Anyone who saw a British TV programme some years go that showed Michael Noakes beginning to work on a portrait of the actor Robert Morley will understand what Pepys means here. With a dilute application of a reddish-brown paint on a piece of cloth, Noakes swiftly roughed out the 'ghost' of the sitter and the armchair in which he sat onto the canvas. No brushes or other instruments were used, just a piece of cloth. The image, devoid of all detail or other colour, was immediately recognisable as Morley. Magic.
So Jane 'is very well and do well" and appears to be happy in her current place of employment, yet Sam still refers to her as "poor wench." He can hardly be referring to the girl's financial position, so he uses the adjective almost as an affectionate but slightly condescending diminutive.
The L&M Companion gives no information about Jane's family background, so it's impossible to tell whether she might be "poor" because of a sad, personal history. (The same epithet is not applied to her brother Wayneman). She has shown herself to be capable and resourceful, so can't be called "poor' on either of those scores. Could Sam be betraying a suspicion that she possesses qualities that, in other circumstances, would allow her to progress well beyond the status of domestic servant?
It sounds as if Norwood, Robinson and co. are showing themselves to be thorough epicureans. The use of 'curious' would seem to indicate that it is the quality, rather than the quantity, of food that excites their interest. Sam's disapproval implies that this discussion was more wide-ranging than simple comment on the food before them. Is this one of his occasional hang-overs from more Puritan days or are we seeing an early example of the later rule that it was very bad form to voice any comment on food that was served at someone else's table?
MR I like your suggestion that the assignment allows for a cut-out between Houblon and Sam in case of traceability problems. It had occurred to me that Sam had hitherto been quite careful not to leave a paper-trail or other trail of direct evidence in such matters; your third-party premise would take care of that.
Viner being a goldsmith-cum-banker, I took this to mean that Sam had been expecting to receive some kind of note-of-hand from Houblon that he could take to Viner's and exchange it for either specie or goods to a stated value: Viner would then extract payment from Houblon's 'account' with him.
OED 11. quotes: "an assigned measure, a definite amount" and offers examples from 16th century usage.
OED 12. glosses the word "an act of signing, a signature" which may also be relevant.
In either case, I imagine Sam hoped to take a signed authority from Houblon, authorizing Viner to effect some kind of payment.
cgs, I'm not sure what distinction you are trying to draw here. I doubt that Sam thinks he's well on the way to becoming Albemarle's bosom buddy, but he is somewhat relieved to find that Milord's attitude to his professional work indicates favour. The bit of professional work concerned here is, indeed, the Tangier accounts. Fears that A. would take exception to the accounts (which have presented some tricky problems) and hence show displeasure with Sam, have been allayed. It's all of a piece.
L&M edition does indeed omit the comma. What Sam is saying is that he makes no other observation, comes to no other conclusion ("do not discern but that") than that Albermarle is friendly towards him.
The way that this is phrased shows that Sam is specifically reassured that Albermarle views his work with favour. It's all a bit more tentative than a straightforward "I do discern.."
You're right about thorn being misinterpreted as 'ye.' As for initial 'th' sounds, they are variously represented by thorn and eth, depending on the scribe, the locality and the date of the MS.
Not at all sure about your second point; and no Windows here, I'm afraid, though thank you for the suggestion. But perhaps we're straying too far from the 17th Century.
But I'm hampered by not having at my fingertips a font that gives the sign for the [th] consonant which is called 'eth' and which sounds like the /th/ that we use at the beginning of words such as that, these, those.
Dobson says that where eth was immediately followed by r where this combination preceded a vowel, late OE and early ME showed a tendency for eth to change to d. He quotes burthen and murther as examples of this.
His whole paragraph is much too lengthy to quote here but details parallel developments in such words as fathom (where eth appears before a non-syllabic nasal), farthing,farther,further.
The pattern by which the d-forms entered the language suggests that this may have been a vulgar or dialectal variation that gradually ousted the earlier pronunciation in such words.
Dobson refers to the standard philological works by Jordan (para.206) and Sievers-Brunner (para.201 note 7).
Exactly so, LH. He sent his regards to the ladies of the house. Thank you for taking the trouble to identify the citations, something that I should have done myself 12 annotations ago.
You could have a point there, MR. There is also the remaining atmosphere that hangs around in the wake of the prize goods affair, so perhaps Sam has decided to err on the side of discretion in the current climate.
