Re: "the theory of Plate Tectonics, some 300 years later in 1960's." I graduated from college in 1962 having made an A in a geography course that did not even mention plate tectonics because the professor obviously had no knowledge of it.
Re Australian Susan's "(until the advent of refridgeration [sic] - an Australian invention by the way)":
Dr. John Gorrie (1803-1855) of Apalachicola, Florida, USA, was the inventor of modern mechanical refrigeration. He did this because he wanted to keep his patients cool.
Re: : . . . the collation; and so we, with the rest of the servants in the hall, sat down and eat of the best cold meats that ever I eat on in all my life." As has probably already been mentioned, the past tense of "eat" was spelled "eat," but pronounced "et," as it still is in some very rural areas of the United States South that were settled long ago by English immigrants. I suppose a modern equivalent of a collation would be a charcuterie board.
I think that what Sam really regrets is his "surly answer." We have been following his life for a while now, and it is his charm and likeablity that have caused just about every man and woman in his life, from all his drinking buddies to "my lady" and Penn and Batten and Sandwich, to want his company. A cordial but firm answer to these nosy men from the Lords would have been more his style, but alas, like Hamlet, he "forgot himself."
It seems to me that poor Elizabeth's distress may have had three sources, listed below in ascending order of painfulness: ▪︎standard, routine internal menstrual cramps (bad enough), ▪︎sharp pain from an external, embarrassing, disgusting, recurring vulvar abcess; and, finally, perhaps, if the poor woman is truly blasted by fate, ▪︎the excruciating pain of a dry socket where the incisor was pulled.
A foretooth is a "cutting" tooth, or incisor, of which there are eight: four in the upper jaw and four in the lower jaw. Since Elizabeth is known to be a beauty, let's hope the drawn incisor was one of the four less visible foreteeth in the lower jaw.
Re 3rd President of the United States Thomas Jefferson and the five household slaves he freed on his deathbed: Jefferson "owned more than 600 slaves during his adult life. Jefferson freed two slaves while he lived, and five others were freed after his death, including two of his children from his relationship with his slave (and sister-in-law) Sally Hemings. His other two children with Hemings were allowed to escape without pursuit. After his death, the rest of the slaves were sold to pay off his estate's debts."
" . . . the Monarch's Way (Worcester to Shoreham) 982km/610 miles. Britain's second-longest signed walking trail, a lengthy, meandering route following the flight of Charles II after his defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, and including many sites of historic interest." I had no idea that it was so long, or that it took the fugitive king six weeks to cover it! It's truly amazing that a conspicuously 6'2" black-haired Italian-looking man accomplished this remarkable feat.
The best perk of having freedom of the city: "the right to be hanged with a silken cord." I do suppose that's preferable to having your head chopped off. I was actually surprised to read about Mr. Creed's "epicurianism" and what we might call picky and unpleasant table behavior today. I, too, had a friend who sent food back to the kitchen and regularly embarrassed the rest of us at the table with his criticisms, so I can sympathize with Sam. But since Creed is a Puritan (something I as an American associate with a simple life and simple tastes), I wouldn't have expected him to exhibit such delicacy or sophistication at the dinner table. Maybe I just don't understand Cromwellian puritanism correctly.
On April 30, 2011, I drove a rental car from London to Portsmouth, on approximately the same route as Sam, but a little faster, and at Portsmouth we stayed at an old inn. On the next day, this day, May Day, we went to HMS Victory and were treated to a ribald May Day dance by the sailors on the dock before we boarded, and when we toured the ship, we were very merry.
Btw, for what it's worth, at this time Margaret Kite Pepys was about 56 (born circa 1605). She's too old to be menopausal and too young to be demented. She's just angry.
" . . . dined by myself at home on a piece of meat from the cook’s." Whether it be from "the cook's" or "Cookes," the "meat" in this case means actual flesh, not just "food in general," as discussed previously. (I like the notion of his putting the meat between two pieces of bread to make a pepys, sorry it didn't work out that way!)
"(Had the Sandwiches had a daughter named Jemima, she would have been accorded the courtesy title "Lady Jemima Sandwich".)" They did have a daughter named Jemima, the girl with the crooked neck that we met in the early pages of the diary.
Sort of a spoiler: Regarding John Evelyn, who refused the honor, and Robert Boyle, and questions in later years about why Samuel Pepys did not receive/accept a knighthood, the conjecture given for Sam is usually that he did not want the "charge," i.e., the expense. Maybe that was true for Evelyn and Boyle too.
Comments
Third Reading
About Thursday 30 May 1661
LKvM • Link
Just for the record, the past tense of "shit" is "shat."
About Sunday 26 May 1661
LKvM • Link
"I bethought myself" may be the opposite and a consequence of "I forgot myself."
About Thursday 23 May 1661
LKvM • Link
Re: "the theory of Plate Tectonics, some 300 years later in 1960's." I graduated from college in 1962 having made an A in a geography course that did not even mention plate tectonics because the professor obviously had no knowledge of it.
About Wednesday 22 May 1661
LKvM • Link
Re Australian Susan's "(until the advent of refridgeration [sic] - an Australian invention by the way)":
Dr. John Gorrie (1803-1855) of Apalachicola, Florida, USA, was the inventor of modern mechanical refrigeration. He did this because he wanted to keep his patients cool.
