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Bill has posted 2,777 annotations/comments since 9 March 2013.

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Second Reading

About Shuffleboard

Bill  •  Link

The table had parallel lines or divisions, marked with figures, according to the value of which the player counted his game, and it is something in this way that the game of shove-groat or shove-halfpenny is still played. The width of the lines apart should be about a quarter of an inch greater than the pieces of money used. There is a balk or line, over which a shot must pass to be valid—otherwise it is a failure. The marks on the side are made with chalk. The players begin by one of them placing a halfpenny at the edge of the table, projecting about one third over its edge—then carrying his hand perpendicularly, thumb uppermost, he strikes it like a billiard ball on to the lines. If it be between any two of them it counts, and one of the marks at that space on the player's side is rubbed out. A lined shot may become good if struck into an opening by either party. If a line is crossed by the coin in the slightest degree it is of no value. When either of them has erased all the marks from any of the openings, should he lodge a shot there his opponent takes the benefit by erasing one of his own marks from that opening, should he have such still remaining. The players thus proceed alternately, five shots at a time. The game affords scope for considerable skill, as will be found by any one who will try it. The table must be steady and heavy, such as the old dormant tables of a hall, on which indeed it was invariably played, and of which specimens are not uncommon with the diagram inlaid in marquetrie. De Foe, in his Journey through England, 1724, mentions a marble shovel-board.
---The Second Part Of Henry The Fourth. King Henry The Fifth, Volume 10. 1861.

About Bow

Bill  •  Link

Stratford Le Bow, (the Stratford atte Bowe of our old writers of the 14th and 15th centuries), now commonly called Bow, formerly a hamlet of Stepney, but made into a separate parish in 1720, lies a mile east of Mile End. The name Stratford or Straet-ford is derived from a ford through the Lea at the place where it was crossed by the old Roman Road to Colchester. About the beginning of the 12th century Queen Matilda built a bridge over the Lea near the "Old Ford," and from the shape of this bridge the name of the village took the addition of "atte Bow."

The old bridge, consisting of three narrow arches, had been so often repaired as to leave little of the original structure when taken down in 1835.

The French of Chaucer's "Prioress" was spoken in the Stratford manner:—

And Frensch sche spak ful faire and fetysly,
After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe,
For Frensch of Parys was to hire unknowe.
Prologue to Canterbury Tales, I. 124.

---London, Past and Present. H.B. Wheatley, 1891.

About Wednesday 27 July 1664

Bill  •  Link

“ Mr. Duke, who is to be Secretary to the Fishery, and is now Secretary to the Committee for Trade”

" March 14, 1664. The King to the Duke of York, Governor, and the Assistants of the Royal Fishing Company. Recommends George Duke, late Secretary of the Committee for Trade, to be entertained by them in the same post, for which he is particularly fitted" ("Calendar of State Papers," 1663-64, p. 515).
---Wheatley, 1904.

About Thursday 21 July 1664

Bill  •  Link

Among the State Papers is a receipt by Thomas Harper, of Gottenburg deals, &c., from Sir William Warren, dated "Deptford, July 27, 1664" ("Calendar," 1663-64, p. 653). Complaints, promoted by Sir William Batten, were subsequently made respecting this contract with Sir William Warren; and Pepys alludes to them in his "Defence" (dated November 27th, 1669), which is contained in one of the Pepysian manuscripts (No. 2554).
---Wheatley, 1904.

About Versions of the diary

Bill  •  Link

L&M is still under copyright, of course, and they, and the publishers, would appreciate receiving your coins in return for access. The link above does not give the complete version but omits pages. However, most of the L&M (copyrighted) notes will eventually appear in our version.

About Monday 23 May 1664

Bill  •  Link

To FORE-CAST, to consider or contrive before hand.
---An universal etymological English dictionary. N. Bailey, 1724.

About Saturday 4 June 1664

Bill  •  Link

Martin, I guess the 1684 dictionary quoted above was a little ahead of its time. And, of course, Sam might not have wanted to use a circumflex in his encoding.

About Sunday 5 June 1664

Bill  •  Link

“she is taken with great gripings”

The GRIPES, a wringing or twisting of the Bowels
---An universal etymological English dictionary. N. Bailey, 1724.

