jeannine

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jeannine has written 14 articles:

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jeannine has written summaries for eight topics:

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jeannine has posted 1,236 annotations/comments since 16 June 2004.

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First Reading

About Sunday 16 April 1665

jeannine  •  Link

"What has become of this Kingdom?"

I love JWB's quote about Charles II: 'Why truly, doctor,’ says the King, `your question is a very-pertinent one, and so will be my answer. I have asked them [the House of Commons] so often, and for so much money, that I am ashamed to look them in the face.’ To me, it just sounds so 'Charles" -a mixture of wit and honesty in the embarrassing situation of once again begging for money! In spite of ALL of his character flaws, and there were many, he did have a charming way of just telling the truth.

And for Ruben’s wonderful question “What has become of this Kingdom?” it will probably only become more debauched over time, which although it will be ‘spiritually’ wanting will more than make up for itself in the ludicrous stories that Sam will hopefully dutifully record for all of us.

Actually, amidst all of the talk of war, business, etc., I have been pining for a visit between Dr. Pierce and Sam, for the lack of court gossip these days is rather depressing to me! Oh the days of full of talk of dropped babies, Castlemaine tantrums, beauties in competition, pompous aristocracy making asses of themselves….let’s hope our Sam hasn’t become too much of a business man to keep recording the seedier side of Court life!

About Saturday 8 April 1665

jeannine  •  Link

"where I found my house mighty neat and clean"

I heard a radio discussion today about this recent article on housework (which was very funny) and then read Sam's entry today. I wonder how many additional hours of housework Elizabeth picked up when she said "I do"?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,29…

About Monday 3 April 1665

jeannine  •  Link

Mary,

The same, although I've seen multiple spelling of her name. Louise is the one that Nell LOVED to torment. She would look at Louise in all of her elegance and arrogance and say things to her along the lines of, 'what makes you think you're any better than I am, after all we're both prostitutes, but I don't pretend to be anything different'. Both of their biographies are full of little details of their ongoing battles with each other, many of which I am sure Charles heard about in minute detail.

And on Louise's death (age 85), back in France, after all of her greedy glory days had passed, her confessor would note that she died 'very old, very poor and very penitent'. Apparently the role of mistress to Charles II didn't offer retirement benefits!

About Monday 3 April 1665

jeannine  •  Link

"and pretty witty Nell"

Spoiler. Probably the most endearing of Charles' mistresses (although Frances Stuart would never hurt a fly either), although I'm not sure if they are actually together yet. Her wit and humor kept her in his good graces for most of the King's life (even if they did have a few falling outs in years to come, they always 'made up'). Although quite poor and lacking social graces she held her own among the arrogant, self-centered snobs like Castlemaine, and later Louise de Queroelle (mistress to come), whom she tormented and sparred with on a regular basis. Although Charles kept a 'harem' of lovelies throughout his life, he probably would have had a lot more peace if he'd just remained faithful to Catherine as the bickering, tantrums, outbursts, threats and antics of the likes of Castelmaine and de Queroelle were no doubt hard to deal with. Most likely Nell, with her simple ways and comical antics was the 'comic relief' he needed from time to time so she remained in ‘the harem’ no matter how hard the others tried to sabotage her and get rid of her.

About Friday 31 March 1665

jeannine  •  Link

"My Lady Castlemayne is sicke again, people think, slipping her filly."

Not so sure that this is true given that her next son George will be born about 9 months from now (December 28, 1665), so about this time she should be conceiving. So, maybe we should strike Sam's last sentence and replace it with a more factual representation of what could be going on right now, something like this perhaps(????)

There once was a king called Charlie
From his marriage a true absentee
His ignored all of his chores
But he relished his whores
Enlarging his vast family tree

About Tuesday 14 March 1664/65

jeannine  •  Link

"Presumably Holmes was put up in the Presidential Suite”

Apparently there was a level of different status when in the Tower. In 1693, a Gentleman for the Bedchamber to CII and James, who had remained loyal to their cause found himself on the losing side of William and ended up in the Tower. In his bio, The Life and Loyalties of Thomas Bruce” by the Earl of Cardigan we get to see inside his unusual stay when he ended up a prisoner in the house of a warder…

“The first few weeks of the imprisonment were particularly trying, owing that the great difficulty of learning, except by rumor, what was going on in the world outside. Ailesbury’s health began to suffer, but at least he was about to obtain an interview with two members of the Cabinet Council….. the latter was kindly and helpful and arranged for a doctor to visit the prisoner, and also for Lady Ailesbury to be immured voluntarily in the Tower, so as to live with her husband and see to his well-being.

