Saturday 25 August 1660

This morning Mr. Turner and I by coach from our office to Whitehall (in our way I calling on Dr. Walker for the papers I did give him the other day, which he had perused and found that the Duke’s counsel had abated something of the former draught which Dr. Walker drew for my Lord) to Sir G. Carteret, where we there made up an estimate of the debts of the Navy for the Council.

At noon I took Mr. Turner and Mr. Moore to the Leg in King Street, and did give them a dinner, and afterward to the Sun Tavern, and did give Mr. Turner a glass of wine, there coming to us Mr. Fowler the apothecary (the judge’s son) with a book of lute lessons which his father had left there for me, such as he formerly did use to play when a young man, and had the use of his hand.

To the Privy Seal, and found some business now again to do there.

To Westminster Hall for a new half-shirt of Mrs. Lane, and so home by water. Wrote letters by the post to my Lord and to sea. This night W. Hewer brought me home from Mr. Pim’s my velvet coat and cap, the first that ever I had. So to bed.

35 Annotations

First Reading

Judith Boles  •  Link

Is this another velvet coat, or the same one that he locked up at the Privy Seal Office on the 21st? A velvet mantle, a velvet hat, too...just wish the colors were known.

Jenny Doughty  •  Link

(in our way I calling on Dr. Walker for the papers I did give him the other day, which he had perused and found that the Duke's counsel had abated something of the former draught which Dr. Walker drew for my Lord)

So the Duke’s counsel desexed-up the dossier? How different, how very different…

Paul Brewster  •  Link

the first that ever I made.
L&M substitute the word "made" for "had".

chip  •  Link

On the front cover of the L&M is the Hayls portrait of Pepys that has him in a chestnut brown what looks like velvet coat. He holds in his hand his tune that he wrote. Someone surely knows the url for that portrait. Pepys as usual gives just enough information about an odd person in the diary to imagine their lives. The judge pounded the gavel too much and lost use of his hand, his son became a druggist to help the father. Pepys is the winner as he gets the lute music. Good one Jenny, and especially Paul, what an eye@

Roger Arbor  •  Link

A half-shirt from Betty Lane... she made it, and likely she'll help him take it off!

Mary  •  Link

'..the former draught .'
Interesting that both Wheatley and L&M both vary the spelling of draft/draught, whether it refers to a document or a drink. If this variation reflects a similar variation in the shorthand, it would seem to indicate that Pepys was sometimes using the southern English 'F' pronunciation of the 'gh' palatal group, but at others was using the northern English pronunciation; i.e. the sort of 'ch' sound that is found in Dutch and (more or less) as the final sound in 'loch'.

The L&M Introduction to Vol I tells is that in other contexts, the 'gh' group had been fully assimilated, as would have been expected in southern speech (wright/ rite/ right all being represented by the same shorthand symbol). The draught/draft variation therefore represents a puzzle when written by an educated man, born and brought up in the south of England, where one would have expected to find the 'draft' pronunciation reflected in the shorthand in all contexts.

Barbara  •  Link

I always thought the brown velvet coat Pepys wore in the Hayls portrait was not his normal clothing, but a sort of special fancy dress to be painted in.

Jenny Doughty  •  Link

The commentary on the portrait Maureen linked to says: 'This portrait of Pepys records his likeness at the age of 29 in an 'Indian gown' he hired for the occasion. He had already commissioned a portrait of his wife Elizabeth from the same artist and the painting took five separate sittings from the life. Pepys paid Hayls £14 for the picture and 25s for the frame on 16th May, commenting that he was ‘well satisfied’ with it. The music he holds is his own setting of a lyric by Sir William Davenant, ‘Beauty, retire’. ‘This day I begun to sit [to Halys], and he will make me, I think, a very fine picture. He promises it shall be as good as my wife’s, and I sit to have it full of shadows and so almost break my neck looking over my shoulders to make the posture for him to work by.’ 17th March 1666.’

Paul Brewster  •  Link

Had vs Made
The surmise that this is the same coat is probably a good one. SP uses the same phrase, "the first that ever I made", in both instances and L&M makes the same choice of "made" for "had" in both instances.

