Friday 29 May 1663

This day is kept strictly as a holy-day, being the King’s Coronation. We lay long in bed, and it rained very hard, rain and hail, almost all the morning. By and by Creed and I abroad, and called at several churches; and it is a wonder to see, and by that to guess the ill temper of the City at this time, either to religion in general, or to the King, that in some churches there was hardly ten people in the whole church, and those poor people.

So to a coffee-house, and there in discourse hear the King of France is likely to be well again.

So home to dinner, and out by water to the Royall Theatre, but they not acting to-day, then to the Duke’s house, and there saw “The Slighted Mayde,” wherein Gosnell acted Pyramena, a great part, and did it very well, and I believe will do it better and better, and prove a good actor.

The play is not very excellent, but is well acted, and in general the actors, in all particulars, are better than at the other house.

Thence to the Cocke alehouse, and there having drunk, sent them with Creed to see the German Princess, at the Gatehouse, at Westminster, and I to my brother’s, and thence to my uncle Fenner’s to have seen my aunt James (who has been long in town and goes away to-morrow and I not seen her), but did find none of them within, which I was glad of, and so back to my brother’s to speak with him, and so home, and in my way did take two turns forwards and backwards through the Fleete Ally to see a couple of pretty [strumpets] that stood off the doors there, and God forgive me I could scarce stay myself from going into their houses with them, so apt is my nature to evil after once, as I have these two days, set upon pleasure again.

So home and to my office to put down these two days’ journalls, then home again and to supper, and then Creed and I to bed with good discourse, only my mind troubled about my spending my time so badly for these seven or eight days; but I must impute it to the disquiet that my mind has been in of late about my wife, and for my going these two days to plays, for which I have paid the due forfeit by money and abating the times of going to plays at Court, which I am now to remember that I have cleared all my times that I am to go to Court plays to the end of this month, and so June is the first time that I am to begin to reckon.

23 Annotations

First Reading

dirk  •  Link

John Evelyn's diary today:

"Dr. Creighton preached his extravagant Sermon at St. Margarits before the house of Commons: 3. Cant: ult: [see note] I dined at Mr. Treasurers his Majesties joyfull Anniversarie & Restauration:"

[note]: Cant. 3:11 -- Song of Solomon -- "Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart."

Australian Susan  •  Link

Service as published in the Book of Common Prayer, 1662
"A FORM OF PRAYER with THANKSGIVING to Almighty God, for having put an end to the Great Rebellion, by the Restitution of the King and Royal Family, and the Restoration of the Government after many years interruption: which unspeakable mercies were wonderfully completed upon the Twenty-ninth of May, in the year 1660; and in memory therof, that day in every year is by Act of Parliament appointed to be for ever kept holy."

The service consisted of Morning Prayer with additional prayers. The readings were 2 Samuel 19 verse 9
and The Epistle of St Jude.

TerryF  •  Link

"a couple of pretty whores that stood off the doors there"

So L&M.

Today is consumed with *seing* and the sins of the eyes, of which Samuel is aware, and about which Matt. 5:29 says: "And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast [it] from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not [that] thy whole body should be cast into hell."

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"...but I must impute it to the disquiet that my mind has been in of late about my wife, and for my going these two days to plays..."

Women and the media...Always handy targets of blame.

in Aqua Scripto  •  Link

"and prove a good actor;" I wonder? what was the word written?????
Was this word be actor or actress? translated and/or edited, I wonder how many other words were made to fit the usage at the period of time of the transcription.

in Aqua Scripto  •  Link

Temptation. Looks dothe raise the the lower brain.
"...and in my way did take two turns forwards and backwards through the Fleete Ally to see a couple of pretty [strumpets] that stood off the doors there, and God forgive me I could scarce stay myself from going into their houses with them, so apt is my nature to evil after once, as I have these two days, set upon pleasure again...."
anquis in herbe.

TerryF  •  Link

L&M also have "actor", but good Q., i.A.S.

I wonder whether the gender distinctiom was not yet made because women were so recently onstage?

Wonder what the OED says about "actress"?

in Aqua Scripto  •  Link

If all else fails, look it up in the OddED. Sam does it again.
2. a. A female player on the stage. (ACTOR was at first used for both sexes.)
1666 PEPYS Diary 27 Dec., Doll Common doing Abigail most excellently, & Knipp the widow very well, & will be an excellent actor, I think. 1700 DRYDEN Epil. to Pilgrim 40 To stop the trade of love behind the scene, Where actresses make bold with married men.
Actress : [full circle]

A1. A female actor or doer. Obs. repl. by ACTOR.
1589 WARNER Albion's Eng. (1612) 335 Opportunitie, the chiefe Actresse in all attempts, gaue the Plaudite in Loue. 1596 C. FITZGEFFREY Sir F. Drake (1881) 25 Tasking your pens to pen a womans praise, And she the actresse of your owne disease. 1626 COCKERAM, Actresse, a woman doer. 1670 Lond. Gaz. cccclxviii. 1 A principal Lady of the Island who was proved to be an Actress or Accomplice in the assassinate.
At first used only in the general sense, not in the dramatic; now only in the dramatic, not in the general.
as the actress said to the bishop (or as the bishop said to the actress): a catch-phrase mischievously implying a sexual innuendo in a preceding innocent remark.