Gratifying to see that Sam distinguishes clearly between the outright inducement to grant putative future favour and the proffering of a suitable 'thank-you' for a favour done. Mr. Wayth has overstepped the mark.
L&M gloss 'drudger' as 'dredger, container for sweetmeats'. OED quotes this entry of Pepys's diary in illustration of the definition " a box with a perforated lid for sprinkling powder over anything".
As for that tarnish, the widespread use of coal in 17th century London would certainly have led to an increased rate of tarnish, but since sulphur dioxide is one of the components of woodsmoke I doubt that pre-17th century silver remained completely tarnish-free.
"sent my service to the ladies" simply means that Sam sent his regards to the ladies of the house. He had greeted Mr. Gawden's sons in person, but evidently not the ladies. This type of 'service' had nothing to do with either a church service or material service: in effect Sam is saying a formal "Your servant, ladies" by proxy.
The L&M reference to the note in Vol.2 of the diary is attached to the words "day of the King's Murther". It is not attached to the words "sent my service to the ladies".
On the anniversary of the execution of Charles I, a fast was, by royal proclamation, to be held throughout the kingdom. Parish priests were instructed to remind their congregations of the fast each year on the Sunday before 30th January.
Comments
First Reading
About Thursday 15 February 1665/66
Mary • Link
earth-toned, monochrome underpainting.
Anyone who saw a British TV programme some years go that showed Michael Noakes beginning to work on a portrait of the actor Robert Morley will understand what Pepys means here. With a dilute application of a reddish-brown paint on a piece of cloth, Noakes swiftly roughed out the 'ghost' of the sitter and the armchair in which he sat onto the canvas. No brushes or other instruments were used, just a piece of cloth. The image, devoid of all detail or other colour, was immediately recognisable as Morley. Magic.
About Tuesday 13 February 1665/66
Mary • Link
So Jane 'is very well and do well" and appears to be happy in her current place of employment, yet Sam still refers to her as "poor wench." He can hardly be referring to the girl's financial position, so he uses the adjective almost as an affectionate but slightly condescending diminutive.
The L&M Companion gives no information about Jane's family background, so it's impossible to tell whether she might be "poor" because of a sad, personal history. (The same epithet is not applied to her brother Wayneman). She has shown herself to be capable and resourceful, so can't be called "poor' on either of those scores. Could Sam be betraying a suspicion that she possesses qualities that, in other circumstances, would allow her to progress well beyond the status of domestic servant?
About Sunday 11 February 1665/66
Mary • Link
"I did not hope to save my nail, whatever else ill....."
Sam must have been wielding that hammer with far more enthusiasm than concentration. Mrs. Turner's balsam is evidently a magic healing ointment.
About Friday 9 February 1665/66
Mary • Link
curiosity and joy.
It sounds as if Norwood, Robinson and co. are showing themselves to be thorough epicureans. The use of 'curious' would seem to indicate that it is the quality, rather than the quantity, of food that excites their interest. Sam's disapproval implies that this discussion was more wide-ranging than simple comment on the food before them. Is this one of his occasional hang-overs from more Puritan days or are we seeing an early example of the later rule that it was very bad form to voice any comment on food that was served at someone else's table?
About Thursday 8 February 1665/66
Mary • Link
MR I like your suggestion that the assignment allows for a cut-out between Houblon and Sam in case of traceability problems. It had occurred to me that Sam had hitherto been quite careful not to leave a paper-trail or other trail of direct evidence in such matters; your third-party premise would take care of that.
About Thursday 8 February 1665/66
Mary • Link
"an assignment upon Viner"
Viner being a goldsmith-cum-banker, I took this to mean that Sam had been expecting to receive some kind of note-of-hand from Houblon that he could take to Viner's and exchange it for either specie or goods to a stated value: Viner would then extract payment from Houblon's 'account' with him.
OED 11. quotes: "an assigned measure, a definite amount" and offers examples from 16th century usage.
OED 12. glosses the word "an act of signing, a signature" which may also be relevant.
In either case, I imagine Sam hoped to take a signed authority from Houblon, authorizing Viner to effect some kind of payment.
About Tuesday 6 February 1665/66
Mary • Link
cgs, I'm not sure what distinction you are trying to draw here. I doubt that Sam thinks he's well on the way to becoming Albemarle's bosom buddy, but he is somewhat relieved to find that Milord's attitude to his professional work indicates favour. The bit of professional work concerned here is, indeed, the Tangier accounts. Fears that A. would take exception to the accounts (which have presented some tricky problems) and hence show displeasure with Sam, have been allayed. It's all of a piece.
