Wednesday 5 June 1661
This morning did give my wife 4l. to lay out upon lace and other things for herself. I to Wardrobe and so to Whitehall and Westminster, where I dined with my Lord and Ned Pickering alone at his lodgings. After dinner to the office, where we sat and did business, and Sir W. Pen and I went home with Sir R. Slingsby to bowls in his ally, and there had good sport, and afterwards went in and drank and talked. So home Sir William and I, and it being very hot weather I took my flageolette and played upon the leads in the garden, where Sir W. Pen came out in his shirt into his leads, and there we staid talking and singing, and drinking great drafts of claret, and eating botargo and bread and butter till 12 at night, it being moonshine; and so to bed, very near fuddled.
34 Annotations
First Reading
dirk • Link
Moonshine
On Sunday 2 July it had been full moon (12 July Gregorian calendar) at 02:11.
Must have been quite romantic, music by moonlight. But what about the neighbours, Sam?
Leo Starrenburg • Link
This is the first time I see Samuel mentioning 'sport' in his diary.
My first encounter with Samuel was in an episode of the Goon show, where he 'did sport with Mrs Fitz-Simmons'
And things don't change very much over the centuries: I'm off to bed and very near fuddled as well.
cheers, Leo.
JWB • Link
Titer
Claret & botargo. Salt in the botargo titers postassium in wine to counter diuresis. Important up on the leads.
vicente • Link
on the 2nd "...It rained very hard, as it hath done of late so much that we begin to doubt a famine,..." now this " ...and it being very hot weather ..." must have been a bit muggy too, no midges mentioned.
vicente • Link
On this day the goose no longer could have its grass, "...Bill to inclose Ground at Parsons Green.
Hodie 1a vice lecta est Billa, "An Act for confirming of an Enclosure of Land, formerly used for a Common Highway, from Parsons Greene to Southfeild, in Fulham; and the settling of other Land for a Common Highway there, in Lieu thereof."
E. of Derby's Bill:..."
From: British History Online
Source: House of Lords Journal Volume 11: 5 June 1661. House of Lords Journal Volume 11, ().
URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…
Date: 06/06/2004
Copyright 2003 University of London & History of Parliament Trust
mary house • Link
Another lovely word picture of a warm summer night. Makes one quite envious of Sam, except for the botargo, of course.
daniel • Link
what a delight!
it is wonderful to read of these historical figures at such ease. i wonder though if Eliz. had a nice day; the four quid probably kept her busy for the greater part of the day but would she have felt compelled to turn in early while the gentlemen horsed around on the roof?
vicente • Link
contrast this with Daniel's thought.The modern young man: "those who love the idea of a leisured lifestyle, but lack the time to lead it."
Cash-rich, time-poor Britons waste £1,725 a year on must-have gear they’ll never use
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/…
daniel • Link
ah, how sad!
for the moment at least, Sam seems to be a great example of a quality of life that is not dependant on these trappings. Elizabeth though has her material needs-lace and such. one hopes that she too can enjoy such conviviality with friends from time to time.
Australian Susan • Link
"drinking great drafts of claret"
This is the second time in recent days (the other was the wine and anchovies occasion) when we have seen Sam entertaining himself with wine and a very salty accompaniment. Surely this would have made the wine taste rather nasty? I would never drink decent red wine with pickled fish products! Or would the anchovies and roe not be so salty? Or was the wine what we in Australia called cask wine? [sold in a plastic bag]. That apart, what a lovely word picture!
Douglas Robertson • Link
From the link to "botargo" in today's entry: "Botargo was chiefly used to promote drinking by causing thirst, and Rabelais makes Gargantua eat it." (Cf. the salted beer nuts that certain bars in our day provide gratis to their patrons.) Perhaps we may infer from this that Sam was in the mood for a bender, in which case his palate would have been none too discriminating.
Mary • Link
Slingsby's bowling alley.
If Slingsby's Navy Office quarters really included a bowling alley, this would serve to indicate just how well appointed the whole house was in the days when it was still a large, domestic dwelling and not part of the government establishment.
