Friday 24 May 1661

At home all the morning making up my private accounts, and this is the first time that I do find myself to be clearly worth 500l. in money, besides all my goods in my house, &c.

In the afternoon at the office late, and then I went to the Wardrobe, where I found my Lord at supper, and therefore I walked a good while till he had done, and I went in to him, and there he looked over my accounts. And they were committed to Mr. Moore to see me paid what remained due to me. Then down to the kitchen to eat a bit of bread and butter, which I did, and there I took one of the maids by the chin, thinking her to be Susan, but it proved to be her sister, who is very like her.

From thence home.

30 Annotations

First Reading

Eric Walla  •  Link

Hmmm, Susan the kitchen maid ...

... I don't think we'll see her cropping up in our People info section. Apparently Sam DOESN'T put all in his diary entries. Would she simply be too low to mention, or too available a treat to consider newsworthy? I wonder where the cut off is?

A. De Araujo  •  Link

"paid what remained due to me" Kickbacks?

vicente  •  Link

'Tis the Wardrobe's maid , I do believe "...Then down to the kitchen to eat a bit of bread and butter, which I did, and there I took one of the maids by the chin, thinking her to be Susan, but it proved to be her sister, who is very like her..." Oh how normal, a Piece. no goosgog preserves?

Stephen Taylor  •  Link

'and there I took one of the maids by the chin'.
Am I being a little naive here? Can anyone translate this as my mind is boggling at possibilities, or alternatively it's a rather mundane comment.

Josh  •  Link

Why, haven't you ever teased a comely acquaintance by grabbing hold of the person's chin between your thumb and forefinger? It probably isn't code for what Chaucer depicted forthrightly: "He caughte her by the haunchebones." In any case, you'd want to make sure of the character of the recipient before lavishing this caress.

A. Hamilton  •  Link

Thankfully our Australian Susan is 333 years and 20 hours of flight time out of his grasp.

vicente  •  Link

90 times times [minimum]"...I do find myself to be clearly worth 500l. in money, besides all my goods in my house, &c..." JUST CASH ! 4500 quid or if it was in gold coin and he had left it under the doorstep for a pepsi type to find it at Brampton it would command 107,450L of purchasing power. and if was in original Gold pieces then the collectors would pay a nice premium. It don't 'alve boogle the grey matter.

chipstubbs  •  Link

Vicente, always tracking the bottom line. Think of the money about to be made. Penn's son will soon be granted thousands of square miles in the colonies, the state of Pennsylvania. Carteret is involved in 3 or 4 colonies. These people are about to become phenomenally wealthy. Our poor Pepys is a fringe person. Yet he did well for himself...the persistance of memory.

vicente  •  Link

Chip: always watch those farthings: The Debt of English is a Trillion Quid . And there is only Mars for them to colonise. For those that escape the Debtors Prison like that in Sams old neighbourhood- St Brides.[Bridewell].

Australian Susan  •  Link

Thank you, A. Hamilton for thinking of my virtue!
I am afraid Sam would think I was far too old. Interesting that in those days, Susan was a name usually only seen in the servant classes, as was Abigail, which became almost a proper noun for servant girls. Note that Sam is not asked to share the supper table of his Lord, and obviously thinks it is no slight not to be asked to do so; instead he happily pops into the kitchen to help himself to bread and butter (and whatever gropable females he can find!)

helena murphy  •  Link

Perhaps the real purpose of going down to the kitchen was to see Susan rather than to eat bread and butter. Maybe he was invited to share supper but Sam the ladykiller had a more sensual agenda in mind.

JWB  •  Link

Wardrobe
I repeat-a curious place. Party on the 22d, I thought a sort of closing celebration for job well done, the outfitting of the coronation. Here we have Montagu at supper, with functioning kitchen in basement. Recall earlier, Jemima would occasionally repaired to this place. It's like a tender moored @ Puddlewharf, a ship with crew.

JWB  •  Link

Oh, what a girl!
If he knew Suzy, like we imagine he knew Suzy, he wouldn't have mistaken her for her sister.

helena murphy  •  Link

Would it not have been dark at that time of the evening? Therefore even with the most sacrosanct intentions it would be easy to mistake one sister for another down in the kitchen ,or has smoke got in Sam's eyes and all true love is blind?

