"It would be nice if this agreement were still around.."
According to an L&M footnote, two copies exist. One, a holograph copy in Povey's hand (Rawl.A172, ff. 102-3) and another (Houghton Lib., Harvard, MS. Eng.991) possibly Pepys's counterpart.
Indeed, RG, he has also been frank enough to record the days on which she was not fit enough to leave the house (i.e. fit to be seen) because he had given her a spectacular black eye.
No, I don't recall Sam specifically mentioning them, either. But the nursery rhyme, variously ascribed to the mid-16th and the 13th centuries, should have been familiar to him.
Hark! Hark! The dogs do bark. The beggars are coming to town. Some in rags And some in jags And one in a velvet gown.
It looks as if a plan is being floated for the inmates of the New Bridewell to produce textile goods for Tangier. L&M note that Poyntz, the Master, was already supplying flags and sails to the navy and would, by 1667, be producing tapestries. Probably more agreeable work than picking oakum.
But as yet there is no indication that his joy in his new appointment is to be shared with Elizabeth. (Though I suppose that a celebratory trip to the theatre might be difficult to arrange in Holy Week). In fact, I wonder whether she even knows that he has achieved this promotion? Sam probably only tells her as much as he feels she really needs to know.
Although there was initially some disagreement about whether it should be the house-owner or the occupier who paid Hearth Tax, the question was finally decided with the tax being imposed on the occupier, not the owner/landlord. Therefore Sam was probably liable for it; he could scarcely claim relief on grounds of poverty, and the Navy Office was probably not exempt on charitable grounds. I have so far found no evidence for exemption being available for the occupants of government property. Generally speaking, if you enjoyed and used a hearth, you paid the tax for it. A further exemption was introduced for dwellings that had fewer than two chimneys (which must have been a relief to poorer agricultural labourers) but this, again, is unlikely to have applied to the Navy Office. We already know from internal evidence that the Pepys' quarters had at least three hearths.
Income tax was not introduced in England until 1799; the reason for its introduction then was the need for raising extra funds for the war(s) against Napoleon. Following the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, income tax was repealed in 1816.
It returned in 1842 when reintroduced as a temporary measure by Robert Peel and still remains a temporary measure, having to be re-instated every 5th April by Parliament.
Sam would have paid no kind of income tax. He would have paid Poll Tax, Hearth Tax (for as long as that measure remained in force after 1662) and would also have been subject to paying the parish Poor Rate.
Any and all taxes that he paid over and above these would have been indirect taxes levied on commodities.
The nostrum that Terry cites sounds as if the inclusion of henna in the ingredients would have produced the sort of red-gold colour (not a bright, brassy yellow) that was to become very fashionable in the reign of Elizabeth Tudor.
The presence of walnut and oak-apple in the preparatory mixture is a little surprising. Walnut produces a rich, brown stain on organic materials and oak-apples were used as a source of good, black colouring for ink from a very early date.
Dear me, Elizabeth is doing her best to be very fashionable, wearing light coloured locks that will team beautifully with her new, ash-coloured suit (I take this to mean a very pale, silvery grey) and Sam can only carp that it's all unnatural. Perhaps she looks just too fetching, and has stirred up Sam's possessive jealousy again.
I don't believe that there is any special reason why Pepys should not have suffered the effects of both types of stone at different times. Personal experience, which matches tld's second point above, makes kidney stones sound the more likely cause of the present painful episode. We know, from the later post mortem report on Pepys' state at death, that he did indeed have many stones present in the kidneys.
Quite possibly he sent his water round to Dr. Hollier's for examination. This would not have been an unusual practice in an age when the condition, appearance, colour etc. of both urine and faeces were recognised as providing useful clues to the health of the individual.
This was a protective coat made of leather that was worn by the military.
OED buff: properly, leather made of buffalo-hide; but usually applied to a very stout kind of leather made of ox-hide, dressed with oil, and having a characteristic fuzzy surface, and a dull, whitish-yellow colour.