The two words don't seem to be the same in the short hand. I'm tempted to believe that Wheatley substituted the more conventional word, 'had', because he felt uncomfortable with this odd indirect usage of the word. SP is after all not a tailor. I'm having problems even finding the correct sense in the OED. It would seem to lie somewhere between the more conventional "make money" and the sense in 29.b below.

Make, v
...
29. a. To gain, acquire, or earn (money, reputation, etc.) by labour, business, or the like. ... Phr. to make (one's) advantage ..., increment of; to make a (or one's) fortune ...; to make capital out of ...; to make a living ...; to make a name (for oneself).

... 1588 Parke tr Mendoza's Hist. China ... Then may the husband afterwardes sell his wife for a slave, and make money of her for the dowrie he gaue her. 1604 Shakes. Oth. i. iii [make all the money thou canst ... therefore make money ... go, make money] 1632 Lithgow Trav. ... This little Ile maketh yearely onely of Currants 160000 Chickins [= sequins].
...
b. slang and dial. To steal. Also, in milder sense, to "acquire", manage to get. …
a1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Made, Stolen. I Made this Knife at a beat, I stole it cleaverly. 1740 Dyche & Pardon Dict., Make also to steal or convey privately away. …

Paul Brewster  •  Link

Same Coat
Just to clarify, I meant the same coat on both the 21st and 25th of August and was not drawing conclusions on other contexts.

Paul Brewster  •  Link

Had vs made
In thinking it over I thought of another possible sense that seems to make more sense. In our vernacular it would probably be "the first that ever I [have had] made." in the sense of custom-made clothes. That leads me to wonder if its the first velvet coat he had made for himself (with the stress on velvet) or the first coat of any type he had made for himself.

Ruben Lenger  •  Link

I am fascinated with SP's diary and this site. I became addicted.
I took a long look to John Hayls portrait of a young SP. It is difficult to decide which hand is holding the music. If the thumb looks like a rigth hand thumb, the rest of the hand looks like a left side hand. This ambiguity looks to me appropriated for a SP portrait!

Paul Chapin  •  Link

Sam's age in the Hayls portrait
Thanks to Maureen for the NPG link to the series of SP portraits, it was great to see them in immediate sequence. But the commentary on the first portrait confuses me. Sam was born 1633, and the portrait was painted 1666, all sources agree. Sam was thus 33 when the portrait was painted, not 29 as the commentary states. But this is so obvious I feel like I must have missed something - why would the commentary make such a patent mistake?

Glyn  •  Link

Regarding Ruben's comment: I think someone once said that Pepys was unhappy about the depiction of the hand, and made Hayls redo it.

Ruben Lenger  •  Link

Glyn:
The way to enlarge our knowledge about this matter is to take an X ray of the portrait and see what was left of the original drawing and colour layers below the actual surface. We may be surprised!

Michael Robinson  •  Link

where we there made up an estimate of the debts of the Navy for the Council.

House of Commons Journal Volume 8: 29 December 1660 | British History Online
"September 3d, 1660.

At the Committee for Publick Debts, &c.

Resolved, That Colonel Birch do, with all convenient Speed, report to the House the Estimate of the Debt of his Majesty's Navy, now received from Sir George Cartrett, as well for Stores of all Sorts, as for Wages due; being a Debt, they humbly conceive, fit to be taken care for by the Parliament.

The general State of the Debts upon the Account of his Majesty's Navy, until Twenty-fourth June last past, required from us, the principal Officers and Commissioners of his Majesty's Navy, together with the Increase of the growing Charge of Wages and Victuals, to the Fleet unpaid, until this present Fifth of December 1660.

