"resolving not to be bribed to dispatch business..."
I'm in agreement with Paul, Ruben and GrahamT. In this particular case, Pepys indicates that he will not be bribed up front to hasten on or arrange a piece of business. If, however, he completes a contract to the King's and the navy's advantage, we may conclude that he is not averse to accepting his 'commission' afterwards.
Adjective. Difficult to deal with, perverse, hard to please,disposed to go counter to what is reasonable or what is demanded, ungovernable. Today we might say bloody-minded.
"You'll feel much better if you go home straight away and have a good lie down in your own bed. Really, we can manage perfectly well without you today. Don't worry about it."
But Sam's only anticipated reader is reader is Sam himself. He had no idea that we and our forebears would be picking his words apart so long after his death.
Where did tuberculosis enter the frame? Unless preceded by a prefixed qualifier (chickenpox, cowpox, smallpox) the term 'pox' (sometimes 'French pox') typically refers to a venereal disease, usually syphilis.
There is a particular use in English of the term 'stranger.' When the House of Commons is sitting and a member cries, :I spy strangers!" it means that there are members of the public or press present in their allotted galleries and that the matter under discussion should not be followed any further until they have been removed from the chamber. Thus the stranger is someone who does not belong in the place as of right, only as a courtesy.
Perhaps 'strangers' at Court were those who had no appointed place there. Then, if one takes Pepys's statement at face value, it would seem to imply that it was customary for those members of the court doing business with 'strangers' to offer them some sort of hospitality appropriate to the particular time of day.
Pepys consoles himself with the thought that, in the last analysis, all at the king's court are strangers - saving, of course, for the king himself and his royal relations.
Sam uses this expression in much the same contexts as a modern speaker might use the words "I gather."
i.e. no-one has delivered the information etc. in terms, but the speaker has drawn together relevant statements/actions and reached this (possibly tentative) conclusion.
Can't you just see Sam's panic? His whole reputation as a most reliable and valuable intermediary, agent and representative stands in jeopardy until the letters are found and delivered.
"and from before one, made it seven ere we got to Hampton Court"
Six hours pulling against the tide! You'd need at least a couple of 'sturdy rogues' for that trip. Presumably the tide would have been against them again for the return trip, unless they decided to cut their losses and wait for the next ebb tide to take them back to the city.
It's a long pull from Kingston to London and for almost the whole of that distance, (from Teddington onwards) the River Thames is tidal. This may have had a bearing on the reluctance of the boatmen if the tide was against them at the time or would be against them on the return journey.
The 17th century equivalent of the modern big-wig who offers some junior colleague the use of his car and driver when he doesn't need it for an hour or two.
Hospitality is not dead, at least not in this bit of south-east England, though the sharp-eared visitor may just hear low whispers of "FHB" ("family, hold back") as he moves towards the table.
I have the feeling that guests are quite often invited to share a family's midday meal on the spur of the moment; here it's at the Battens, but Sam's visitors also appear to take pot luck on numerous occasions. In households where the servants would frequently have been included in the general catering arrangements, I imagine that it would not be too difficult to have extra food sent up to the dining room, whilst the underlings had to make do with bread and cheese or some left-overs if the meat etc. would not stretch far enough.
We have not yet, I think, reached the age when a completely different dinner would be cooked especially for the members of the servants' hall.
Comments
First Reading
About Monday 7 August 1665
Mary • Link
"resolving not to be bribed to dispatch business..."
I'm in agreement with Paul, Ruben and GrahamT. In this particular case, Pepys indicates that he will not be bribed up front to hasten on or arrange a piece of business. If, however, he completes a contract to the King's and the navy's advantage, we may conclude that he is not averse to accepting his 'commission' afterwards.
About Friday 4 August 1665
Mary • Link
froward.
Adjective. Difficult to deal with, perverse, hard to please,disposed to go counter to what is reasonable or what is demanded, ungovernable. Today we might say bloody-minded.
About Tuesday 1 August 1665
Mary • Link
billiards.
For a brief history of the game, see
http://www.tradgames.org.uk/games…
The playing of billiards was, to a large extent, proscribed during the Commonwealth years.
About Monday 31 July 1665
Mary • Link
the modesty and gravity of the business..."
Well, the bride was looking "mighty sad."
About Saturday 29 July 1665
Mary • Link
"without discouraging him"
i.e. without disheartening him.
