Monday 29 June 1663
Up betimes and to my office, and by and by to the Temple, and there appointed to meet in the evening about my business, and thence I walked home, and up and down the streets is cried mightily the great victory got by the Portugalls against the Spaniards, where 10,000 slain, 3 or 4,000 taken prisoners, with all the artillery, baggage, money, &c., and Don John of Austria forced to flee with a man or two with him, which is very great news.
Thence home and at my office all the morning, and then by water to St. James’s, but no meeting to-day being holy day, but met Mr. Creed in the Park, and after a walk or two, discoursing his business, took leave of him in Westminster Hall, whither we walked, and then came again to the Hall and fell to talk with Mrs. Lane, and after great talk that she never went abroad with any man as she used heretofore to do, I with one word got her to go with me and to meet me at the further Rhenish wine-house, where I did give her a Lobster and do so touse her and feel her all over, making her believe how fair and good a skin she has, and indeed she has a very white thigh and leg, but monstrous fat. When weary I did give over and somebody, having seen some of our dalliance, called aloud in the street, “Sir! why do you kiss the gentlewoman so?” and flung a stone at the window, which vexed me, but I believe they could not see my touzing her, and so we broke up and I went out the back way, without being observed I think, and so she towards the Hall and I to White Hall, where taking water I to the Temple with my cozen Roger and Mr. Goldsborough to Gray’s Inn to his counsel, one Mr. Rawworth, a very fine man, where it being the question whether I as executor should give a warrant to Goldsborough in my reconveying her estate back again, the mortgage being performed against all acts of the testator, but only my own, my cozen said he never heard it asked before; and the other that it was always asked, and he never heard it denied, or scrupled before, so great a distance was there in their opinions, enough to make a man forswear ever having to do with the law; so they agreed to refer it to Serjeant Maynard. So we broke up, and I by water home from the Temple, and there to Sir W. Batten and eat with him, he and his lady and Sir J. Minnes having been below to-day upon the East India men that are come in, but never tell me so, but that they have been at Woolwich and Deptford, and done great deal of business. God help them. So home and up to my lute long, and then, after a little Latin chapter with Will, to bed. But I have used of late, since my wife went, to make a bad use of my fancy with whatever woman I have a mind to, which I am ashamed of, and shall endeavour to do so no more. So to sleep.
32 Annotations
First Reading
tel • Link
where it being the question whether I as executor should give a warrant to Goldsborough in my reconveying her estate back again, the mortgage being performed against all acts of the testator, but only my own, my cozen said he never heard it asked before; and the other that it was always asked, and he never heard it denied, or scrupled before, so great a distance was there in their opinions, enough to make a man forswear ever having to do with the law; so they agreed to refer it to Serjeant Maynard.
What is this about? And who is "she"?
dirk • Link
Goldsborough
This is a dispute that apparently came with Sam's Brampton inheritance.
http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…
I haven't been able to find the details, but it looks as if Sam wants to undo a previous mortgage agreement because it predates his own appointment as executor of the will, and the lawyers are in disagreement whether this is an acceptable procedure or not. For the sake of clarity: the Mr Goldsborough present, is the son of Mrs Goldsborough with whom the original mortgage agreement was concluded. The precise implications of the "warrant" are not clear to me.
Robert Gertz • Link
"...after great talk that she never went abroad with any man as she used heretofore to do, I with one word got her to go with me and to meet me at the further Rhenish wine-house..."
One word?
"So I never no more go about with men as I did used to. And your good wife, Mr. Pepys? Where is she at?"
"Bramp...ton."
"Lessgo..."
(One can I think assume she and Sam have been an item at times in the past.)
"But I have used of late, since my wife went, to make a bad use of my fancy with whatever woman I have a mind to, which I am ashamed of, and shall endeavour to do so no more."
What? And not tell us? Sam...You lil'...
***
TerryF • Link
"no meeting to-day being holy day"
L&M note that this is St Peter's Day, and wonder whether the Duke put off the meeting in favor of a chapel service [i.e. a Mass].
A. De Araujo • Link
"where I did give her a lobster......
..has a very white thigh and leg,but monstrous fat"
and lobster has a lot of cholesterol!
Todd Bernhardt • Link
"God help them."
And you, my unfaithful friend, when Bess finds out about your tousing of very white but monstrous fat thighs...
(Great entry today. Very entertaining!)
Talbot • Link
"...great victory got by the Portugalls against the Spaniards..."
Could someone enlighten me as to which battle he is speaking of?
TerryF • Link
"great victory got by the Portugalls against the Spaniards"
L&M say a newspaper has just hit the street with a version of the news that reached SP last Thursday. http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
andy • Link
a bad use of my fancy with whatever woman I have a mind to,
Sam "playing the pink Oboe" in bed, after doing the same (is touzing more than teasing?)to Mrs Lane in the dark corners of the Rhenish winehouse?