For the Wages of the Officers and Mariners, serving on board the Seventeen Ships, which yet remain unpaid, of the Twenty-five heretofore directed by the Parliament to be paid out of the Poll Bill, with the Increase of their Charge, to the Fifth of December £. s. d.
128,030 - -
For the Wages of the Officers and Mariners in Eighty-four Ships more, which are yet also in Pay, with the Increase of their Charge, unto the Fifth of December, abating the Thirty-six Ships for the Winter Guard, from the Twenty-fourth of June 1660, which is to be borne by his Majesty 258,459 - -
For the Wages unto the Officers and Workmen of his Majesty's Yards at Deptford, Woolwich, Chatham, Portsmouth, and Harwich; as also unto Ship-keepers of the Ships riding in those Harbours, to the Twenty-fourth of June 1660, per Estimate 42,463 10 -
£. 428,952 10 -
For Bills, regularly passed in this Office, for Provisions delivered, and Service done, from the Year 1657, to the Twenty-fourth June 1660, the Particulars whereof are contained in a Book herewith presented; besides other Bills of the like Nature, which, by reason of the short Warning given, could not be brought in from remote Parts to be therein inserted, which may amount unto, per Estimate, 20,000 l. the Sum of 128,078 13 10
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

This day in Commons two major topics are

- Disbanding the Army. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…

- Dunkirke. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…

Sir Thomas Clergis reports from the Committee, to whom the Consideration of an Establishment for the Garison of Dunkirke is referred, the Opinion of the said Committee, that the Forces in the Garison of Dunkirke consist of Three thousand Six hundred Foot; to be put into Two Regiments; each Regiment to consist of Eighteen hundred Men, to be divided into Twelve Companies; and each Company to consist of One hundred and Fifty:

That there be also One Regiment of Horse, to consist of Four hundred Thirty-two; to be divided into Six Troops; each Troop consisting of Seventy-two, besides Officers; and that the Lord General be appointed to model the said Forces, to the said Numbers, accordingly: [pay and supplies]
-----
The Army is to stand down in England and reenforced across the Channel.

Bill  •  Link

draft/draught

DRAFT [corrupted for draught]
---A Dictionary Of The English Language. Samuel Johnson, 1756.

Dick Wilson  •  Link

According to Miriam Webster, a half-shirt was a man's shirtfront or a woman's chemisette worn in the late 17th century.

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED offers:

‘half-shirt, n. Obs. A kind of shirt front for men . . worn in 17th c.
1661 S. Pepys Diary 13 Oct. (1970) II. 195 This day left off half-shirts and put on a wastecoate.
1664 S. Pepys Diary 28 June (1971) V. 191 This day put on a half-shirt first this summer, it being very hot . . ‘

Worn to look smart and to cut down on laundry bills; later called a ‘dicky’:

‘dicky Etym: The senses here included may belong to two or more words of distinct origin . . another group is probably closely related to dick n.2* . .
. . III. As a name of articles of clothing
. . 6. A detached shirt-front.
1811 Lexicon Balatronicum, Dickey, a sham shirt.
. . 1848 Thackeray Bk. Snobs xx. 75 Wretched Beaux..who sport a lace dickey.
. . 1889 J. M. Barrie Window in Thrums iii. 23 Come awa doon..an' put on a clean dickey

* dial. A leather apron.
1847–78 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words, Dick, a leather apron and bib, worn by poor children in the North . .’

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

John Evelyn's Diary – he and Mary Browne Evelyn live at Saye's Court, Deptford.

http://brittlebooks.library.illin…

@@@

25 August, 1660.
Colonel Spencer, colonel of a regiment of horse in our county of Kent, sent to me, and intreated that I would take a commission for a troop of horse, and that I would nominate my lieutenant and ensigns; I thanked him for the honor intended me; but would by no means undertake the trouble.

@@@

I wonder what the incentive was for undertaking the commission of a troop of horse. It sounds like an expensive undertaking, even if Evelyn could delegate the running of it to a lieutenant and ensigns of his choosing. It doesn't sound as if there was a penalty for refusing (there was if you refused to be an alderman or mayor).

As I understand it, the 17th century concept of civic duty was taking positions of public service and being responsible for running your community, more than by voting. Can't find my citation for this, so I'll have to come back with it when it turns up.

Third Reading

MartinVT  •  Link

It is interesting to explore how Sam's dinner habits have changed since he arrived in his new and improved circumstances.