Our adjective 'buff' is taken from the colour of this material, not vice-versa.
I suspect he finds it embarrassing because it reminds him that his father is now living in reduced circumstances, and brother Tom made no financial fist at all of running the family business. Sam may be doing well himself, but this small transaction reminds him that the rest of the family is of very little account in the world and recalls his own humble origins.
Honiwood seems to be paying this small, quarterly sum for the rental of rooms in the old Pepys house in Salisbury Court. This small income represents some kind of allowance that is made to John Pepys Jr. whilst he is still studying in Cambridge.
Honiwood is hardly likely to travel all the way to Huntingdonshire to pay such a small sum, nor is John Sr. likely to travel all the way to London to collect it quarter by quarter. Therefore Sam accepts the payment on the family's behalf and (we hope) sends the money to his brother (by safe hand, with the carrier?) at a later date.
Comments
First Reading
About Tuesday 28 March 1665
Mary • Link
Lloyd's Coffee House established 1688.
Pepys will have to wait for another 23 years before he can get his morning refreshment and gossip there.
About Monday 27 March 1665
Mary • Link
"It would be nice if this agreement were still around.."
According to an L&M footnote, two copies exist. One, a holograph copy in Povey's hand (Rawl.A172, ff. 102-3) and another (Houghton Lib., Harvard, MS. Eng.991) possibly Pepys's counterpart.
About Sunday 26 March 1665
Mary • Link
Elizabeth's indispositions.
Indeed, RG, he has also been frank enough to record the days on which she was not fit enough to leave the house (i.e. fit to be seen) because he had given her a spectacular black eye.
About Friday 24 March 1664/65
Mary • Link
Beggars.
No, I don't recall Sam specifically mentioning them, either. But the nursery rhyme, variously ascribed to the mid-16th and the 13th centuries, should have been familiar to him.
Hark! Hark!
The dogs do bark.
The beggars are coming to town.
Some in rags
And some in jags
And one in a velvet gown.
About Friday 24 March 1664/65
Mary • Link
Clerkenwell Workhouse.
It looks as if a plan is being floated for the inmates of the New Bridewell to produce textile goods for Tangier. L&M note that Poyntz, the Master, was already supplying flags and sails to the navy and would, by 1667, be producing tapestries. Probably more agreeable work than picking oakum.
About Thursday 23 March 1664/65
Mary • Link
Sam celebrates his new status.
But as yet there is no indication that his joy in his new appointment is to be shared with Elizabeth. (Though I suppose that a celebratory trip to the theatre might be difficult to arrange in Holy Week). In fact, I wonder whether she even knows that he has achieved this promotion? Sam probably only tells her as much as he feels she really needs to know.
About Saturday 18 March 1664/65
Mary • Link
Hearth Tax again.
Although there was initially some disagreement about whether it should be the house-owner or the occupier who paid Hearth Tax, the question was finally decided with the tax being imposed on the occupier, not the owner/landlord. Therefore Sam was probably liable for it; he could scarcely claim relief on grounds of poverty, and the Navy Office was probably not exempt on charitable grounds. I have so far found no evidence for exemption being available for the occupants of government property. Generally speaking, if you enjoyed and used a hearth, you paid the tax for it. A further exemption was introduced for dwellings that had fewer than two chimneys (which must have been a relief to poorer agricultural labourers) but this, again, is unlikely to have applied to the Navy Office. We already know from internal evidence that the Pepys' quarters had at least three hearths.
About Saturday 18 March 1664/65
Mary • Link
No tax returns for Sam.
Income tax was not introduced in England until 1799; the reason for its introduction then was the need for raising extra funds for the war(s) against Napoleon. Following the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, income tax was repealed in 1816.
It returned in 1842 when reintroduced as a temporary measure by Robert Peel and still remains a temporary measure, having to be re-instated every 5th April by Parliament.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/history/ta…
Sam would have paid no kind of income tax. He would have paid Poll Tax, Hearth Tax (for as long as that measure remained in force after 1662) and would also have been subject to paying the parish Poor Rate.
