Tuesday 9 April 1661

[continued from yesterday. P.G.] …and lay and slept well till 3 in the morning, and then waking, and by the light of the moon I saw my pillow (which overnight I flung from me) stand upright, but not bethinking myself what it might be, I was a little afeard, but sleep overcame all and so lay till high morning, at which time I had a candle brought me and a good fire made, and in general it was a great pleasure all the time I staid here to see how I am respected and honoured by all people; and I find that I begin to know now how to receive so much reverence, which at the beginning I could not tell how to do.

Sir William and I by coach to the dock and there viewed all the storehouses and the old goods that are this day to be sold, which was great pleasure to me, and so back again by coach home, where we had a good dinner, and among other strangers that come, there was Mr. Hempson and his wife, a pretty woman, and speaks Latin; Mr. Allen and two daughters of his, both very tall and the youngest very handsome, so much as I could not forbear to love her exceedingly, having, among other things, the best hand that ever I saw.

After dinner, we went to fit books and things (Tom Hater being this morning come to us) for the sale, by an inch of candle, and very good sport we and the ladies that stood by had, to see the people bid. Among other things sold there was all the State’s arms, which Sir W. Batten bought; intending to set up some of the images in his garden, and the rest to burn on the Coronacion night. The sale being done, the ladies and I and Captain Pett and Mr. Castle took barge and down we went to see the Sovereign, which we did, taking great pleasure therein, singing all the way, and, among other pleasures, I put my Lady, Mrs. Turner, Mrs. Hempson, and the two Mrs. Allens into the lanthorn and I went in and kissed them, demanding it as a fee due to a principall officer, with all which we were exceeding merry, and drunk some bottles of wine and neat’s tongue, &c. Then back again home and so supped, and after much mirth to bed.

34 Annotations

First Reading

Bullus Hutton  •  Link

"by the light of the moon I saw my pillow.. not bethinking myself what it might be, I was a little afeard"
Excellent call last night, Peter!
For all his cheery bravado to the group, Sam truly freaks out alone in his chamber at 3am! I do recollect doing the same thing staying over in old English houses (last September springs to mind!) there comes a moment when the apres-dinner brandy wears off and you are obliged to face the boogie man without that warm support!

Bradford  •  Link

"it was a great pleasure all the time I staid here to see how I am respected and honoured by all people; and I find that I begin to know now how to receive so much reverence, which at the beginning I could not tell how to do."

Think how easy it is to make a mess of trying to respond to a compliment so as not to contradict it---even when you're a lot older than 20-something Sam.

Susan  •  Link

With reference to Vincent's annotation on the 7th April entry (he draws attention to Sam going to bed with no mention of his wife), Sam has been chasing women for kisses a couple of times recently - probably missing his Elizabeth?? Even though he does not mention it.

vincent  •  Link

"...and after much mirth to bed...." no lingua franca? the mrs away too?

dirk  •  Link

"I saw my pillow (which overnight I flung from me)"

Sam must have been more afraid of Edgeborrow's ghost than he admits - he obviously threw his pillow out of the bed in his sleep. Since pillows at the time were about four to five times the size of the ones we use nowadays (people slept in a propped up postion), this implies he must have moved quite violently in his sleep.

dirk  •  Link

"the State's arms … intending to set up some of the images in his garden, and the rest to burn on the Coronacion night”

Sounds like somewhat of a sacrilege to me - can someone clarify what this is supposed to mean?

vincent  •  Link

re: Burnt offerings, I do think it means that other Cromwellian memories of the Interregnum, paraphernalia,such as Flags, Ikons, Carvings and symbols that will remind people of the past,they must removed from sight[site]. Remember it is not called a Republican period , just a period of lost time between kings sitting and ruling [Interregnum]. All revolutionary ideas and symbols must removed from the vulgi vulgares.

vincent  •  Link

"...demanding it as a fee due to a principall officer..." not a principled gentleman and Scholar, be he. Just like an 'hofficer pulling rank again, full of principal.

Pauline  •  Link

"...I went in and kissed them..."
Obviously his interest was in the younger "Mrs." Allen, but that Lady Batten and the highly esteemed Mrs. Turner were involved and played along makes me think that it is difficult for us to exactly understand this kind of "sexual" playfullness across the time between then and now.

vincent  •  Link

an aside: " Mulier cupido quod dicit amanti, in vento et rapida scibere opportet aqua."
Catullus, Veronensis, 70
What a women says to her lover should be written on the wind and running water.

Mary  •  Link

..the old goods are this day to be sold...

Sam may be simply expressing the orderly man's pleasure at seeing a jolly good turn-out of the old stock, but is there a chance that he will also receive (either directly or indirectly) a cut of the proceeds of the sale? It will be interesting to see if he later notes the sum finally raised by this auction.

David A. Smith  •  Link

"a great pleasure ... to see how I am respected"
Running all through his diary is Sam's addictive hunger to be liked and respected, not just by my Lord Montagu, but by *everybody*. This is a powerful survival trait for an administrator/ courtier/ advisor, and it must be intrinsic, feigning it cannot be sustained.
Ah, Sam, but are they saluting the man, or the peruke?

