Wednesday 7 May 1662

Walked to Westminster; where I understand the news that Mr. Montagu is this last night come to the King with news, that he left the Queen and fleet in the Bay of Biscay, coming this wayward; and that he believes she is now at the Isle of Scilly. So at noon to my Lord Crew’s and there dined, and after dinner Sir Thos. Crew and I talked together, and among other instances of the simple light discourse that sometimes is in the Parliament House, he told me how in the late business of Chymny money, when all occupiers were to pay, it was questioned whether women were under that name to pay, and somebody rose and said that they were not occupiers, but occupied.

Thence to Paul’s Church Yard; where seeing my Lady’s Sandwich and Carteret, and my wife (who this day made a visit the first time to my Lady Carteret), come by coach, and going to Hide Park, I was resolved to follow them; and so went to Mrs. Turner’s: and thence found her out at the Theatre, where I saw the last act of the “Knight of the Burning Pestle,” which pleased me not at all. And so after the play done, she and The. Turner and Mrs. Lucin and I, in her coach to the Park; and there found them out, and spoke to them; and observed many fine ladies, and staid till all were gone almost. And so to Mrs. Turner’s, and there supped, and so walked home, and by and by comes my wife home, brought by my Lady Carteret to the gate, and so to bed.

19 Annotations

First Reading

Pedro  •  Link

"Mr. Montagu is this last night come to the King with news, that he left the Queen and fleet in the Bay of Biscay, coming this wayward; and that he believes she is now at the Isle of Scilly."

According to the Portuguese historian Rau?

"On Sunday the 30th of April, Sandwich sent Edward Montagu rapidly to England, in the frigate Princess, to give an account of the journey and giving letters from Catherine to Charles and Clarendon."

dirk  •  Link

John Evelyn's diary: he's experimenting again...

"I waited on Prince Rupert to our Assembly, where we tried severall experiments in Mr. Boyles Vaccuum: a man thrusting in his arme, upon exhaustion of the ayre had his flesh immediatly swelled, so as the bloud was neere breaking the vaines, & unsufferable: he drawing it out, we found it all speckled: ..."

Bradford  •  Link

"somebody rose and said that they were not occupiers, but occupied."

Cue the rim-shot. Some jokes don't change, or get any better, with the passage of centuries.

Cumgranissalis  •  Link

Message from the King.
Sir Heneage Finch, his Majesty's Solicitor General, reports from the Conference, That the Lords did acquaint them, that they had received a Message from his Majesty, intimating, That he had received News of the Queen's approaching near the English Coast: and of his Majesty's Intent, upon the first Notice of her landing, to set forward to receive her: And therefore desired, that they would lay aside all private Business, and apply themselves wholly to the Publick, that they may be the sooner ready to rise.

From: 'House of Commons Journal Volume 8: 7 May 1662', Journal of the House of Commons: volume 8: 1660-1667 (1802), pp. 422-23.
URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…. Date accessed: 08 May 2005.

Cumgranissalis  •  Link

Ds. Crewe be seated in the chamber would be be privy to this:and the passsage of conforming to the correct form of worship:[hear they be discussing the correct word, to get the correct meaning of thought] and here is the :
Message from the King, about Dispatch of Public Business.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Yorke acquainted this House from the King, "That He hath received lately Information, that the Queen is likely to arrive in England very speedlly; and it is His Majesty's Intention to give His Royal Assent to those Public Bills as are depending between the Two Houses before His going to meet the Queen; therefore He desires, that their Lordships will take it into Consideration, and give a speedy Dispatch to those Public Businesses as are depending before their Lordships ; and, in order thereunto, that all Private Businesses may be laid aside."
Which this House ordered accordingly.
ORDERED, That this Message from the King be communicated to the House of Commons, at a Conference, presently; and to acquaint them with their Lordships Resolution herein

From: 'House of Lords Journal Volume 11: 7 May 1662', Journal of the House of Lords: volume 11: 1660-1666, pp. 446-50. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…. Date accessed: 08 May 2005.
And for those that argue over the ins and ons[or outs] of an English phrase' the above site of the Lauds could be a good read;

Mary  •  Link

Times and places.

According to notes in the L&M edition, Edward Mountagu, on board the Princess, left the fleet on 26th April to bring the news of the new queen's approach.

Though reported here to be near the Isles of Scilly, the queen was actually off St. Michael's Mount at this point.

Pedro  •  Link

The Journey, Times and Places.

I am glad that I am not the only one that has trouble with the calendar dates. The Historians Rau, Strickland and Davidson all agree that the Queen sailed on the 25th April, and arrives on a certain day; however Ollard in his biography of Sandwich says that he sailed on the 15th April, and arrived at the same time as the others!

Davidson and Rau give the same detailed account of the journey, I give a summary if anyone is interested up to the point that Mary quotes at St. Mount's Bay.

The Royal Charles was ready for departure on the 23rd of April, happening to be St. George's Day the Patron Saint of both countries. The wind veered sharply round, and the English ships could not leave the Bay. The Portuguese took the opportunity to stage a water carnival.

