Wednesday 24 December 1662

Lay pleasantly, talking to my wife, till 8 o’clock, then up and to Sir W. Batten’s to see him and Sir G. Carteret and Sir J. Minnes take coach towards the Pay at Chatham, which they did and I home, and took money in my pocket to pay many reckonings to-day in the town, as my bookseller’s, and paid at another shop 4l. 10s. for “Stephens’s Thesaurus Graecae Linguae,” given to Paul’s School: So to my brother’s and shoemaker, and so to my Lord Crew’s, and dined alone with him, and after dinner much discourse about matters. Upon the whole, I understand there are great factions at Court, and something he said that did imply a difference like to be between the King and the Duke, in case the Queen should not be with child. I understand, about this bastard.1 He says, also, that some great man will be aimed at when Parliament comes to sit again; I understand, the Chancellor: and that there is a bill will be brought in, that none that have been in arms for the Parliament shall be capable of office. And that the Court are weary of my Lord Albemarle and Chamberlin. He wishes that my Lord Sandwich had some good occasion to be abroad this summer which is coming on, and that my Lord Hinchingbroke were well married, and Sydney had some place at Court. He pities the poor ministers that are put out, to whom, he says, the King is beholden for his coming in, and that if any such thing had been foreseen he had never come in. After this, and much other discourse of the sea, and breeding young gentlemen to the sea, I went away.

And homeward, met Mr. Creed at my bookseller’s in Paul’s Church-yard, who takes it ill my letter last night to Mr. Povy, wherein I accuse him of the neglect of the Tangier boats, in which I must confess I did not do altogether like a friend; but however it was truth, and I must own it to be so, though I fall wholly out with him for it.

Thence home and to my office alone to do business, and read over half of Mr. Bland’s discourse concerning Trade, which (he being no scholler and so knows not the rules of writing orderly) is very good. So home to supper and to bed, my wife not being well … [she having her months upon her. – L&M]

This evening Mr. Gauden sent me, against Christmas, a great chine of beef and three dozen of tongues. I did give 5s. to the man that brought it, and half-a-crown to the porters. This day also the parish-clerk brought the general bill of mortality, which cost me half-a-crown more.

35 Annotations

First Reading

Tony Eldridge  •  Link

I did give 5s. to the man that brought it and half a crown to the porters.
That's a hell of a tip for just delivering the meat - it sounds more like a payment for the men to keep their mouths shut. Anyway, Merry Christmas to you, Sam.

Australian Susan  •  Link

"breeding young gentlemen for the sea"
embryo of a Naval Academy?

Australian Susan  •  Link

If you read the background note on Mr G, it sounds as though this was a desperate attempt on his part to get paid! Possibly he could ill afford the beef and tongues. Although maybe it had gone through the books already and Sam was getting victuals his office had pledged to pay for? Or is that too cynical?

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Eight o'clock?! Well...It is Xmas eve.

"At this festive time of the year, Mr. Pepys, we of your ole alma matter like to hit our more successful alumni up for books. A Greek language thesarus would be of immense benefit."
***
"...none in arms for the Parliament shall be capable of office..."

Hmmn...Sam grins, picturing an office devoid of all but himself and Coventry.

"Me?" Charles stares. "Stab all those turncoat ex-Cromwellians who helped drag my beloved father to the chopping blocking block in the back now that my position is secure?"
***

Good ole Povey already getting hit...Amazingly nice guy, that poor fellow.
***

Sam? Watch that Xmas tipping...Half a crown here, half a crown there...And no yearly net gain for the Pepys.

Of course a pound or two on a nice present for Bess would not be money badly spent.
***

"That's right Hewer. A toast." Balty rises, glass in hand taken from Will, having invited himself and new wife to Xmas dinner at the Pepys. Sam glaring but resigned...Does pick-up my poor wretch's spirits to have him with us.

"To my dear sister, Elisabeth." Sincere beam. "The richest lass in town."

"What the heck have you been telling him?" Sam hisses...Bess shrugs. My brother, what you gonna do?