Joe • Link
"But I have used of late, since my wife went, to make a bad use of my fancy..."
Does anyone remember if Pepys noted this habit (of mind?) last year when he was alone, or was he just too busy with house renovations to be bothered... to make note? When was the last time he got frisky?
Pedro • Link
“and up and down the streets is cried mightily the great victory got by the Portugalls against the Spaniards,”
For details of the Battle of Ameixial (or Canal) see link mentioned by Terry above.
Casimiro in his biography of Catherine says that the crowds were shouting for the Red Hussars (??) a former regiment of Monck’s army.
(Later, Portuguese Consul Maynard would write to Bennett saying that at the front in Beira the Portuguese donned red jackets to scare the Spaniards.)
Robert Gertz • Link
Joe. I fear Sam means more than just mental fancy here. I think he's been holding out on us until mentioning Mrs. Lane today. Why he would suddenly get all nervous about confiding amours to the Diary is a mystery and actually I hope I'm wrong but...
***
"Sir! why do you kiss the gentlewoman so?" Rock flung.
"It's ole Pepys all right, mates. Run like hell!" Wayneman calls.
or better yet.
High voice...(Branaugh does this great in the abridged audio Diary)... "Sir! why do you kiss the gentlewoman so?"
"It's all right, he's staying inside." Creed calls to Batten as he comes back from the window.
"What did he say? Our little ladies' boy staying inside with fat Betty?" Penn hisses to Batten as they wait on Creed from their hiding spot, Batten a bit closer.
"Yes!" Batten nods.
"Creed?" both eye a leering John as he comes up...
"Well that took ten years off our Pepys' life." Creed chuckles. "You should have seen the look on our Lothario's face."
"Ah, that women should be our Pepys' downfall." Batten solemnly notes. Penn chuckling. "Reminds me of when he couldn't take his eyes off my new maid/"
"I knew the little bastard was going back for Betty Lane." Creed grins. "He was eyeing her the whole time we were walking in the Hall."
"You know what this means, Penn." Batten calms after a joint five minute laugh...
"Dibs on Elisabeth, Batten." Penn replies eagerly.
***
Mary • Link
to touse.
In this context, it means to engage in rough-and-tumble horseplay with a woman in an indelicate (OED) manner.
Ruben • Link
May I remind the readers that Betty Lane is an old friend. We met her a few years ago. See:
Friday 20 January 1659/60:
"Thence to Westminster Hall where Mrs. Lane and the rest of the maids had their white scarfs, all having been at the burial of a young bookseller in the Hall."
and in the annotations:
"Nicholas Laughlin on Mon 20 Jan 2003, 11:28 pm | Link
Mrs. Lane:
Betty Lane, “who worked at a haberdasher’s stall in Westminster Hall,” according to Latham-Matthews. “Throughout the period of the diary she and Pepys maintained a casual liaison.”
I could not find Mrs. Lane in the background people info where I think she belongs.
Robert Gertz • Link
a certain swinish Rhenish winehouse...
"But that's why birds do it...
Bees do it...
Even educated fleas do it..."
("Really, Mr. Pepys?" "Indeed, Mrs. Lane, I saw it demonstrated recently at Gresham College." "Oh, my." "Yes, when one moves in court circles, my dear Mrs. Lane, one gains access to the finest and highest minds of...")
"Lets do it...Lets fall in love."
Brampton...
"In Spain the best upper sets do it...
Lithuanians and Letts do it."
("They do, Lord Sandwich?" Bess blinks.
"Indeed, cousin-in-law.")
"Lets do it, lets fall in love."
Seething Lane...
"The Dutch in Old Amsterdam do it...
Not to mention the Finns..."
("Really?" Mary the maid asks a hopeful Will Hewer...)
"Folks in Siam do it...
Think of Siamese twins." Will notes
The court...
"The most refined ladybirds do it...
When a gentleman calls."
(Charles notes to Catherine.)
"Moths in Our racks do it...Whats the use of moth balls."
Seething Lane, the Battens...
"Locusts in trees do it, bees do it...
Even overeducated fleas do it..."
(Hmmn, right...Lady Batten nods to Sir Will...While eyeing Mingo...)
"Lets do it, lets fall in love."
London...
John Creed's lodgings...
"Lets do it...Lets fall in love!." Creed beams at his pile of pieces of eight.
***
Bradford • Link
Would-be seducers, add "touse" to your armoury of enticements! Thanks, Mary, for a clear definition of a wonderful word if dubious activity. Is this not the first incident in a very long while which even begins to justify Pepys's general reputation as a philanderer?