About Gen. Robert Blake

Bill  •  Link

BLAKE, ROBERT (1599-1657), admiral and general at sea; entered St. Alban Hall, Oxford, 1615; removed to Wadham College; graduated; engaged in business of merchant; M.P. for Bridgwater, 1640 and 1645; took part in defence of Bristol against royalists, 1643; lieutenant-colonel of Popham's regiment; held Lyme against royalists, 1643-4; took, and held, Taunton, 1644-5; governor of Taunton, 1645; appointed admiral and general at sea, 1649; unsuccessfully blockaded Prince Rupert at Kinsale, 1649, and pursued him to Portugal, 1650; blockaded mouth of Tagus, 1650, and subsequently followed Rupert to Mediterranean and destroyed many of his ships; commanded squadron in Irish Sea, and reduced Scilly Islands, which were held by royalist privateers, 1651; assisted in reduction of Jersey, 1651; member of council of state, 1651-2; with Rear-admiral Bourne, defeated Dutch under Tromp in Downs. 1652; defeated De Witt and De Ruyter off mouth of Thames, and, later, was defeated by Tromp off Dungeness, 1652; in company with Deane, Monck, and Penn, fought indecisive battle with Tromp off Portsmouth, 1653, the advantage being slightly with the English; took part in battle of 3 June, 1653; engaged in admiralty business at London, and executive duties at Portsmouth; destroyed Turkish pirate fleet at Porto Farina, 1655; destroyed Spanish West Indian fleet at Santa Cruz, 1657; died of fever while returning to England. His body was buried in Westminster Abbey, but removed after Restoration.
---Dictionary of National Biography: Index and Epitome. S. Lee, 1906.

About Friday 3 June 1664

Bill  •  Link

"At the Committee for Tangier all the afternoon, where a sad consideration to see things of so great weight managed in so confused a manner as it is, so as I would not have the buying of an acre of land bought by the Duke of York and Mr. Coventry, for ought I see, being the only two that do anything like men."

Here's my take. The Duke and Coventry are members of the Committee for Tangier, so this sentence is NOT a compare and contrast of them with the Committee. What SP is saying is that he "would not have the buying of an acre of land" even if recommended by these two otherwise competent men. (Note that as a member of the Committee the Duke can indeed buy land, just not for himself.)

About Friday 3 June 1664

Bill  •  Link

Terry F on 4 Jun 2007:

"for aught I see" have L&M

Pepys's spell-Czech is working, getting copy ready for Dr. Johnson.
--------

Not quite:

AUGHT, anything.
OUGHT, somewhat.
---An universal etymological English dictionary. N. Bailey, 1724.

AUGHT, Any thing.
OUGHT, Any thing, not nothing.
---A Dictionary Of The English Language. Samuel Johnson, 1756.

Definition of aught
1. anything
2. all, everything, for aught I care, for aught we know.

ought, archaic spelling of aught.
---Merriam-Webster. 2017.

About Giacomo Carissimi

Bill  •  Link

Giacomo Carissimi, maestro di capella of St. Apollinare, in the German College at Rome, one of the most excellent of the Italian musicians. He lived to be ninety years old, composed much, and died very rich.—Hawkins's Hist. of Music.
---Diary and correspondence of Samuel Pepys, the diary deciphered by J. Smith. 1854.

About Friday 15 July 1664

Bill  •  Link

“he hath given my Lord a character”

A cipher.
---Diary and correspondence of Samuel Pepys, the diary deciphered by J. Smith. 1854.

About Clarendon Park, Wiltshire

Bill  •  Link

Near Salisbury, granted by Edward VI. to Sir W. Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, for two lives, which lease determined in 1601, when it reverted to the Crown, and was conferred on the Duke of Albemarle, whose family got the estate after Lord Clarendon's fall; for, according to Britton, Clarendon Park was alienated by Christopher Monk, second Duke of Albemarle, to the Earl of Bath, from whom it passed, by purchase, to the ancestor of Sir Frederick Hervey Bathurst, Bart., the present possessor.
---Diary and correspondence of Samuel Pepys, the diary deciphered by J. Smith. 1854.

About Sunday 10 July 1664

Bill  •  Link

In returning to the large music- or ballroom, for it is used for both these purposes, we must again quote our friend Master Samuel Pepys, who so constantly, all through his Diary, alludes to the beautiful Lady Castlemaine, Barbara Villiers, afterwards Duchess of Cleveland, whose charms evidently exercised a wonderful fascination on the devout Samuel. On July 10th, 1664, he writes: "My Lady Sandwich showed us my Lady Castlemaine's picture, finely done; given my Lord; and a most beautiful picture it is." The portrait, a full length one, is by Sir Peter Lely, and is taken in a sitting position with one arm raised, the head resting on the hand. It is a delicate oval face, with dark hair and eyes, no trace, in the mild and rather dreamy expression, of the imperious and ambitious nature which ruled a king and gave years of anxiety to courtiers.
---The English Illustrated Magazine. vol.5, 1888.

About Thursday 26 May 1664

Bill  •  Link

“what a pitiful rout of people there was of them”

ROUT, a Multitude or Throng of People, Company or Flock, Squabble, Noise, Defeat of an Army.
---An universal etymological English dictionary. N. Bailey, 1724.

About Monday 30 May 1664

Bill  •  Link

I hope no one minds if we don't neglect the bells of Wales. "In addition to Rhymney, the poem also refers to the bells of a number of other places in South Wales, including Merthyr, Rhondda, Blaina, Caerphilly, Neath, Brecon, Swansea, Newport, Cardiff, and the Wye Valley."

Pete Seeger - The Bells Of Rhymney
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v…