About Tuesday 6 February 1665/66
Mary • Link
I do not discern, but that .....
L&M edition does indeed omit the comma. What Sam is saying is that he makes no other observation, comes to no other conclusion ("do not discern but that") than that Albermarle is friendly towards him.
The way that this is phrased shows that Sam is specifically reassured that Albermarle views his work with favour. It's all a bit more tentative than a straightforward "I do discern.."
About Monday 5 February 1665/66
Mary • Link
"all five brothers Houblons"
L&M has a delightful footnote here, to the effect that the Houblon brothers were a by-word for mutual affection.
All were merchants engaged in trade with Portugal, Spain and North Africa.
About Tuesday 30 January 1665/66
Mary • Link
You're right about thorn being misinterpreted as 'ye.' As for initial 'th' sounds, they are variously represented by thorn and eth, depending on the scribe, the locality and the date of the MS.
Not at all sure about your second point; and no Windows here, I'm afraid, though thank you for the suggestion. But perhaps we're straying too far from the 17th Century.
About Monday 5 February 1665/66
Mary • Link
to serve one's turn.
OED turn (noun) 30b
To answer one's purpose or requirement; to suffice for or satisfy a need; to suit, answer, serve, avail; to be useful or helpful in an emergency.
The expression is still in use.
About Tuesday 30 January 1665/66
Mary • Link
Yes, that's the one. I'm using the second (1968) edition.
About Sunday 4 February 1665/66
Mary • Link
poor Aunt James.
One has to wonder whether the 'stone' was not something else altogether, the result of metasthesis.
About Tuesday 30 January 1665/66
Mary • Link
Yes, Dobson here.
But I'm hampered by not having at my fingertips a font that gives the sign for the [th] consonant which is called 'eth' and which sounds like the /th/ that we use at the beginning of words such as that, these, those.
Dobson says that where eth was immediately followed by r where this combination preceded a vowel, late OE and early ME showed a tendency for eth to change to d. He quotes burthen and murther as examples of this.
His whole paragraph is much too lengthy to quote here but details parallel developments in such words as fathom (where eth appears before a non-syllabic nasal), farthing,farther,further.
The pattern by which the d-forms entered the language suggests that this may have been a vulgar or dialectal variation that gradually ousted the earlier pronunciation in such words.
Dobson refers to the standard philological works by Jordan (para.206) and Sievers-Brunner (para.201 note 7).
About Tuesday 30 January 1665/66
Mary • Link
Exactly so, LH. He sent his regards to the ladies of the house. Thank you for taking the trouble to identify the citations, something that I should have done myself 12 annotations ago.
About Friday 2 February 1665/66
Mary • Link
You could have a point there, MR. There is also the remaining atmosphere that hangs around in the wake of the prize goods affair, so perhaps Sam has decided to err on the side of discretion in the current climate.
About Friday 2 February 1665/66
Mary • Link
Sam's sense of decorum.
Gratifying to see that Sam distinguishes clearly between the outright inducement to grant putative future favour and the proffering of a suitable 'thank-you' for a favour done. Mr. Wayth has overstepped the mark.
About Friday 2 February 1665/66
Mary • Link
Silverware.
L&M gloss 'drudger' as 'dredger, container for sweetmeats'.
OED quotes this entry of Pepys's diary in illustration of the definition " a box with a perforated lid for sprinkling powder over anything".
As for that tarnish, the widespread use of coal in 17th century London would certainly have led to an increased rate of tarnish, but since sulphur dioxide is one of the components of woodsmoke I doubt that pre-17th century silver remained completely tarnish-free.
About Tuesday 30 January 1665/66
Mary • Link
cgs- you joke, of course.
About Tuesday 30 January 1665/66
Mary • Link
"sent my service to the ladies" simply means that Sam sent his regards to the ladies of the house. He had greeted Mr. Gawden's sons in person, but evidently not the ladies. This type of 'service' had nothing to do with either a church service or material service: in effect Sam is saying a formal "Your servant, ladies" by proxy.
The L&M reference to the note in Vol.2 of the diary is attached to the words "day of the King's Murther". It is not attached to the words "sent my service to the ladies".
On the anniversary of the execution of Charles I, a fast was, by royal proclamation, to be held throughout the kingdom. Parish priests were instructed to remind their congregations of the fast each year on the Sunday before 30th January.