Elizabeth, always the loyal wife, welcomed this concession….she came gladly, bringing her personal maid, Ann Speight, and another as a cook. Thomas already had with him a valet, and thus a small, independent household was set up within the warder’s home.”

Of course, in this situation, it became easy to send out for food, sneak in paper and keep up wo date with those who could help his imprisonment. One can only wonder what level of service was provided to Holmes, but, as he’d obviously aided the intentions of CII, he very easily could have had a celebrity’s stay.

About Thursday 16 March 1664/65

jeannine  •  Link

Gifts for Sam

Come join with me friends to help Sam and his tribe
As we gather to euphemize the word ‘bribe’
You see the Navy was quite tight with their pay
Men sought to make money in some other way

Payments, gifts and exchanges were customary
And often doled out to a high dignitary
Gifts were the norm for the Clerk of the Acts
For all the business he had to transact

The son of a tailor wore a brand new suit
With lots of places to stash all of his loot
Gold was for Sam’s pockets in need to be filled
By all of the workman no matter how skilled

Those in the Navy sure knew how to act
When Sam gave their sons a big fat contract
They stood quietly by with a nod and wink
Slipped Sam a large gift and then bought him a drink

Then there were those who secretly exchanged
Payments for contracts which Sam had arranged
Delivered discreetly by a third party
When paying directly would be foolhardy

Securing a man a job with Sam’s good name
Was just part of the everyday business game
For their gratitude they would gladly disperse
A handful of silver to fatten his purse

And there were those who had so little money
Their gift to Sam was a taste of their honey
Wide fluttering eyes would softly wink and flirt
And in a dark alehouse they’d lift up their skirt

Presents were bestowed out of gratuity
And called gifts, contributions or charity
All were fine to accept when Sam said one thing
“This work was done in the good name of the King”

About Monday 13 March 1664/65

jeannine  •  Link

"This day my wife begun to wear light-coloured locks, quite white almost, which, though it makes her look very pretty, yet not being natural, vexes me, that I will not have her wear them."

Let's hope our hero thinks this one over before squelching Elizabeth's new fashion, or no doubt she'll be fuming on this.

I can just picture Sam blowing off on this and Elizabeth literally boiling over. Then an emergency meeting of the Royal Society will be called and they'll trace the true start to global warming --- a woman's new fashion and her husband's vexations! It's nice to know that one way or another we can blame Sam for everything.......

About Wednesday 8 March 1664/65

jeannine  •  Link

"This morning is brought me to the office the sad newes of “The London,” in which Sir J. Lawson’s men were all bringing her from Chatham to the Hope, and thence he was to go to sea in her; but a little a’this side the buoy of the Nower, she suddenly blew up"

How horrible-can anyone shed light on the details-it's not in Sandwich's journal. I am wondering what made it blow up.

About Sunday 5 March 1664/65

jeannine  •  Link

To Robert Boyle

"Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution yet."

Best Regards,
Mae West

About Thursday 2 March 1664/65

jeannine  •  Link

“I went with his Ma[jes]ty into the lobbie behind the House of Lords, where I saw the King and the rest of the Lords robe themselves, and got into the House of Lords in a corner neere the woolsack, on w[hi]ch the Lord Chancellor sits next below the throne: the King sate in all the regalia, the crown imperial on his head, the scepter and globe, &c”

A little OT for Sam, but from Evelyn’s Diary entry above (thank you Dirk) an interesting note. In the movie called “Charles II: The Power and the Passion (BBC Original Version) or “The Last King” (A&E US version) there is a scene towards the end of the movie where Charles is getting dressed in his full robes, crown, scepter, etc. and getting ready to disband Parliament (at the end of his reign). In the DVD note to the move, the people who actually we used to dress Charles (Rufus Sewall) in that scene were not actors, but the actual experts in historical clothing, who had worked on the movie costuming, etc. The commentator explained that it would have been ‘too hard’ to have trained actors to learn the proper way to ‘dress’ the King, as each layer involved a lot of little details and several people were attending to him just to dress him. It was an amazing scene to see the grandeur and spectacular clothing, crown, etc,. The clothing must have been very difficult to move in as it must have weighed a ton!