Back on January 1, a Sunday, the first day of the diary, Pepys recorded: "Dined at home in the garret, where my wife dressed the remains of a turkey, and in the doing of it she burned her hand." The next day, Monday, he stopped at a market stall for some bread and cheese for dinner. On Tuesday, he brought a few companions home for dinner consisting of "a piece of beef and cabbage, and a collar of brawn [bear]." On Wednesday, "dined at home" (in the garret, presumably). On Thursday, "I dined with Mr. Sheply, at my Lord’s lodgings, upon his turkey-pie," in the servants' quarters. On Friday, "I went home and took my wife and went to my cosen, Thomas Pepys, and found them just sat down to dinner, which was very good; only the venison pasty was palpable beef, which was not handsome." (Heavens.) On Saturday, several friends came to his home for "a dish of steaks and a rabbit" during a game of cards. In other words, he paid for only one lunch at a public establishment, the cheese and bread from a market stall, got a few free meals, and ate at home four times.

Contrast this with his dining habits for the past week: Last Sunday, dinner at his new home, "where my wife had on her new petticoat that she bought yesterday." Monday, no mention of dinner — it must have been a bite somewhere on the run, between attending the House of Lords and then going to the Privy Seal. On Tuesday, dinner at Westminster with Mr. Crew, a well-placed lawyer and politician, and Mr. Hickeman, an Oxford man. On Wednesday, dinner at home with Mr. Hayter, a Navy clerk who later held a variety of higher Navy posts. On Thursday, Sam "met with my father Bowyer, and Mr. Spicer, and them I took to the Leg in King Street, and did give them a dish or two of meat." On Friday, "with Sir William Batten and Sir William Pen . . . to dinner at a tavern in Thames Street, where they were invited to a roasted haunch of venison and other very good victuals and company. And today, Saturday, "I took Mr. Turner and Mr. Moore to the Leg in King Street, and did give them a dinner, and afterward to the Sun Tavern, and did give Mr. Turner a glass of wine."

He still has some dinners at home, but no more food truck sandwiches, remains of turkey, or faux pasties. Most of his dinners now help to enhance the strength of his connections in the Navy and elsewhere. Several times he pays for a group dinner at a tavern.

Perhaps some master's dissertation has included a full statistical analysis of Sam's dinner habits (if not, someone should do that!) but this non-scientific comparison of two weeks, before and after Sam's promotions, certainly shows not only his improved finances, but his strategic approach to the cultivation of relationships.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Good observation, Martin VT, and something I had not thought about.
Maybe this also accounts for the need of so many new clothes?!
I've noted the number of coach rides home recently after evenings of drinking with pals.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"... (in our way I calling on Dr. Walker for the papers I did give him the other day, which he had perused and found that the Duke’s counsel had abated something of the former draught which Dr. Walker drew for my Lord) to Sir G. Carteret, where we there made up an estimate of the debts of the Navy for the Council."

The Duke of York -- and presumably his secretary Coventry -- had reduced the numbers Dr. Walter Walker, the state's advocate at civil law for the Admiralty, had compiled of the Commonwealth Navy's debts?
I wonder why Walker had the estimating job, and not one of the former Commissioners? Mr. Blackborne seems to be amenable to working with the new regime.

Luckily Pepys has Thomas Turner (or Tourner), the former General Clerk at the Navy Office and now appointed as clerk to the Comptroller ( Sir Robert Slingsby), with him so he would be able to discuss Walker's figures -vs- York's figures.

This must have been an uncomfortable meeting.
Did they correct the estimates, and ask for as much money as possible from Parliament (who are sure to send them less), or go with the lower numbers to please the boss and risk coming up very short when they try to pay their bills?

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

In March 1657, England and France entered a formal military alliance against Spain during which English troops served alongside the French under Marshal Turenne in Flanders [AND JAMES, DUKE OF YORK - SDS].

Under the terms of the alliance, the port of Dunkirk was ceded to England after the Anglo-French victory over the Spanish at the battle of the Dunes in June 1658.
[This turned out to be an uncomfortable accommodation as the English Commonwealth troops were very Presbyterian, and the Dunkirkers were very Catholic, and somewhat unruly by disposition regardless of who was supposedly "in control".]

The war between France and Spain ended with the signing of the Peace of the Pyrenees on 28 October, 1659.