"You'll feel much better if you go home straight away and have a good lie down in your own bed. Really, we can manage perfectly well without you today. Don't worry about it."
About Sunday 23 July 1665
Mary • Link
Precisely so, LH.
About Sunday 23 July 1665
Mary • Link
"words ..... understood by his reader."
But Sam's only anticipated reader is reader is Sam himself. He had no idea that we and our forebears would be picking his words apart so long after his death.
About Monday 24 July 1665
Mary • Link
The nature of the pox.
Where did tuberculosis enter the frame? Unless preceded by a prefixed qualifier (chickenpox, cowpox, smallpox) the term 'pox' (sometimes 'French pox') typically refers to a venereal disease, usually syphilis.
About Sunday 23 July 1665
Mary • Link
'though a stranger'
There is a particular use in English of the term 'stranger.' When the House of Commons is sitting and a member cries, :I spy strangers!" it means that there are members of the public or press present in their allotted galleries and that the matter under discussion should not be followed any further until they have been removed from the chamber. Thus the stranger is someone who does not belong in the place as of right, only as a courtesy.
Perhaps 'strangers' at Court were those who had no appointed place there. Then, if one takes Pepys's statement at face value, it would seem to imply that it was customary for those members of the court doing business with 'strangers' to offer them some sort of hospitality appropriate to the particular time of day.
Pepys consoles himself with the thought that, in the last analysis, all at the king's court are strangers - saving, of course, for the king himself and his royal relations.
About Monday 17 July 1665
Mary • Link
"I collect"
Sam uses this expression in much the same contexts as a modern speaker might use the words "I gather."
i.e. no-one has delivered the information etc. in terms, but the speaker has drawn together relevant statements/actions and reached this (possibly tentative) conclusion.
About Sunday 16 July 1665
Mary • Link
Swiss spaghetti harvest.
For an account of this, go to
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com and follow the links.
About Wednesday 12 July 1665
Mary • Link
[I] was in a very extraordinary straite....
Can't you just see Sam's panic? His whole reputation as a most reliable and valuable intermediary, agent and representative stands in jeopardy until the letters are found and delivered.
About Wednesday 12 July 1665
Mary • Link
"and from before one, made it seven ere we got to Hampton Court"
Six hours pulling against the tide! You'd need at least a couple of 'sturdy rogues' for that trip. Presumably the tide would have been against them again for the return trip, unless they decided to cut their losses and wait for the next ebb tide to take them back to the city.
About Monday 10 July 1665
Mary • Link
the reluctant rogues.
It's a long pull from Kingston to London and for almost the whole of that distance, (from Teddington onwards) the River Thames is tidal. This may have had a bearing on the reluctance of the boatmen if the tide was against them at the time or would be against them on the return journey.
About Friday 7 July 1665
Mary • Link
that tierce.
A tierce is a third part of a pipe of wine and equals 35 Imperial gallons (= 42 US gallons).
Note: this is also the volume of a barrel of oil.
About Thursday 6 July 1665
Mary • Link
"and Lord! the number of houses visited..."
i.e. visited by the plague.
About Monday 3 July 1665
Mary • Link
Elizabeth is not yet 'safely' away in the country.
Sam has taken her to see Sheldon's house, but she has not yet removed out of town. Patience, gentlemen, patience!
About Wednesday 28 June 1665
Mary • Link
... and thence his coach
The 17th century equivalent of the modern big-wig who offers some junior colleague the use of his car and driver when he doesn't need it for an hour or two.
About Tuesday 27 June 1665
Mary • Link
CGS takes too dim a view.
Hospitality is not dead, at least not in this bit of south-east England, though the sharp-eared visitor may just hear low whispers of "FHB" ("family, hold back") as he moves towards the table.
About Tuesday 27 June 1665
Mary • Link
"dined by chance....."
I have the feeling that guests are quite often invited to share a family's midday meal on the spur of the moment; here it's at the Battens, but Sam's visitors also appear to take pot luck on numerous occasions. In households where the servants would frequently have been included in the general catering arrangements, I imagine that it would not be too difficult to have extra food sent up to the dining room, whilst the underlings had to make do with bread and cheese or some left-overs if the meat etc. would not stretch far enough.
We have not yet, I think, reached the age when a completely different dinner would be cooked especially for the members of the servants' hall.