Wednesday 30 May 1660

About eight o’clock in the morning the lieutenant came to me to know whether I would eat a dish of mackerel, newly catched, for my breakfast, which the Captain and we did in the coach.

All yesterday and to-day I had a great deal of pain … [in making water – L&M] and in my back, which made me afeard. But it proved nothing but cold, which I took yesterday night.

All this morning making up my accounts, in which I counted that I had made myself now worth about 80l., at which my heart was glad, and blessed God.

Many Dover men come and dine with my Lord. My Lord at ninepins in the afternoon. In the afternoon Mr. Sheply told me how my Lord had put me down for 70 guilders among the money which was given to my Lord’s servants, which my heart did much rejoice at.

My Lord supped alone in his chamber. Sir R. Stayner supped with us, and among other things told us how some of his men did grumble that no more of the Duke’s money come to their share and so would not receive any; whereupon he called up those that had taken it, and gives them three shares apiece more, which was very good, and made good sport among the seamen. To bed.

18 Annotations

First Reading

Paul Brewster  •  Link

All yesterday and to-day I had a great deal of pain in making water and in my back
per L&M.

Paul Brewster  •  Link

my Lord had put me down for 70 guilders
per L&M "About L7." and "Gilder, Guilder: Dutch Money of account worth about 2s."

David A. Smith  •  Link

Is there a doctor in the house?
*Limiting yourself to the evidence presented so far,* what has Sam got, how long will it last, and how can he cure it?

(No, you may not prescribe bleeding, leeches, or incantations.)

language hat  •  Link

"great deal of pain . . . and in my back":
It amazes me that the old edition is too squeamish to print "making water." We've come a long way, baby!

David: What, we can't go by Theodoric of York?
http://snltranscripts.jt.org/77/7…

allan russell  •  Link

great deal of pain...

Has anybody else cosidered the delicious irony that we are reading a Bowlderised copy of Pepys on the internet, the content of which would have sent the said Reverend spinning in his grave.

Constance Coulter  •  Link

alittle slow on the uptake,here. Does the old fashioned exclamation "oh my stars and garters" come from the Order of the Garter?--and if so,when did it come into use?

Mary  •  Link

Sam's symptoms

sound very like a kidney infection in the two points that he mentions. However, he says nothing about any fever, which one might expect to find in an acute case. Second opinion, please.

David Bell  •  Link

Remember that Sam was "cut for a stone", a bladder stone, and in the diary records the anniversary and gives thanks to God.

It was a dangerous procedure in those days.

A. De Araujo  •  Link

May be he was having a recurrence of the kidney stones,microscopic this time; he could have been dehydrated since it was the end of may and he was not drinking enough water and too much alcohol that might have precipitated it;speculation of course!...

Todd Bernhardt  •  Link

Sounds like a kidney stone to me!

I think A. De Araujo is right ... I have several friends who suffer with such stones, and the symptoms that Sam describes match perfectly. Remember, after all, that the bladder stone removed from Sam ultimately started in one of his kidneys and migrated (painfully, I'm sure) to the bladder, where it grew more. I also remember reading that when Sam died, an examination of his kidneys revealed that they were rife with stones.

Mike Hudak  •  Link

It's interesting to note the progression of published diary text over time. Just the differences in the length of text for May 30th as published from the most current source on this website vs. some of the older versions is eye-opening -

May 30th - "All this morning making up my accounts, in which I counted that I had made myself now worth about 80l., at which my heart was glad, and blessed God."
"Memoirs Of Samuel Pepys," Esq. F.R.S. - (2 volumes) deciphered by Rev. John Smith, A.B. - Edited By Richard, Lord Braybrooke, Henry Colburn - S. And R. Bentley, Dorset Street, London 1825 (vol. 1 pp 55-56)

May 30th - "I did eat a dish of mackarel, newly catched for my breakfast. All this morning making up my accounts, in which I counted that I had made myself now worth about 80l., at which my heart was glad, and blessed God."
"Diary And Correspondence Of Samuel Pepys, F.R.S."(4 volumes) deciphered by Rev. J. Smith with a life and notes by Richard Lord Braybrooke - Bell & Daldy, London 1867 (vol 1 - p.77)

jamie yeager  •  Link

Since 29 December he's doubled his money
Sam reported 40l net worth on 29 December. Half a year later he's doubled it to 80l. You'd do that every half year if you could...

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Commons acts to end the Interregnum and celebrate it http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…

Anniversary of the Restoration.

Resolved, That a Bill be prepared for keeping of a perpetual Anniversary, for a Day of Thanksgiving to God, for the great Blessing and Mercy he hath been graciously pleased to vouchsafe to the People of these Kingdoms, after their manifold and grievous Sufferings, in the Restoration of his Majesty, with Safety, to his People and Kingdoms: And that the Nine-and-twentieth Day of May, in every Year, being the Birth Day of his Sacred Majesty, and the Day of his Majesty's Return to his Parliament, be yearly set apart for that Purpose.

[....]

Thanksgiving Day.

Resolved, That the Lords be desired to join with this House, in beseeching the King's Majesty, to appoint a Day to be set apart for publick Thanksgiving to God, throughout this Realm, for the great Blessing and Mercy God hath vouchsafed to the People of these Kingdoms, after their manifold and grievous Sufferings, in the happy Restoration of his Majesty to his People and Kingdoms.

Third Reading

RLB  •  Link

It keeps surprising me how many different denominations of money Pepys receives. Pounds and shillings you expect, and those at least have fixed proportions between them. But recently he got a sum in florins, and those can't have been the English florin (long gone by 1660) nor the 19th century one, so it must have been a continental florin. And now he receives guilders, which I don't think was the same thing as a florin at the time.

Of course, we too deal in different currencies when we visit different countries, but we don't tend to mix and match them like this! I wonder how much exchange rates varied back then. It must have varied with the gold and/or silver content, but how would your average person know?

RLB  •  Link

Funny: my question above is answered by the footnote for 1 June.

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