About Wednesday 1 March 1664/65

jeannine  •  Link

Royal Society

I’ve no philosophy to understand them
That Society of scientific men
Bread from France I can forebear
But am truly unaware
Of the science of comets
Or biology of vomit

Dissections of animals will make me queasy
Knowledge of science isn’t always so easy
But when I open Sam’s book
And read of Newton and Hooke
Will this new institution
Cause a science revolution?

Excuse me if I don’t make a fuss when
We read of Hooke’s ideas of combustion
But for sure I will delight
When those scientists all fight
Will this be a talent show?
Or the study of ego?

About Tuesday 28 February 1664/65

jeannine  •  Link

Off topic but an interesting find for the times, and since there is no Sam for today this might fill your lunch time with a little taste of Restoration England....

In the Oxford Dictionary Of National Biography, one of the people of the week is a female painter of Sam's time. Although there ins't a reference to Sam, it refers to Peter Lely.

http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/l…

About Tuesday 21 February 1664/65

jeannine  •  Link

What mad freaks the Mayds of Honour at Court have the Mrs Jennings, one of the Duchesses mayds, the other day dressed herself like an orange wench…

From Beauties of the Court of Charles II” by Mrs. Jameson

The cause of the ‘shameful’ outing of Miss Jennings and a Miss Price was that they had been duped into the first of the many ongoing and outlandish frolics of a now 18 year old Lord Rochester, who was parading as a German doctor and astrologer. After Rochester found himself “being forbidden at court, he undertook to reveal the past and future to all whom curiosity or credulity might lead to his enchanted den, somewhere near the precincts of Drury-lane. Rochester’s wit and self-possession, and his knowledge of all of the private scandal of the town gave him and advantage over all the conjurors before or since. The fame of his extraordinary revelations reached the court, and spread astonishment and consternation throughout the whole tribe of abigails; even the Maid of Honour began to flutter with wonder, curiosity, and apprehension. “

The ladies were overcome by their curiosity and snuck out on the Duchess of York. They disguised themselves with hopes of being unnoticed on their way. While dressed as wenches they were approached by Sydney and Killigrew whose lecherous manners frighten them. Brounker, one of the DOY’s equerries recognized the ladies and, pretending that he thought them to be orange sellers, addressed them with so much freedom and insolence that it caused an embarrassing squabble to start and a crowd to gather. According to Mrs. Jameson, Broucker then stepped out and left the ladies to fend for themselves.

Grammont, in his Memoirs seemed to believe that Brounker knew their destination, toyed with them and then left them to go to see Rochester where he was sure that they would be ‘used sexually’ by him. His version is that
“Brounker, on the other hand, would not have taken a thousand guineas for this rencounter; he blessed the Lord that he had not alarmed them to such a degree as to frustrate their intention; for he made no doubt but Miss Price had managed some intrigue for Miss Jennings: he therefore immediately concluded, that at present it would be improper to make known his discovery, which would have answered no other end but to have overwhelmed them with confusion.
Upon this account, although Jermyn [who Miss Jennings was hoping to marry] was one of his best friends, he felt a secret joy in not having prevented his being made a cuckold, before his marriage; and the apprehension he was in of preserving him from that accident, was his sole reason for quitting them with the precautions afore-mentioned. “

Grammont tells the story in detail in Chapter X. Most of that chapter is about Rochester, if you care to read it all, or you can scroll down and find the highlighted “famous German doctor” and read from there
http://www.pseudopodium.org/repre…

Rochester’s famous speech as Dr. Bendo is here
http://www.pseudopodium.org/repre…

About Sunday 19 February 1664/65

jeannine  •  Link

"Remember the story of the eight-year-old servant girl picking up the new safe from a few months back? Maybe this was the only servant they could beat, and lucky they were at that."

Gee Michael-nothing would probably please us all more than to read tomorrow's entry where the little girl comes up from the cellar, picks up that heavy safe and drops it on Sam's head!

About Saturday 18 February 1664/65

jeannine  •  Link

"it’s not that clear that he was, well, quite the draftsman, unless he had it done in his name"

Jesse, he probably did it himself. In the book "Cromwell's Earl" (about Sandwich) by Ollard, there are several pages of highly detailed drawings that Sandwich drafted, mostly in his Ambassador days. These include a jewel he designed for his wife, Cape Tresforcas, Tangier, watering plans for the embassy garden at the Siete Chimenas, assorted furniture and tools, the bridge at Meridan ornate basin, etc. He had an exactness in measurements (ie. the Blazing Star entries show that detail) and he was quite talented in reflecting this in his illustrations. The draft that Sam mentions today is not pictured in this book.