The next day the wind still blew strongly, and by the evening the fleet was still storm-bound. During the night the wind dropped, and although the next morning the wind was not favourable, Sandwich decided to put to sea. They managed to cross the bar, but the storm had not left good sea conditions. The journey was stormy and at times there was real danger to the fleet. The NW wind blew with such violence that several ships were damaged, and made it necessary to run for St. Mount's Bay to seek shelter until the wind moderated.

Rau adds two other interesting points.

1. By the heights of Monte Sao Miguel the fleet crossed with 4 English ships that had come with cavalry to help Portugal, and by them Catarina sent a letter back to her mother.
2. That Montague sails forward on the 30th in the Princess.

Are there any Ancient Mariners? The journey poses a couple of interesting points. Glyn had suggested that the journey had already had taken 19 days, and he will not be far wrong in real time. I would estimate that the distance from Lisbon to Portsmouth, on the globe would be say 800 miles. They would sail up the coast of Portugal and Spain to the Bay of Biscay.

1. Would they sail straight across the Bay or hug the coast whereby adding several miles on to the total?

2. If the fleet sailed on the 25th, and Montagu left them in the Bay, they could not have reached there Bay by the 26th?

3. Why would Montague estimate them being at the Isle of Scilly? On reaching the coast of France, and the Channel, would it be normal to sail straight across towards Land's End and the along the English coast? If this were so, maybe given bad weather, the Scillies would be an option?

Cumgranissalis  •  Link

'tis the way the wind doth blow. Need to pick up the Sou. Westers.

Cumgranissalis  •  Link

Prevailing weather off English South Coast.
Typical winds be 10 to 14 Knots
http://www.metoffice.com/climate/…

If one looks at this weather map [today?] a person can visualize the route. One must tack out to sea, in order to prevent being driven onto the French home seas thus become ransom bait.
Note todays wind be from the Nor' west, it will be different when thou reads it.['tis updated often]

http://www.metoffice.com/satpics/…

Cumgranissalis  •  Link

" On reaching the coast of France," that be OK on a Civilised day. Very dangerous to sail close to France. Besides the prevailing winds would drive the Ships into coastal Rocks,one needs elboe room to maneuverer without getting busted up or dining in a nice guarded wine cellar.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"...not occupiers but occupied..." Appreciative titter through the House, though a few do frown at such frivolity.

Hmmn...Something tells me this will not be the last sexist joke made in Parliament.

Interesting depiction of Elisabeth's freedom...She visits Lady Carteret on her own (though more than suitably chaperoned by Lady Jem Sr.), Sam follows after (but after a leisurely side trip to find Jane Turner and hitch a coach ride that ends...Naturally...at the theater), heads off in her coach only to catch them in passing in Hyde Park, say hi, and head off to supper at Cousin Jane's presumably without Beth who comes home at a rather late hour after a fine day of partying with miladies. I think we can grant that Sam was naturally nervous to see if things were going well-Carteret being Treasurer and all.

What's also interesting here is that Sam didn't mention the invite before...One would think he'd be a bit nervous as to how Bethie would make out, offering advice until she snapped at him, etc...

Pauline  •  Link

"Sam didn't mention the invite before”
But he did mention aiding Elizabeth in considering fashions and having some clothes made. They were obviously much pleased with the invitation to Elizabeth to join Lady Carteret and Lady Sandwich for this outing.

I think Sam wanted to glory in his wife in her new clothes doing the social whirl in the park. But he needed a coach and party of his own to really get in there and see it all, so he high-tailed it to see if Jane Turner was free. He chases Jane down at the theater, and she is willing. Her daughter and Mrs. Lucin make up the rest of the party, and they are off to the park. When I was in high school, we called it cruising, and we too were good at finding someone with a car so we could do it.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Sam slips into "Knight of the Burning Pestle..."

"Pardon me, 'cuse me...Pardon me. Sorry, just in to see my cousin." Ah...Spies Cousin Jane and The.

The in midst of making rude comment on the acting and story.

"Sam'l?"

"Ah...Cousin Jane. The."

"Hey, welcome to the worst play in London, Peepsie."

"Saw the worst in London last week, Thesie."

"Cousin Jane. Bess is out with Lady Carteret and my good Lady Jem. Any chance we could scoot over to Hyde Park in your rig and see how they're getting on? Not that I'm out of my wits with fear she'll make some disasterous faux pas..." Sam gives dear Cousin Jane eager puppy look...

The makes bratty joke regarding our poor Bess among the great ladies.

language hat  •  Link

Knight of the Burning Pestle:
I have been told, though I do not know how accurately, that at the time the word "pestle" was pronounced like "pizzle," hence the title is a not-so-subtle double entendre.

Australian Susan  •  Link

Double Entendre
Yes, I was taught it was a feeble (in our eyes, but maybe not in the 16th and 17th centuries) pun when I studied B & F at University. Wonder if the bawdiness offended Sam when in the company of ladies or if he just found watching the end of the play boring: it is certainly not one of B & F's better works.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"after dinner Sir Thos. Crew and I talked together, and among other instances of the simple light discourse that sometimes is in the Parliament House, he told me how in the late business of Chymny money, when all occupiers were to pay, it was questioned whether women were under that name to pay, and somebody rose and said that they were not occupiers, but occupied."

L&M: The Hearth-Tax Bill , made statutory on 19 May, had been sent to a committee of the whole House on 3 March: CJ, viii. 378.

Log in to post an annotation.

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