Last year a kind annotator pointed us in the direction of a London pub that still has a traditional, wooden bowling alley, but I've been unable to trace the reference.
Mary • Link
"great drafts of claret"
I like that "very near fuddled"!
Bob T • Link
Wine
It doesn't really matter if the wine was of good quality or not, if Sam was sinking "great drafts" of it. Even Old Porch Climber starts to taste good after a bit.
The munchies that Sam has when drinking reminds me of the DanNor, (Danes and Norwegians) troops with the UNEF in Egypt. They would drink beer, eat sardines, and thoroughly enjoy themselves. We stayed with jerky and peanuts :-)
A. De Araujo • Link
"botargo was" what happened to botargo? Substituted by Marmite?
Giovanna • Link
Botargo (botarga) Mullet roe pressed and dried - still to be had in Italy, but it is salty.
Leslie Silberhans • Link
Bottarga is indeed available today. It resembles ancovies more than anything else, but is much less salty. In the U.S., however, it costs about $80 a pound.
StewartMcI • Link
Susan, et al.
No one for caviar and champagne ???
Remember also that claret then was not the rich vintage wine we know today from Bordeaux but a lighter "clairet" somewhere between a red and a rosé as still occasionally made, e.g. by Christine Valette at Mondot
Pedro • Link
On this day...
A chap called Newton enrolled at Trinity College at Cambridge.
Cum grano salis • Link
And it cost him 12s 4d to get there. [Impensia Propria]
One item of need be his chamber pot that cost 2s/2d.
He was a fresh faced sizar
Heldmyw • Link
Botarga, particularly the Sardinian botarga, is an ethereal, ever so lightly fishy miracle.
The 'brick' when gently grated onto fresh,hot pasta and dressed with a bit of excellent olive oil and garlic is a treat worthy of the highest respect.
I know I post this in a long-deserted cavern, but perhaps future generations of Pepys fans will find this...
Best wishes! Eat the botarga!
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
Botargo is [ indeed ] a Mediterranean delicacy of salted, cured fish roe, typically from grey mullet, tuna, or swordfish.
Closely related names are used for it in various languages: bottarga (English), bottarga (Italian), butàriga (Sardinian), botarga (Occitan, Spanish, and Catalan, poutargue or boutargue (French), butarga (Portuguese), batarekh or butarkhah (Arabic), and avgotaraho (Greek αυγοτάραχο). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bot…
Bill • Link
Partying on the roof until midnight with music, food and alcohol! I can relate.
Bill • Link
"drinking great drafts of claret"
CLARET [Clairet, F. of Clarus, L. clear] a general Name for the red Wines of France.
---An Universal Etymological English Dictionary. N. Bailey, 1675.
Chris Squire UK • Link
Guess what OED has for 'botargo':
‘botargo, n. < Italian botargo < Arabic buṭarkhah < Coptic outarakhon,< Coptic ou- indefinite article + Greek ταρίχιον pickle . . ’
A relish made of the roe of the mullet or tunny
1598 Epulario H ij b, To make Botarge, a kind of Italian meat, fish spawn salted.
. . 1653 T. Urquhart tr. Rabelais 1st Bk. Wks. xxi, Hard rowes of mullet called Botargos.
1661 S. Pepys Diary 5 June (1970) II. 115 Drinking of great draughts of Clarret and eating botargo and bread and butter.
1702 W. J. tr. C. de Bruyn Voy. Levant xlii. 170 They..take out the Spawn, of which..they make Boutargue.
1735 Swift Panegyrick on D— in Wks. II. 292 And, for our home-bred British Chear, Botargo, Catsup, and Caveer . . ‘
Liz • Link
Early social distancing, although it wasn’t compulsory for them!
Third Reading
San Diego Sarah • Link
Slingsby at this time did not live in the Navy complex, which is why he wants to take over Pepys' house along with the Davies' old house next door. Clearly he now has large quarters somewhere order to accommodate a bowling alley.
"... and it being very hot weather I took my flageolette and played upon the leads in the garden, where Sir W. Pen came out in his shirt into his leads, and there we staid talking and singing, ..."