The only thing unusual about his closing confession (common throughout the centuries and across all boundaries of country, custom, or gender) is that he says it straight out.
mary mcintyre • Link
Robert, that was beautiful... let's do it, indeed ;)
Rex Gordon • Link
Let's Do It ...
Thanks so much, Robert, for a great entry today! Cole Porter fans might want to look for a book called The Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter, which contains, among gems too numerous to count, DOZENS of additional verses to Let's Do It, some even racier than the rarely sung line about the uselessness of moth balls. Many of Porter's other great songs, like You're the Top and It's Delovely, also have verses I'd never heard. I have a feeling it's out of print now and used book stores may be the ticket.
Robert Gertz • Link
OT utterly but I can't resist noting my favorite extra lyric being to my shame George Shearing's
"Ernest Hemingway could...Juuuust... do it."
in Aqua scripto • Link
Wilmot, where be thou, to tell me only of the delights, when thee passed me by, at the sundial. "...do so touse her and feel her all over, making her believe how fair and good a skin she has,..."
Samuel be so saddened that he could not use the words of Rochester.
http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…
http://www.poetryconnection.net/p…
Joe • Link
"more than just mental fancy here"
Robert Gertz: I couldn't agree more, and find the extra lyric you supplied to be pricisely on topic.
I was wondering about Pepy's "bad use of my fancy" in the context of some of his other reports of observations about (and discomforts with) how his mind works.
Australian Susan • Link
Adultery of the mind
Glyn • Link
I'm impressed by the courteous language of the man who through the stone at the window. Politeness and violence all in one go.
Patricia • Link
I've searched, but I can't find it...one night when Pepys (& the Missus, I think) came back from somewhere that they had seen Lady C. and he used the phrase "my fancy" to indicate that he was fantasizing about her while he....Wheatley sort of ellipsis here.....It must have been in 1662
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"the East India men that are come in"
The ships which had gone out in April 1662 to take possession of Bombay, newly acquired as part of the Queen's dowry. (L&M footnote)
San Diego Sarah • Link
'Ships of the East India Company were called East Indiamen or simply "Indiamen".' 'In 1607, the Company decided to build its own ships and leased a yard on the River Thames at Deptford. By 1614, the yard having become too small, an alternative site was acquired at Blackwall: the new yard was fully operational by 1617. It was sold in 1656, although ... East India Company ships continued to be built and repaired there under the new owners.' http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo… The Brunswick Dock was still in use by the East India Company long after 1803.
Sasha Clarkson • Link
Sam may be firing blanks, but he's primed with too much gunpowder!
Sasha Clarkson • Link
Turning to Elizabeth, today I was researching a poetess, Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea, (1661 -1720), daughter of one Sir William Kingsmill. It is not inconceivable the she and Elizabeth might be related via Elizabeth's maternal grandfather, Sir Francis Kingsmill.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann…
For comparison I tweeted a picture of both to our Pepys Diary twitter feed, in case anyone wants to look and judge for themselves ...
https://twitter.com/SashaClarkson…
A contemporary poet of Anne Finch was Sandwich's grand-daughter in-law, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lad…
The following article compares the two women and describes Lady Mary as "The Germaine Greer of her day".
http://www.jimandellen.org/finch/…
Louise Hudson • Link
Although he would have sung the praises of "doing it" I don't think Sam would have added anything about falling in love.
Jonathan V • Link
Yes, Classical, it is amazing. I always try to picture when he has time to write out his days, almost daily.
Chris Squire UK • Link
A google of ‘"my fancy" site:pepysdiary.com’ turns up only one other example of it in this sense - with an unexpected object; it’s coming soon so no spoiler from me.
....
OED has:
‘touse, v. < Middle English
. . 1. c. To pull (a woman) about rudely, indelicately, or in horse-play; to tousle. Obs.
1624 P. Massinger Bond-man i. iii. sig. B4, They are rough, Boystrous and sawcy, and at the first sight Ruffle, and towze vs.
. . 1675 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Odysses xvi. 105 Maids tous'd ill-favouredly . . ‘
Terry Foreman • Link
"Publique matters are in an ill condition; Parliament sitting and raising four subsidys for the King, which is but a little, considering his wants; and yet that parted withal with great hardness. They being offended to see so much money go, and no debts of the publique’s paid, but all swallowed by a luxurious Court: which the King it is believed and hoped will retrench in a little time, when he comes to see the utmost of the revenue which shall be settled on him: he expecting to have his 1,200,000l. made good to him, which is not yet done by above 150,000l., as he himself reports to the House."
L&M: £1,200,000 was the over-optimistic estimate of he yield of the revenues granted to the King in 1660, and the defeit of over £150,000 had been reported to the Comm ons on 4 June 1663: CJ, viii. 498. As a result, four subsidies had been granted and measures taken to improve the vollection of other sources of revenue. Cf. https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… and
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…