pronunciation.
victuals could be almost anything in this context. A bit of cold pie? Bread and cheese? A little of some tasty left-over? At any rate, a casual meal or snack rather than a formal meal. The ladies are having a cosy little get-together.
I think Sam means that he doesn't want Elizabeth to discover that he's gone out on a purely social occasion. He engaged her to take his money (an enormous responsibility for her and dangerous, too) all the way to his parents' home in the country and presumably said that she would have to undertake the task because he was not going to be able to get away from London for a single hour, matters being so desperate. What will she now say if she returns to find that, far from being nose-to-the-grindstone, he is at Carteret's not on business but indulging in a social nicety.
" and then to supper and to bed with a heavy heart. The..."
L&M note that, from this point onwards, the end of this entry, together with many others in the next few weeks, are written in a smaller hand. Pepys [Spoiler: as is shown in the following day's entry] entrusted numerous papers including his journals to the safe-keeping of cousin Sarah and her husband for the duration. The entries covering the remainder of Dutch emergency and its aftermath must have been brought up to date later on.
At this date the Union flag flown in England would simply have shown the cross of St. George (England) superimposed over the cross of St. Andrew (Scotland). This version of the Union flag would not be recognised in Scotland until 1707.
Comments
First Reading
About Saturday 27 July 1667
Mary • Link
official bastards
An L&M footnote revises the figures for Charles's acknowledged children by Castlemaine to 6 infants born between 1661 and 1672. None of those born around this particular time in the diary were acknowledged by him. Not unreasonable of Charles, as Barbara was having an affaire with Henry Jermyn, the Duke of York's Master of the Horse.
About Friday 26 July 1667
Mary • Link
that dust.
The London summer of 1667 appears to have been as warm and dry as the one that we are enjoying at present. Those of us living on unsurfaced roads in eastern/southeastern England know all about the dust - though we're largely spared the quantities of horse-droppings that Sam's fellow citizens encountered.
About Wednesday 24 July 1667
Mary • Link
"and now do take the beginning of the spring"
The 'spring' here must refer to a spring tide - the significantly high (and low) tide that occurs during the time of the full moon.
About Saturday 20 July 1667
Mary • Link
Postscript to the above.
I've oft been told by learned friars,
That wishing and the crime are one,
And Heaven punishes desires
As much as if the deed were done.
If wishing damns us, you and I
Are damned to all our heart's content;
Come, then, at least we may enjoy
Some pleasure for our punishment!
Thomas Moore: An Argument.
About Saturday 20 July 1667
Mary • Link
All these pretty women
You can't help feeling that Sam, whether he realises it or not, is anticipating a day when he will fail to 'correct' his nature.
About Thursday 11 July 1667
Mary • Link
Mr. Mercator's Theory of Longitudes.
It's that fixation on a pendulum that's going to hold up progress.
About Tuesday 9 July 1667
Mary • Link
"he did admire at the order...."
'Admire' is here used in the 16th/17th century way that means 'to feel surprise, astonishment.'
About Monday 8 July 1667
Mary • Link
the great boy and girl.
L&M note that these children were reported to be four and a half feet tall (the boy) and nearly six feet tall respectively and that the girl was 'in thicknesse proportionable." Sam must have been feeling strong to try lifting that hefty lass.
About Sunday 7 July 1667
Mary • Link
plain beauty.
I might go as far as to substitute 'unadorned' for 'unaffected' in this context, but remain convinced that the epithet implies more here than simple, workaday lack of style or fashion.
The Mennonites that I encountered some years ago in Belize and the Amish of Pennsylvania today refer to themselves as 'plain people' and this alludes to their simplicity of dress as much as to their practice, manners and customs. The term has a long history in this context.
I think that Sam and Elizabeth perceived the girl to be 'plain' in just this way; she is remarkable to them in that her beauty cries out for admiration, though her modest style is calculated to be self-effacing.
I wonder whether Language Hat has a view?
About Sunday 7 July 1667
Mary • Link
"the beauty of a plain girl"
This sounds like a contradiction in terms to modern ears. However, I suspect that "plain" here refers to the girl's dress. She is dressed "plain" - i.e. in Puritan fashion, in dull colours and without any sort of adornment, not even buttons (which were considered 'fancy' then and still are in some traditions).
