Like William Wright, I had never heard of Tent as a type of wine. I googled “vessel of tent” and every hit but one — an article in an Australian newspaper from 1884 — was to the diary. My guess is that Tent was in favor briefly and British taste in wine then moved on to claret, hock, sherry and port.
In response to Tony Eldridge's question from ten years ago, back in the seventeenth century, insurance served two functions. First, it could transfer the risk of loss from the owner of property to a third party (now, an insurance company; then, a wealthy person willing to risk capital in exchange for a profit if no claims were presented). Second, it was a form of gambling. That is, one could purchase insurance on property owned by someone else and if that person suffers a loss, the policyholder could present a claim to the insurer. This latter type of insurance presented a moral hazard, that is, it tempted policyholders to commit crimes in order to collect on an insurance policy, e.g., someone might buy insurance on a ship owned by a third party and then hire a pirate to capture the ship. To eliminate the moral hazard, Parliament enacted laws in the 1720s requiring a policyholder to have an "insurable interest" in any property that the insurance policy covers, that is, the policyholder must have a very good reason for avoiding a claim such as owning or leasing the property that the insurance policy covers. Similarly, I can purchase a life insurance policy that covers my spouse but cannot buy life insurance on a neighbor who lives across the street.
In this instance, Sam and Sir George Carteret are discussing the first type of insurance -- the type we still have today -- because they were talking about buying insurance for "our goods." There was no rule then, and there really is no rule now, preventing someone from buying insurance on a cargo after the ship has sailed and before anything has happened to the cargo. As it turned out, however, the Dutch captured the ships carrying the Hamburg cargo before Sam and Sir George got around to buying insurance. All in all, the Dutch war does not seem to have been well managed.
One wonders how incompetent the government really was -- how can it have been a surprise to Southampton that the Dutch war was going to be very expensive and that the Treasury would need to raise vast amounts of money to keep the navy at sea? But apparently it was a surprise.
It is a treat for the modern reader when Pepys quotes someone as extensively as he does in this entry. To think that this is what someone actually said (or close to it) more than 350 years ago.
Going back to the posts ten years ago, I assume that Jane was paid quarterly, that she was either one or two months into the current quarter (one would think that the quarter began on the first of January, so we’re a month in, though the text suggests that we’re two months in), and that Sam is paying her for the full quarter, to Bess’s great annoyance (in part because Sam was expressing dissatisfaction with her decision to discharge Jane and possibly in part because the money came out of the housekeeping budget).
Sam ends the day's entry by saying that got home at 1:00 a.m., so references in other diary entries to a late night probably meant a night that ended before midnight.
I wish he had told us how he managed to talk his uninvited guest Mr Fuller into leaving right after the meal so the afternoon could be devoted to looking at plates with Mr Cooper.
In response to Terry's question of last December, in the U.S., one goes "back East" (even if one is not from the Eastern U.S.) and "out West." There's no particular rhyme or reason to directions, now or in the 1660s.
Rereading this entry, it appears that Sam wrote the first four sentences right after they happened -- they are in the present tense and comparatively upbeat -- and then completed the entry the following day after his brother died and Sam had spent an unhappy and restless night. This makes me wonder whether Sam kept the diary on an ongoing basis, adding bits to the diary as the day progressed, rather than recording the day's events in one fell swoop. If so, the entries in which he talks about catching up with the diary reflect exceptions rather than the rule.
In response to San Diego Sarah's question, Sam has occasionally referred to visits from the barber, including (at least on one occasion) twice in the same week. It's reasonable to assume that when he wanted a shave, he called in a barber.
Insurance. I am fairly certain that Sam wanted to sell someone an insurance policy, not buy an insurance policy, and that the annotations from 2006 misunderstood the proposed transaction. That is, before the enactment of Stat. 19 George II in 1746, a person purchasing insurance did not need to have an "insurable interest" in the property that was the subject of the insurance policy. ("Insurable interest" means, in simplest terms, that the person purchasing the insurance had an interest in keeping the property safe.) In the absence of an "insurable interest" requirement, a person could, for example, insure the cargo of any ship against loss, even if the person buying the insurance didn't own the cargo -- which meant that insurance sometimes became a form of gambling (how likely is it that this particular ship will sink?) and led to serious moral hazards (such as hiring pirates to seize the ship so that one could collect on the insurance). Back in the days before Lloyd's of London, anyone could sell insurance and my guess is that if Sam was thinking about selling an insurance policy to someone who wanted to insure the ship under the mistaken impression that this was close to a "sure thing," and that Sam assumed he could have charged a premium of £100 for the policy.