About Thursday 16 May 1661
LKvM • Link
Re: : . . . the collation; and so we, with the rest of the servants in the hall, sat down and eat of the best cold meats that ever I eat on in all my life." As has probably already been mentioned, the past tense of "eat" was spelled "eat," but pronounced "et," as it still is in some very rural areas of the United States South that were settled long ago by English immigrants.
I suppose a modern equivalent of a collation would be a charcuterie board.
About Wednesday 15 May 1661
LKvM • Link
I think that what Sam really regrets is his "surly answer."
We have been following his life for a while now, and it is his charm and likeablity that have caused just about every man and woman in his life, from all his drinking buddies to "my lady" and Penn and Batten and Sandwich, to want his company.
A cordial but firm answer to these nosy men from the Lords would have been more his style, but alas, like Hamlet, he "forgot himself."
About Monday 13 May 1661
LKvM • Link
Perhaps it was one of the "striplings" that Evelyn saw being examined who originated this verse defining the "Dr. Fell Syndrome":
I do not like thee, Dr. Fell,
The reason why I cannot tell,
But this I know and know full well,
I do not like thee, Dr. Fell.
About Friday 10 May 1661
LKvM • Link
No mention of Elizabeth, poor thing.
About Thursday 9 May 1661
LKvM • Link
It seems to me that poor Elizabeth's distress may have had three sources, listed below in ascending order of painfulness:
▪︎standard, routine internal menstrual cramps (bad enough),
▪︎sharp pain from an external, embarrassing, disgusting, recurring vulvar abcess;
and, finally, perhaps, if the poor woman is truly blasted by fate,
▪︎the excruciating pain of a dry socket where the incisor was pulled.
About Wednesday 8 May 1661
LKvM • Link
A foretooth is a "cutting" tooth, or incisor, of which there are eight: four in the upper jaw and four in the lower jaw.
Since Elizabeth is known to be a beauty, let's hope the drawn incisor was one of the four less visible foreteeth in the lower jaw.
About Monday 6 May 1661
LKvM • Link
Re 3rd President of the United States Thomas Jefferson and the five household slaves he freed on his deathbed:
Jefferson "owned more than 600 slaves during his adult life. Jefferson freed two slaves while he lived, and five others were freed after his death, including two of his children from his relationship with his slave (and sister-in-law) Sally Hemings. His other two children with Hemings were allowed to escape without pursuit. After his death, the rest of the slaves were sold to pay off his estate's debts."
About Saturday 4 May 1661
LKvM • Link
" . . . the Monarch's Way (Worcester to Shoreham) 982km/610 miles.
Britain's second-longest signed walking trail, a lengthy, meandering route following the flight of Charles II after his defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, and including many sites of historic interest."
I had no idea that it was so long, or that it took the fugitive king six weeks to cover it! It's truly amazing that a conspicuously 6'2" black-haired Italian-looking man accomplished this remarkable feat.
About Friday 3 May 1661
LKvM • Link
The best perk of having freedom of the city: "the right to be hanged with a silken cord." I do suppose that's preferable to having your head chopped off.
I was actually surprised to read about Mr. Creed's "epicurianism" and what we might call picky and unpleasant table behavior today. I, too, had a friend who sent food back to the kitchen and regularly embarrassed the rest of us at the table with his criticisms, so I can sympathize with Sam.
But since Creed is a Puritan (something I as an American associate with a simple life and simple tastes), I wouldn't have expected him to exhibit such delicacy or sophistication at the dinner table. Maybe I just don't understand Cromwellian puritanism correctly.
About Wednesday 1 May 1661
LKvM • Link
On April 30, 2011, I drove a rental car from London to Portsmouth, on approximately the same route as Sam, but a little faster, and at Portsmouth we stayed at an old inn. On the next day, this day, May Day, we went to HMS Victory and were treated to a ribald May Day dance by the sailors on the dock before we boarded, and when we toured the ship, we were very merry.
About Monday 29 April 1661
LKvM • Link
Feeling sorry for Lieutenant Lambert.
About Sunday 28 April 1661
LKvM • Link
Btw, for what it's worth, at this time Margaret Kite Pepys was about 56 (born circa 1605). She's too old to be menopausal and too young to be demented. She's just angry.
About Saturday 27 April 1661
LKvM • Link
Lady Batten sounds like someone I would avoid.
About Friday 26 April 1661
LKvM • Link
" . . . dined by myself at home on a piece of meat from the cook’s."
Whether it be from "the cook's" or "Cookes," the "meat" in this case means actual flesh, not just "food in general," as discussed previously.
(I like the notion of his putting the meat between two pieces of bread to make a pepys, sorry it didn't work out that way!)
About Saturday 20 April 1661
LKvM • Link
"(Had the Sandwiches had a daughter named Jemima, she would have been accorded the courtesy title "Lady Jemima Sandwich".)"
They did have a daughter named Jemima, the girl with the crooked neck that we met in the early pages of the diary.
About Friday 19 April 1661
LKvM • Link
Sort of a spoiler:
Regarding John Evelyn, who refused the honor, and Robert Boyle, and questions in later years about why Samuel Pepys did not receive/accept a knighthood, the conjecture given for Sam is usually that he did not want the "charge," i.e., the expense. Maybe that was true for Evelyn and Boyle too.