David A. Smith  •  Link

"kissed them ... as a fee due ... with all which we were exceeding merry"
Modern Anglos -- whether Brit or Yank -- are touch-me-nots, with elaborate rituals governing permission to approach and the acceptable rituals of the air-kiss, cheek-kiss, and massageless hug. Other cultures stand closer, slip arm in arm, kiss on greeting ... or, as here, indulge in what we would find commedia dell' arte slapstick.
The past *is* a foreign country; they do things differently there.

Pauline  •  Link

or, as here, indulge in what we would find commedia dell' arte slapstick.
You’ve nailed it, David.

Mary  •  Link

Caudle/candle

Since Pepys tells us that he slept 'till high morning' (i.e. broad daylight) then the caudle makes better general sense than the candle. Perhaps he felt the need of a stiffener after his minor fright of the night before. If he needs a candle, then he must be lodged in a very gloomy chamber.

vincent  •  Link

"..., at which time I had a candle brought me and a good fire made,..."
candle with flame makes sense rather warming the throat and keeping the dampness out.

tony t.  •  Link

No place like 'home'. In this day's entry both the references to 'home' seem to be to the Hillhouse at Chatham rather than to Seething Lane.

Susan  •  Link

I agree with Mary. If he slept till 'high morning', Sam is not going to need light (though a chilly April and Sam's usual carefull attention to his health would warrant him asking for a fire to be made up). I think what he asked for was a caudle and he sat drinking this, waiting for the fire to heat the chamber up before he got up thinking, this is not a bad life at all, to have my desires met with promptly!

Mary  •  Link

A chilly morning.

If the temperature in Kent on 9th April 1661 was anything like the temperature in Kent this morning (11th April 2004), then Sam did well to stay in bed until the fire had warmed the chamber. We've had a hard frost.

Andrew Hamilton  •  Link

I went in and kissed them, demanding it as a fee due to a principall officer

No doubt rascally Sam did have his eye on the younger miss. But I think the apparent willingness of all the ladies to play along seems to put this episode into the category of a social game with which all were familiar. It calls to my mind something of the spirit of gallantry (if not quite of the same douceur) found in Fragonard's paintings a century later, such as "The Lost Forfeit or Stolen Kiss" (NY Metropolitan Museum) or "Blindman's Buff (Washington DC National Gallery).

Ian  •  Link

"...having, among other things, the best hand that ever I saw." Beauty was judged very differently in 1661. It would take a very extraordinary hand to excite comment today. I wonder what the other things are. Knees? Elbows?

dirk  •  Link

"It would take a very extraordinary hand to excite comment today."

Re - Ian

Yes, probably. But haven't we lost something there? It takes the "whole lot" now to get us really excited, not just a hand. We're no longer able to appreciate the "small" detail ;)

Rich Merne  •  Link

"Caudle", 'coddle',....'coddle'; a dish made with boiled sausages, potato, herbs, and I think sometimes a little bacon bits, to be had any day in some Dublin pubs, and very nice too!

Emilio  •  Link

A caudle was a 'medicinal' wine drink, first discussed for the entry P. Brewster links to above.

Emilio  •  Link

"sold there was all the State's arms"

To confirm Vincent's reading above, here's the L&M footnote:

"Carvings of the coats of arms of the Commonwealth. The sale followed a council order of 13 February."

This is apparently the same order that required old provisions to be sold on 7 Mar. I doubt Sam would have got any part of the proceeds.

Second Reading

Nick Flowers  •  Link

There is a surviving example of the State's Arms at St. Nicholas church in North Walsham, Norfolk. As far as I know it is the only representation in colour to have come down to us. How it survived? I don't know - yet. But if/when I find out I will post it here. Many thanks to my friend K. for discovering it!

Robin Peters  •  Link

"having, among other things, the best hand that ever I saw." I read this as her handwriting being very neat.

GrannieAnnie  •  Link

"the best hand" I'm with Robin: surely this means her handwriting often stated in old writings as something was "written in a neat hand."

Third Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"... I put my Lady, Mrs. Turner, Mrs. Hempson, and the two Mrs. Allens into the lanthorn and I went in and kissed them, demanding it as a fee due to a principall officer, ..."

Attaboy! Pepys is getting the hang of how to behave in his new role in life.

MartinVT  •  Link

"it was a great pleasure all the time I staid here to see how I am respected and honoured by all people. I find that I begin to know now how to receive so much reverence, which at the beginning I could not tell how to do."

Another iteration of how much respect he perceives he is getting. As a further symbol of status, note that on this trip he has not hade to "lie with" anyone but got his own private room, that of old Edgeborrow, no less. Don't let it go to your head, Sam.

LKvM  •  Link

"I put my Lady, Mrs. Turner, Mrs. Hempson, and the two Mrs. Allens into the lanthorn and I went in."
That's six people in the lantern. Even though people were much smaller then, ships' lanterns must have been surprisingly commodious.
And just btw, I think Sam is probably "the life of the party." Everyone from Batten and Penn to Sandwich and Lady Sandwich seems to adore his company. After all, he sings, plays instruments, and apparently has a gregarious, witty, fun-loving presence, so I think they make sure he's part of the group just for the fun of it.

Log in to post an annotation.

If you don't have an account, then register here.