Sam's condition probably was related to his kidney stones. Feeling bloated is a common symptom when a stone is going to pass. It's surprising that Holliard didn't know that.
I can't help but wonder about the cooking arrangements chez Pepys. Did Bess say, "Sam, if you're going to Deptford, please pick up a couple of eeles on the way home and we'll have them for supper," or did Sam arrive home and surprise Bess with the eeles and she was annoyed because she and the cook had spent hours making pies, or is their household so used to Sam's unpredictable schedule that Bess's practice was to wait until Sam got home (if he got home) before thinking about what to serve for supper?
I can't help but wonder why Hinchingbrooke was short of beds -- an extremely large house party? -- and why the housekeeper decided to borrow beds from Mr. Pepys -- was he the closest neighbor? because he is a (distant) relation? -- and why, when Sandwich and his "company" left for Boughton, the beds weren't returned.
I had the same reaction to today's entry as Australian Susan ten years ago. If Sam was up early practicing his viall for an hour but thinks that the rest of the house slept through it, either he's deluding himself or people slept a lot more soundly in 1663 than they do today. As Australian Susan says, a dialogue about people who practice musical instruments at 5:00 am would have been fun.
"So to my office and there by candle light doing business." Sam is surely commenting on the changing seasons as summer comes to a close. It can't be unusual for him to work late.
Comments
Second Reading
About Friday 7 July 1665
David G • Link
Like William Wright, I had never heard of Tent as a type of wine. I googled “vessel of tent” and every hit but one — an article in an Australian newspaper from 1884 — was to the diary. My guess is that Tent was in favor briefly and British taste in wine then moved on to claret, hock, sherry and port.
About Tuesday 30 May 1665
David G • Link
In response to Tony Eldridge's question from ten years ago, back in the seventeenth century, insurance served two functions. First, it could transfer the risk of loss from the owner of property to a third party (now, an insurance company; then, a wealthy person willing to risk capital in exchange for a profit if no claims were presented). Second, it was a form of gambling. That is, one could purchase insurance on property owned by someone else and if that person suffers a loss, the policyholder could present a claim to the insurer. This latter type of insurance presented a moral hazard, that is, it tempted policyholders to commit crimes in order to collect on an insurance policy, e.g., someone might buy insurance on a ship owned by a third party and then hire a pirate to capture the ship. To eliminate the moral hazard, Parliament enacted laws in the 1720s requiring a policyholder to have an "insurable interest" in any property that the insurance policy covers, that is, the policyholder must have a very good reason for avoiding a claim such as owning or leasing the property that the insurance policy covers. Similarly, I can purchase a life insurance policy that covers my spouse but cannot buy life insurance on a neighbor who lives across the street.
In this instance, Sam and Sir George Carteret are discussing the first type of insurance -- the type we still have today -- because they were talking about buying insurance for "our goods." There was no rule then, and there really is no rule now, preventing someone from buying insurance on a cargo after the ship has sailed and before anything has happened to the cargo. As it turned out, however, the Dutch captured the ships carrying the Hamburg cargo before Sam and Sir George got around to buying insurance. All in all, the Dutch war does not seem to have been well managed.
About Wednesday 12 April 1665
David G • Link
One wonders how incompetent the government really was -- how can it have been a surprise to Southampton that the Dutch war was going to be very expensive and that the Treasury would need to raise vast amounts of money to keep the navy at sea? But apparently it was a surprise.
It is a treat for the modern reader when Pepys quotes someone as extensively as he does in this entry. To think that this is what someone actually said (or close to it) more than 350 years ago.
About Saturday 4 February 1664/65
David G • Link
Going back to the posts ten years ago, I assume that Jane was paid quarterly, that she was either one or two months into the current quarter (one would think that the quarter began on the first of January, so we’re a month in, though the text suggests that we’re two months in), and that Sam is paying her for the full quarter, to Bess’s great annoyance (in part because Sam was expressing dissatisfaction with her decision to discharge Jane and possibly in part because the money came out of the housekeeping budget).
About Tuesday 22 November 1664
David G • Link
Sam ends the day's entry by saying that got home at 1:00 a.m., so references in other diary entries to a late night probably meant a night that ended before midnight.
About Sunday 23 October 1664
David G • Link
I wish he had told us how he managed to talk his uninvited guest Mr Fuller into leaving right after the meal so the afternoon could be devoted to looking at plates with Mr Cooper.