"God bless us, every one..." notes Will.

in Aqua Scripto  •  Link

"...a great chine of beef and three dozen of tongues..." just backbone and not a wag amongst them. From "...being no scholler and so knows not the rules of writing orderly..." Gauden known to keep greasing the the palms , the tongues be a warning to those that need to know what happens to loose tongues.

dirk  •  Link

"... Mr. Creed ..., who takes it ill my letter last night to Mr. Povy, wherein I accuse him of the neglect of the Tangier boats, in which I must confess I did not do altogether like a friend; but however it was truth, and I must own it to be so, though I fall wholly out with him for it"

Professional integrity comes at a price. A rare quality, then as well as now.

jeannine  •  Link

"difference like to be between the King and the Duke, in case the Queen should not be with child"... an ongoing theme will be the succession of the reign and the balancing act between Charles, his brother James (Duke of York) and his bastard son James (Duke of Monmouth) by Lucy Walters. I can't help but wonder how much of this ongoing struggling over this issues was used by Charles to ensure that he got compliance by his brother--somehow playing off the pawns against each other???? Also, how horrible for Queen Catherine, so early into her marriage, to already feel the pressure of producing an heir. Must have been a very tension filled place to live.

jeannine  •  Link

“Stephens’s Thesaurus Graecae Linguae,” totally off topic here, but how timely to have a reference to a dictionary. On the Christmas episode of Spongebob (favorite of 9 year old, and I admit to liking him too!), a character says something in a complete sentence and Spongebob replies... "I hope that Santa gives me a dictionary so I can understand what you said". From time to time reading Sam I feel the same way!

in Aqua Scripto  •  Link

"...took money in my pocket to pay many reckonings to-day in the town..." Interesting, how people obtained merchandise without heavy coin. Signed the tab, wax of course,no need for 16 digit number, his name be good enough, now this be the day of reckoning, 'tis why paper money dothe say "** *** ** *****", all else cash.

A. De Araujo  •  Link

"Bill of Mortality"
The antecedent of The Morbidity and Mortality reports issued periodically by The Center of Disease Control(CDC) and The Departments of Health of various cities in The USA.
I wonder if London was the pioneer or if it was done before somewhere else?

Stolzi  •  Link

"He pities the poor ministers that are put out, to whom, he says, the King is beholden for his coming in, and that if any such thing had been foreseen he had never come in."

Interesting that such an almost-treasonous statement can be made in this age of the chopping block. Englishmen have always valued their liberties and here is an example. Also shows, I suppose, that Lord Crew trusted his man.

Alan Bedford  •  Link

In March of this year (1662), John Graunt published a statistical study of the Bills of Mortality, "Natural and Political Observations made upon the Bills of Mortality". Sam bought a copy, and now he's buying the current edition of the source material. A polymath, our Sam.

in Aqua Scripto  •  Link

Interesting odds for Ladbrooks/Vegas or the assurance /insurance cos.
http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Gr…

#10. From whence it follows, that of the said 100 conceived there remains alive
at six years end :64.
At Sixteen years end :40
At Twenty six :25
At Tirty six :16
At Fourty six :10
At Fifty six :6
At Sixty six :3
At Seventy six :1
At Eight :0
but there be sum that dothe cock a snoot.

andy  •  Link

and to bed, my wife not being well . . . .

for the record, what's excised here? no nookies?

Terry F  •  Link

"my wife not being well, she having her months upon her."

So L&M.

Jenny Doughty  •  Link

What kind of tongues were these three dozen? Ox tongues are quite large, and I can't imagine how Sam's household would get through 36 of them before they'd gone off, even in cold weather.

Ruben  •  Link

Tongues
why ox tongues? I am sure they were not pigeon tongues but they are many different tongues to choose from. It may be they were already cooked and ready to make into a conserve.
Spanish keep tongues in "escabeche". They cook the tongue in vinegar and spices and keep them well till spring. No refrigeration needed.

dirk  •  Link

Tongues

Could even be short for "tonguefish", very common in the North Sea.

tonguefish, tongue-fish:

"Any of various marine flatfishes of the family Cynoglossidae, having the posterior part of the body tapering to a point."
(The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language)

"Left-eyed marine flatfish whose tail tapers to a point; of little commercial value."
(WordNet 2.0, Princeton University)

Australian Susan  •  Link

Tongues
Possibly calves' tongues. They would not be very large and almost certainly salted and preserved. A great deal of slaughtering would have been undertaken in October/November becuase of not having to feed animals through the winter. The meat was then salted or cured to provide meat through the winter. I guess that the tongues were packed tightly in salt into little barrels and rolled off a porter's trolley into the Pepys house. Good Christmas present, especially as Mrs P is poorly at the moment and not up to much extreme cooking.

celtcahill  •  Link

" Sam hisses…Bess shrugs. "

Hee Hee. And the French shrug so well....