TerryF  •  Link

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Actor (F) 17c > Actress > late 20c Actor (F)

Lurker  •  Link

Why exactly...

"a couple of pretty [strumpets] that stood"

So, why the brackets ([]) ? Was this Weatley's doing, or DWs?

andy  •  Link

I could scarce stay myself from going into their houses with them,...
I must impute it to the disquiet that my mind has been in of late about my wife

it's Bess' fault, then..?!?

TerryF  •  Link

"So, why the brackets ([]) ? Was this Weatley’s doing, or DWs?"

They are in the Wheatley text, are characteristic of his taste; the euphemism is better than ". . . ." in serving the sense of what follows; usually a DW contribution is noted; so methinks Wheatley's.

* * *

"Plus ça change, &c" is an application of which I've come to have some Q's and of which I've repented as at least unnecessary.

TerryF  •  Link

"I have cleared all my times that I am to go to Court plays to the end of this month"

How many days are left in this month?!
Is this repentance or chicanery?

in Aqua Scripto  •  Link

The word [] used by Sam in his encounter of 'thems' that stand in doorways.
Was it the most common, that be the hore [whore]
[ 'wh' 16C addition] hore OE from the baltic surrounds. from Rhine to the Oder. known from 11 C on.

A Strumpet, be one that strums a a fiddle, sometimes known for extra curricula activities.
A prostitute was used for political types that sell their souls for gain.
Harlot more of the rogue, vagabond
the Latin prostituo -uere ui, -utum, to put up for sale, to prostitute. Prostibulum -i nt. prostitute.

in Aqua Scripto  •  Link

Yesterday in exchange alley "to purchase a book?" to-day it be Fleete Alley, for a fleeting glimpse of some ankles. Yet I was told never go down a blind alley.

Patricia  •  Link

It's amusing and so human to see Sam making deals with himself about plays and penalties.

Second Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Pepys has made a mistake: Today is Charles II's birthday. He was crowned on April 23, 1661. There was talk about making a new order of nobility celebrated on May 29 as Royal Oak Day, but it never came to anything.

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

The Cock Tavern was actually in Fleet Street, the continuation of The Strand in the City of London. The border between the two streets is by the Royal Courts of Justice, east of St Clement Dane's church. In the 1880, the pub was moved to the other side of the road. I frequented it occasionally during the 1970s, when I was a student at KCL on the Strand.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_…

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

"... sent them with Creed to see the German Princess ..."

This implies that Elizabeth and Ashwell went to the Theatre with Sam and Creed. Just a reminder that, as the diary was only intended for Sam's own eyes, much of daily life is not recorded, as it would not need to be. Mention of the event would jog the rest of the memory.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Sasha Clarkson, might you also post the very valuable comment about The Cock Tavern's location on the Encyclopedia page about it?!

Third Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Art isn't always the truth.

For instance, on the UK Parliament website is a page
"Coronation Procession of Charles II
"This is a ‘circumstantial account' of Charles II' s 1661 coronation, published in 1820. The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, John Ayton, is pictured alongside the Lord Mayor of London and the Lord Great Chamberlain. They are part of a great procession that included the King and Queen, the King's herb woman, and the gentleman and lady of the bedchamber, as well as various Dukes and Viscounts. Charles II was the last sovereign to make the traditional procession from the Tower of London to Westminster Abbey the day before the coronation.

"Title: A Circumstantial Account of the Preparations for the Coronation of Charles II, by Sir Edward Walker
"Catalogue number: Parliamentary Archives, LGC/8/1/2"

WAIT, I said to myself, there was no Queen in Charles II's procession. The House of Commons website has it wrong.

Today I got the following explanation:

"Dear Sally,

"Thank you very much for writing to us. Once you have read our response, please let us know how we did by completing our short survey: http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/XT…

"I have contacted colleagues in the Parliamentary Archives for advice regarding the text on the “Coronation Procession of Charles II” at this link:
https://www.parliament.uk/about/l…

"They have confirmed that the text is a caption is describing the object, and in particular the people that are portrayed in the print, not the event itself or the attendees. The King and Queen are pictured in the print.

"I hope this is helpful.

"Yours sincerely,

"Ciara
"House of Commons Enquiry Service"

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