I wouldn't advise Sam to take a cue from this observation and suggest that Elizabeth's beauty would be set off even better by plain fashions if she were to give up her silver lace, fine petticoats, earrings and other fancy adornments.
About Saturday 6 July 1667
Mary • Link
"the best instance of a woman's falseness in the world"
Well, I suppose it all depends on your point of view.
About Saturday 29 June 1667
Mary • Link
I wondered about this too, AS.
Possibly Coleman had been told that the Pepyses live 'at the Navy Office' and would have looked for them there. However, Sam is not in the office itself today. He's been out and about (St. James's and Whitehall). Thus the porter may have redirected Coleman to the Peyps's domestic quarters. Elizabeth would hardly have been able to take him across to Sam's office and so received him in their 'great chamber.'
[It's not unusual in the 17th century for an finely furnished bed/couch to be placed in the reception room of a house, so that might answer one of the questions raised by the passage].
There is still the question of whether the office itself would be entirely unoccupied on a Saturday. (This is one conclusion that one might draw from the wording "it being Saturday"). I would not have expected the five-day working week to have been in operation at this early date and Sam himself undoubtedly works in the office at all sorts of hours, Saturdays and Sundays included. I wonder whether any other reader has noticed Sam mentioning other people being in the office on Saturdays, or whether the clerks etc. are only required to attend then when specifically briefed to do so? Does Sam give them the morning off when he knows that he will not require their services? Working hours are hardly rigidly fixed.
About Sunday 30 June 1667
Mary • Link
"the cool of the morning"
Confirmation that "cool' has alluded to the prevailing temperature over the past few days and the desirability of getting work done before the day grows too hot for comfort.
About Friday 28 June 1667
Mary • Link
Entirely reasonable that tea should have been sold by apothecaries.
Not because it was likely to cure all the ills that were claimed for it, but because it should properly be made with boiling [n.b really boiling, not just hot] water. Hence less likely to transmit noxious bugs to imbibers than water or even doubtfully brewed beer.
About Friday 28 June 1667
Mary • Link
"he hath been taken by the watch....."
This is Fenn's report of the career of the Duke of Buckingham. It was he who was missed by the watch, not Fenn.
About Friday 21 June 1667
Mary • Link
"wittles'
There's nothing cod about this representation of 19th century London English in Dickens. If you had heard interviews with the evacuees from Tristan da Cunha following the catastrophic volcanic eruption of 1961, you would have heard evidence of just such a v/w variation in speech. Thanks to their social heritage and isolation the islanders' dialect preserved many aspects of an earlier pronunciation.
About Friday 21 June 1667
Mary • Link
victuals
could be almost anything in this context. A bit of cold pie? Bread and cheese? A little of some tasty left-over? At any rate, a casual meal or snack rather than a formal meal. The ladies are having a cosy little get-together.
About Wednesday 19 June 1667
Mary • Link
"that she might not find me abroad.."
I think Sam means that he doesn't want Elizabeth to discover that he's gone out on a purely social occasion.
He engaged her to take his money (an enormous responsibility for her and dangerous, too) all the way to his parents' home in the country and presumably said that she would have to undertake the task because he was not going to be able to get away from London for a single hour, matters being so desperate. What will she now say if she returns to find that, far from being nose-to-the-grindstone, he is at Carteret's not on business but indulging in a social nicety.
About Wednesday 12 June 1667
Mary • Link
" and then to supper and to bed with a heavy heart. The..."
L&M note that, from this point onwards, the end of this entry, together with many others in the next few weeks, are written in a smaller hand. Pepys [Spoiler: as is shown in the following day's entry] entrusted numerous papers including his journals to the safe-keeping of cousin Sarah and her husband for the duration. The entries covering the remainder of Dutch emergency and its aftermath must have been brought up to date later on.
About Wednesday 12 June 1667
Mary • Link
the Union flag
At this date the Union flag flown in England would simply have shown the cross of St. George (England) superimposed over the cross of St. Andrew (Scotland). This version of the Union flag would not be recognised in Scotland until 1707.