Any and all taxes that he paid over and above these would have been indirect taxes levied on commodities.
About Friday 17 March 1664/65
Mary • Link
splitting the 'graft'
L&M note that this was to involve splitting the poundage with Povy, 1d. in each shilling and 2d. in each piece-of-eight of the expenditure.
NB we're talking old pence here: 240 to the pound and 12 to the shilling.
About Monday 13 March 1664/65
Mary • Link
The Trotula.
The nostrum that Terry cites sounds as if the inclusion of henna in the ingredients would have produced the sort of red-gold colour (not a bright, brassy yellow) that was to become very fashionable in the reign of Elizabeth Tudor.
The presence of walnut and oak-apple in the preparatory mixture is a little surprising. Walnut produces a rich, brown stain on organic materials and oak-apples were used as a source of good, black colouring for ink from a very early date.
About Monday 13 March 1664/65
Mary • Link
Light coloured locks.
Dear me, Elizabeth is doing her best to be very fashionable, wearing light coloured locks that will team beautifully with her new, ash-coloured suit (I take this to mean a very pale, silvery grey) and Sam can only carp that it's all unnatural. Perhaps she looks just too fetching, and has stirred up Sam's possessive jealousy again.
About Sunday 12 March 1664/65
Mary • Link
fine feathers.
I wonder whether the whisk was being worn with the new suit of flowered, ash-coloured silk that was delivered on 8th March?
About Saturday 11 March 1664/65
Mary • Link
weighed=raised
As in 'to weigh anchor' which is a more familiar modern example of this usage.
About Tuesday 7 March 1664/65
Mary • Link
Kidney/bladder stones.
I don't believe that there is any special reason why Pepys should not have suffered the effects of both types of stone at different times. Personal experience, which matches tld's second point above, makes kidney stones sound the more likely cause of the present painful episode. We know, from the later post mortem report on Pepys' state at death, that he did indeed have many stones present in the kidneys.
About Wednesday 8 March 1664/65
Mary • Link
The Nower/Nour.
This is The Nore in current parlance.
About Tuesday 7 March 1664/65
Mary • Link
caused my water to be looked into..."
Quite possibly he sent his water round to Dr. Hollier's for examination. This would not have been an unusual practice in an age when the condition, appearance, colour etc. of both urine and faeces were recognised as providing useful clues to the health of the individual.
About Monday 6 March 1664/65
Mary • Link
A buff coat.
This was a protective coat made of leather that was worn by the military.
OED buff: properly, leather made of buffalo-hide; but usually applied to a very stout kind of leather made of ox-hide, dressed with oil, and having a characteristic fuzzy surface, and a dull, whitish-yellow colour.
Our adjective 'buff' is taken from the colour of this material, not vice-versa.
About Monday 6 March 1664/65
Mary • Link
"gone away with the greatest ingratitude..."
Sam's attitude has changed somewhat from the time when Elizabeth first complained about Besse and insisted that the maid had to go.
About Friday 3 March 1664/65
Mary • Link
More quarterage.
I suspect he finds it embarrassing because it reminds him that his father is now living in reduced circumstances, and brother Tom made no financial fist at all of running the family business. Sam may be doing well himself, but this small transaction reminds him that the rest of the family is of very little account in the world and recalls his own humble origins.
About Friday 3 March 1664/65
Mary • Link
this quarterage.
Honiwood seems to be paying this small, quarterly sum for the rental of rooms in the old Pepys house in Salisbury Court. This small income represents some kind of allowance that is made to John Pepys Jr. whilst he is still studying in Cambridge.
Honiwood is hardly likely to travel all the way to Huntingdonshire to pay such a small sum, nor is John Sr. likely to travel all the way to London to collect it quarter by quarter. Therefore Sam accepts the payment on the family's behalf and (we hope) sends the money to his brother (by safe hand, with the carrier?) at a later date.