About Sunday 11 September 1664
David G • Link
"Fell down dead": I wonder whether Sam uses it the way we might say that someone was "dead drunk"?
About Friday 3 June 1664
David G • Link
The back pain is yet another kidney stone symptom. Sam must realize that from his consultation two days before with Mr Hollyard.
About Tuesday 31 May 1664
David G • Link
In response to the first question posed on this diary entry, ten years ago, Sam is experiencing classic kidney stone symptoms.
About Sunday 3 April 1664
David G • Link
In response to Terry's question of last December, in the U.S., one goes "back East" (even if one is not from the Eastern U.S.) and "out West." There's no particular rhyme or reason to directions, now or in the 1660s.
About Tuesday 15 March 1663/64
David G • Link
Rereading this entry, it appears that Sam wrote the first four sentences right after they happened -- they are in the present tense and comparatively upbeat -- and then completed the entry the following day after his brother died and Sam had spent an unhappy and restless night. This makes me wonder whether Sam kept the diary on an ongoing basis, adding bits to the diary as the day progressed, rather than recording the day's events in one fell swoop. If so, the entries in which he talks about catching up with the diary reflect exceptions rather than the rule.
About Wednesday 6 January 1663/64
David G • Link
In response to San Diego Sarah's question, Sam has occasionally referred to visits from the barber, including (at least on one occasion) twice in the same week. It's reasonable to assume that when he wanted a shave, he called in a barber.
About Monday 23 November 1663
David G • Link
Insurance. I am fairly certain that Sam wanted to sell someone an insurance policy, not buy an insurance policy, and that the annotations from 2006 misunderstood the proposed transaction. That is, before the enactment of Stat. 19 George II in 1746, a person purchasing insurance did not need to have an "insurable interest" in the property that was the subject of the insurance policy. ("Insurable interest" means, in simplest terms, that the person purchasing the insurance had an interest in keeping the property safe.) In the absence of an "insurable interest" requirement, a person could, for example, insure the cargo of any ship against loss, even if the person buying the insurance didn't own the cargo -- which meant that insurance sometimes became a form of gambling (how likely is it that this particular ship will sink?) and led to serious moral hazards (such as hiring pirates to seize the ship so that one could collect on the insurance). Back in the days before Lloyd's of London, anyone could sell insurance and my guess is that if Sam was thinking about selling an insurance policy to someone who wanted to insure the ship under the mistaken impression that this was close to a "sure thing," and that Sam assumed he could have charged a premium of £100 for the policy.
About Monday 9 November 1663
David G • Link
"A fleete of ships" and "five sail of good ships": a lovely use of the collective.
About Thursday 8 October 1663
David G • Link
Sam's condition probably was related to his kidney stones. Feeling bloated is a common symptom when a stone is going to pass. It's surprising that Holliard didn't know that.
About Thursday 1 October 1663
David G • Link
Since he came home by water from Deptford, I picture Sam buying the eels from a fishing boat coming up the river. Sounds nice, anyway.
About Thursday 1 October 1663
David G • Link
I can't help but wonder about the cooking arrangements chez Pepys. Did Bess say, "Sam, if you're going to Deptford, please pick up a couple of eeles on the way home and we'll have them for supper," or did Sam arrive home and surprise Bess with the eeles and she was annoyed because she and the cook had spent hours making pies, or is their household so used to Sam's unpredictable schedule that Bess's practice was to wait until Sam got home (if he got home) before thinking about what to serve for supper?
About Tuesday 15 September 1663
David G • Link
I can't help but wonder why Hinchingbrooke was short of beds -- an extremely large house party? -- and why the housekeeper decided to borrow beds from Mr. Pepys -- was he the closest neighbor? because he is a (distant) relation? -- and why, when Sandwich and his "company" left for Boughton, the beds weren't returned.
About Thursday 3 September 1663
David G • Link
I had the same reaction to today's entry as Australian Susan ten years ago. If Sam was up early practicing his viall for an hour but thinks that the rest of the house slept through it, either he's deluding himself or people slept a lot more soundly in 1663 than they do today. As Australian Susan says, a dialogue about people who practice musical instruments at 5:00 am would have been fun.
About Saturday 15 August 1663
David G • Link
"So to my office and there by candle light doing business." Sam is surely commenting on the changing seasons as summer comes to a close. It can't be unusual for him to work late.