Jenny Doughty  •  Link

'in those days, Susan was a name usually only seen in the servant classes'

Don't we still call a gadget that can be turned so that diners can easily help themselves to dishes on the table a 'lazy Susan'?

Glyn  •  Link

That is Quite Interesting, as is the fact that no English words begin with the letters "Susa..."

Hic Retearius  •  Link

So far: susannite

"A mineral found in the Susanna mine at Leadhills in Scotland, chemically identical with leadhillite, but crystallizing in the rhombohedral system."

Pauline  •  Link

And Suzie put the kettle on.........
Polly take if off again.

Australian Susan  •  Link

Other way round!
It's
"Polly put the kettle on,
Polly put the kettle on,
We'll all have tea.
Sukey take it off again,
Sukey take it off again,
They've all gone away." (a large kettle would be a good weapon for Susan or her sister to donk Sam on the nose with)

vicente  •  Link

Lazy suzie: It is part of the Venacular but How? When? & Who? it appears that it was first documented? by Thomas Jefferson to save having some body to rotate His reading material?
suzeraine[Fr][Latin sursum] -feudal lord- so may be a lazy feudal lord? 'tis interesting so very few anglo or latin words with susa.[or suza]..[sus L pig]

Australian Susan  •  Link

Susanna is Hebrew for Lily - linked with purity and virtue. Very popular subject for art in this period. Here's Van Dyck's version
www.abcgallery.com/V/vandyck/vand…
Nothing like me I assure you. Rembrandt also did one.

Ruben  •  Link

Susanna
from Easton's Bible Dictionary site: Susanna
Lily, with other pious women, ministered to Jesus (Luke 8:3).



aruggles  •  Link

Clearly both Susan(na)s are having trouble with their elders!

Second Reading

Bill  •  Link

"Susan was a name usually only seen in the servant classes"

The book "The Peerage of England" (Collins, 2 vols.), 1756, has 24 women mentioned with the name Susan. No Abigails!

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘Lazy Susan n. (also lazy susan) orig. U.S. a revolving (wooden) stand on a table to hold condiments, etc.; a muffin stand.
1917 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Dec. 17 (advt.) Revolving Server or Lazy Susan.
. . 1971 Sunday Austral. 8 Aug. 10/1 The best china is used. Silver pots of steaming tea and coffee spin round with wheels of gateaux on a massive lazy susan.’

In British English = ‘dumb waiter’. My family home had, possibly still has, a couple:

‘1. An article of dining-room furniture, intended to dispense with the services of a waiter at table.
In its typical form, an upright pole bearing one or more revolving trays or shelves. On these are placed dishes and other table requisites, which can thus readily be got at as required . .
1749 J. Cleland Mem. Woman of Pleasure I. 160 A bottle of burgundy, with the other necessaries, were set on a dumb-waiter . . ‘

Third Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

The House of Lords elected a new Speaker today:

I love part of his acceptance speach:
"We read of the Emperor Adrian, when He lay a dying, he complained that many Physicians had destroyed Him; meaning, that their contrary Conceits and different Directions for His Recovery had hastened His Death.

"So it is with us: We were sick of Reformation; Our Reformers were of all Ages, Sexes, and Degrees; of all Professions and Trades. The very Cobler went beyond his Last. These new Statesmen took upon them to regulate and govern our Governors: This was the Sickness and Plague of the Nation. Their new Laws were all written in bloody Letters; the Cruelty of their Tribunals made the Judgement Seat little differ from a Slaughter House: The Rich Man was made an Offender for a Word; Poor Men were sold for Slaves, as the Turks sell Heads, Twenty for an Asper: Yet for all this Villany there was at Length found a Protector."

But no mention of who this witty fellow was! James, Duke of York mostly filled the role last year. Anyone know? I'm sure he will be revealed in time, but I'd like to know now.

Sandwich was in his seat today.

So far many interesting 17th century documents can be found at
https://www.british-history.ac.uk…

"The first volume of [LORDS] biographies, covering 1660-1715, was published in July 2016. The project staff are currently working on the second set of biographies, covering members of the Lords in the period 1715-90."
https://www.historyofparliamenton…

They probably won't be posted on line until the copyright expires. long sfter you and I are gone!

Croakers Apprentice  •  Link

Thank you for posting that great quote, San Diego Sarah. I think it wittily sums up the twin truths that the British body politic is less tolerant of Fanatic(k)s than any other, and is shot through with a vein of very healthy satirical humour.

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