Patricia  •  Link

Mrs. P was ill on Nov. 23rd. She must not have discomfort every month, or else Sam sometimes fails to mention it (which I doubt, he being OCD about most things.)

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

The Bills of mortality Pepys acquired were not Graunt's book, Natural and Political Observations Made upon the Bills of Mortality (1662 Old Style or 1663 New Style) [which] used analysis of the mortality rolls in early modern London as Charles II and other officials attempted to create a system to warn of the onset and spread of bubonic plague in the city. Though the system was never truly created, Graunt's work in studying the rolls resulted in the first statistically based estimation of the population of London. His work ran to five editions by 1676." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John…

"Bills of mortality [Pepys bought] were the weekly mortality statistics in London, designed to monitor burials from 1592 to 1595 and then continuously from 1603. The responsibility to produce the statistics was chartered in 1611 to the Worshipful Company of Parish Clerks. The bills covered an area that started to expand as London grew from the City of London, however they became fixed in 1636. New parishes were then only added where ancient parishes within the area were divided. Factors such as the use of suburban cemeteries outside the area, the exemption of extra-parochial places within the area, the wider growth of the metropolis, and that they recorded burials rather than deaths, made their data invalid." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

""... Mr. Creed ..., who takes it ill my letter last night to Mr. Povy, wherein I accuse him of the neglect of the Tangier boats"

The boats had been ordered in August. They were needed to serve the ships lying off the town in Tangier roads. Cf. http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1… (Per L&M footnote)

Bill  •  Link

It's been a year since SP bespoke Stephens’s Thesaurus Graecae Linguae from "my bookseller" for St. Paul's school. Now he pays 10s. more than he offered then for it from another bookseller. Was it so hard to get a copy?

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Crew, Sandwich's father in law, was a pessimistic old puritan who, in his heart, probably never abandoned "The Good Old Cause". The fact that Pepys repeats his views may not mean that he agrees with them: Sam seems to have been a good listener, and interested in what the factions were saying and thinking.

It's fortunate that the restored monarchy was NOT a police state: Sam's recorded conversations would have been very interesting to a restoration Walsingham!

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

I shall be cooking my own mini "Chine of Beef" this Christmas: a modest piece of forerib on the bone! :)

Gerald Berg  •  Link

Money and today's equivalent. 7 pounds monthly household costs = @500 pounds today.
1 book for 4 1/2 pounds = @ 325 pounds today.
Either households are cheap or books very expensive.

John York  •  Link

Terry Foreman points out that the Bills of Mortality were the "mortality statistics in London, designed to monitor burials ... The responsibility to produce the statistics was ... the Worshipful Company of Parish Clerks."

The wikipedia link he gave includes a picture of the one for 1665
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bil…
In fact this is an annual summary for the year ended 19 December 1665. This makes me believe that an annual edition was produced each year and that this was what Pepys was buying from the Parish Clerk, not a weekly one.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"And that the Court are weary of my Lord Albemarle and Chamberlin."

L&M: The Lord Chamberlain, Manchester. Crew is here bewailing the attack on the moderate 'Presbyterian' interest to which he himself belonged, in common with Sandwich. In the autumn and winter of 1659-60 they had taken the lead in the movement which led to the Restoration.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"He pities the poor ministers that are put out,"

L&M: The Presbyterian parsons extruded by the Act of Uniformity.

The Act of Uniformity 1558 (1 Eliz 1 c 2) was an Act of the Parliament of England passed in 1559.[nb 1] It set the order of prayer to be used in the English Book of Common Prayer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act….

Log in to post an annotation.

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