After the Restoration, the Anglo-Spanish War was formally terminated in September 1660.
http://bcw-project.org/military/a…

The troops Charles II contemplates sending to Dunkirk are -- of course -- his Royalist regiments, which included many of the Catholic persuasion. If he can't have a Royalist standing army in England, he will at least have one close by should he need them to put down an insurrection.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"I calling on Dr. Walker for the papers I did give him the other day, which he had perused and found that the Duke’s counsel had abated something of the former draught which Dr. Walker drew for my Lord) to Sir G. Carteret, where we there made up an estimate of the debts of the Navy for the Council."

"Wrote letters by the post to my Lord ..."

I bet you did. I would, too.
"Cousin -- HELP -- York cut thousands out of the budget. How do I navigate this and get the money we need without upsetting the boss?"

Vincent Telford  •  Link

Thank you MartinVT re evidence & conclusion "two weeks, before and after Sam's promotions, certainly shows not only his improved finances, but his strategic approach to the cultivation of relationships." I tend to agree.

I had noticed this rapid change and considered Sam was busy cultivating useful relationships re his future opportunities and work plus Sam very much likes people's company and gaining perceived status.

I wonder how this 27 year old new upstart appears to those he is cultivating. May be some are enjoying being entertained by the young highly sociable, smart and ambitious Mr Pepys and some are impressed with his enthusiasm and abilities; perhaps some feel a little challenged by them.

Peter Johnson  •  Link

As I read it, SP and Turner went from the City to Whitehall by coach, with SP stopping off at Dr Walker's office near St Paul's on the way to pick up the documents he had left with Walker two days before - see the first paragraph on 23 August. These papers concern My Lord's powers as a Vice Admiral, and the Duke's lawyers had changed some of the provisions.

There's no indication that Walker went along to today's finance meeting - he was a lawyer, not a financial administrator, anyway - or that the papers he gave to SP had any relevance to the money matters SP, Carteret and Turner discussed.

That's what the brackets indicate to me, but I may be missing something - I often do, ho-hum....

Plan B  •  Link

I agree with you, Peter Johnson. Reading it again, and looking back at the entry from the 23rd August, it seems quite clear to me that the documents Dr Walker looked over were nothing to do with the budgets.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

I think you're right, Peter Johnson. The use of a full stop and a new paragraph would clarify things, Pepys et al! (But that won't happen for another couple of centuries. Even Dickens didn't have it down.)

Your reading that Carteret, Pepys and Turner made up the Navy accounts at Carteret's office makes more sense. Presumably the books are there, since he is now the Treasurer of the Navy. "… [Carteret] had official lodgings at Whitehall, a house in Pall Mall, an official residence at Deptford and a country mansion near Windsor, ..." and Pepys says they were bound for Whitehall.

Pepys letter to Sandwich therefore concerned changes York had made to his employment contract from what was suggested by the Admiralty's counsel.

@@@

One thing I had not appreciated before reading The Diary is how hard people worked. Double bookkeeping, balance sheets, and employment contracts were not my impression of the Stuarts.

Stephane Chenard  •  Link

Next week it will be made clear that Peter Johnson is right, and Mr. Walker, no doubt drawing on his lawyer's thick books of precedents, trimmed a priviledge here and there in my lord Sandwich's commission. At this time my lord is in charge of counting His Majestie's silver spoons, and can't wait to get back in the sea spray. In fact his journal (at https://archive.org/details/journ…) has been blank since he disembarked in May, as if there really was nothing worth writing down in my lord's life right now. But a few months of derring-do await in the papers that Walker has revised.

The Duke of York is sharing some breakfast chocolate with his trusted lawyer, and remarks in a jolly mood, "do you know, Walker, I dream'd of you this night past. A voice was saying, 'the kingdome is broke! You must get Walker to cut the Navy's budget'".

"I'm so honored, your grace".

"How absurd, no? When we're broke, why, then we just stop paying. Why would we cut anything?"

Walker, who had one hand inside his portfolio and was about to pull his monthly invoice, opts to extract a lace kerchief instead, and replies with a forced smile. "Indeed, you grace. How droll".

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