Life is so much better now "Lady" Davies and her brood are in Ireland, and no one has blocked Pepys' access door to the leads, or will complain about the noise.
(Life before television!)
May the rain stay away, and the grain prices drop soon.
LKvM • Link
" . . . upon the leads in the garden, where Sir W. Pen came out in his shirt into his leads, and there we staid talking and singing, . . . ."
I know Pepys had leads, presumably above his section of the building, that Mrs. Davis had locked him out of, but where are these "leads in the garden"? Or are all of the leads "in the garden" of this obviously very large dwelling that was sliced into units.
Wherever the leads were, it's a delightful scene with Penn and Pepys sharing a glorious evening drinking and singing on them together.
It's good to remember that Penn is only twelve years older than Sam, so if Sam is 27, Admiral Penn is only 39.
And by the way, I like salted pistachio nuts or "salt and vinegar" chips with my evening glasses of "claret," and in the USA Australian Susan's "cask wine" is plain old "box wine," some of which is surprisingly good.
San Diego Sarah • Link
Leads are by definition on the roof -- so maybe they were using the part overlooking the gardens? Once again, you had to be there.
The Greenwich Patriot • Link
In case Mary is still following, she might like to know that there is a Skittle (Bowling) Alley at the Old Royal Naval College Greenwich. Although installed rather later than Sam's time, it gives a good impression of what Slingby's alley might have been like. And sometimes - when no one else is around - the attendants let you have a go!
Cynara • Link
I assumed they were playing in a (relatively flat) alley between buildings, but perhaps amenities like purpose-built gaming alleys were available?
Alter Kacker • Link
I will be in Lisbon tomorrow, Porto the next day, last stops on an Iberian tour -- I will keep an eye open for botargo on the menu.
San Diego Sarah • Link
"I went home with Sir R. Slingsby to bowls in his ally, and there had good sport, and afterwards went in and drank and talked. "
I think they were playing on a private, purpose-built "alley" on Slingsby's probably-rented property. It appears to have been out-of-doors, so maybe it was a form of lawn bowls? "Alley" may only indicate that it was a dedicated space more than a paved surface.
(My uncle had loud opinions about children who played on his lawn bowls area. A paved alley would connect places, and be hard to keep clean and unused: "Excuse me, m'lord, but would you move your bowls -- I've got your dinner in this cart and it needs to get to the kitchen quickly.")
Slingsby came from an old and wealthy family (see below). The fact that Slingsby wanted the Pepys house as only half of his proposed residence at the Navy Offices suggests to me that he was used to having space and lots of retainers and servants.
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The Slingsby legend states two brothers sailed from France in the 14th century to take up land in England. To decide which was to have Knaresborough they agreed it would belong to whoever set a hand on shore first. Whereupon one cut off his hand and flung it on the shore. The severed hand appears on the Slingsby Coat of Arms to this day.
Later Slingsbys have strong connections to Moor Monkton (or Moor Mountain as it was called until Victorian times) near York as well as to Scriven and Lofthouse Hill. Henry of Red House was a Royalist during the civil wars and was, for his pains, beheaded on Tower Hill in 1658
Red House and Scagglethorpe were purchased in 1562 by F Slingsby Esq from Robt. Oughtre Esq whose family had lived at Red House since the time of Edward III. The site of their mansion is a short distance from the site of the present mansion which is situated close to the Ouse. It was built in the reign of Charles 1st by the (later beheaded) Royalist Sir Henry Slingsby. His father built the chapel which has close connections with Sir Thomas Fairfax. . There is a Latin inscription in brass to the memory of Dorothy, daughter of Sir Thomas Slingsby, died January 21, 1667 aged 2 years, on the south side of the chancel.
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Spa…
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A contemporary Slingsby was an MP, and his bio links the families with the Percys and Belasys families.
http://www.historyofparliamentonl…
Stephane Chenard • Link
Moonshine, eh? Looks like the rains are gone - and we predict that the next few days will be full of the frolic that comes with fair weather. Perhaps no famine then, the Providence be praised. Never doubt the power of a Proclamation [as in https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…]