Saturday 7 November 1663

Up and to the office, where we sat all the morning, and Sir W. Pen and I had a word or two, where by opposing him in not being willing to excuse a mulct put upon the purser of the James, absent from duty, he says, by his business and order, he was mighty angry, and went out of the office like an asse discontented: At which I am never a whit sorry; I would not have [him] think that I dare not oppose him, where I see reason and cause for it.

Home to dinner, and then by coach abroad about several businesses to several places, among others to Westminster Hall, where, seeing Howlett’s daughter going out of the other end of the Hall, I followed her if I would to have offered talk to her and dallied with her a little, but I could not overtake her.

Then calling at Unthank’s for something of my wife’s not done, a pretty little gentlewoman, a lodger there, came out to tell me that it was not yet done, which though it vexed me yet I took opportunity of taking her by the hand with the boot, and so found matter to talk a little the longer to her, but I was ready to laugh at myself to see how my anger would not operate, my disappointment coming to me by such a messenger. Thence to Doctors’ Commons and there consulted Dr. Turner about some differences we have with the officers of the East India ships about goods brought by them without paying freight, which we demand of them.

So home to my office, and there late writing letters, and so home to supper and to bed, having got a scurvy cold by lying cold in my head the last night.

This day Captain Taylor brought me a piece of plate, a little small state dish, he expecting that I should get him some allowance for demorage of his ship “William,” kept long at Tangier, which I shall and may justly do.

23 Annotations

First Reading

Bradford  •  Link

"I took opportunity of taking her by the hand with the boot": just what delicate gesture is being described here?

A "mulct" is simply a fine or penalty; whereas to mulct someone is
"to punish by a fine;
to defraud esp. of money: swindle;
to obtain by fraud, duress, or theft" (Merriam-Webster).

Terry F  •  Link

L&M say the "boot" here is the boot, i.e., luggage compartment of the coach.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"...there consulted Dr. Turner about some differences we have with the officers of the East India ships about goods brought by them without paying freight, which we demand of them..."

Careful, Sam. Playing with the soon-to-be big boys here.
***
"...and so home to supper and to bed, having got a scurvy cold by lying cold in my head the last night..."

I take it no mad night's romp with Bess leaving her feeling preggers last night.

***
Sam, one of these days Sir Will Penn is simply going to have you taken out in a small rowboat and given a live burial at sea... Seriously, it's a measure of Sam's self assurance...The power of his patron, Lord Sandwich...And the friendship he's earned through hard work with Coventry that he feels he can pull this sort of thing with Penn. One might suggest it also speaks a little about Penn's fundamental decency...He could probably make things very difficult for Pepys if he wished to, despite Sam's diligence, but he seems to respect the sincerity of Sam's efforts however annoyed he may be by some of them.

JWB  •  Link

Boot, Webster 1913
2. That which is given to make an exchange equal, or to make
up for the deficiency of value in one of the things
exchanged.

"I'll give you boot, I'll give you three for one." Shakespeare

Roboto  •  Link

"having got a scurvy cold". Sounds like Navy talk. Sam is picking up the language.

cum salis grano  •  Link

boot: that be a shoe that hides the ladies ankle like a modern ladies boot, that be the way to get a home run.
Then boot was also a term for booty , extra perks obtained from using unusual methods of trading with unsavory types.

Mary  •  Link

"taking her by the hand...."

L&M gives the reading as "over the boot" rather than "with the boot." This makes better sense of their interpretation of "boot" as referring to the boot of the coach.

OED cites 1608 as the first recorded use of 'boot' in this way.

GrahamT  •  Link

Boot is now used in British English for the corresponding part of a car: what the Americans call the trunk.

I wonder if Sam's head cold is due to his now lack of hair - assuming he doesn't wear the periwig to bed. I guess he will be buying a nightcap soon.

GrahamT  •  Link

Demurrage:
Usually in the phrase "Demurrage and Detention". This is still charged by shipping companies if a container remains at the port too long after discharge from the ship. It is a cross between a fine and a daily storage charge to encourage shippers and forwarders to move the cargo away from the docks before the demurrage time expires. It can work the other way if a ship is late, the customer can request compensation from the shipping line.
Captain Taylor is seeking an extension of the free time allowance before being charged by the Navy Board (I assume) because of the delays at Tangier.

Don McCahill  •  Link

Web definitions for Mulct =
Punish by the imposition of a fine.

In case anyone else was wondering.

language hat  •  Link

mulct
This is the noun: "A fine imposed for an offence. Also occas. in extended use: a compulsory payment, a tax, esp. an unfair or arbitrary one" (OED).

cum salis grano  •  Link

This not be the boot of a carriage but Sam being [a gent?] up to no good or good depending on thy thought on seduction methods. He be getting a thrill of helping a lady with slipping on her footware. Popular task in a shoe store, for many a year.
"...pretty little gentlewoman, a lodger there, came out to tell me that it was not yet done, which though it vexed me yet I took opportunity of taking her by the hand with the boot, and so found matter to talk a little the longer to her, but I was ready to laugh at myself to see how my anger would not operate, my disappointment coming to me by such a messenger..."

She be in the Shop telling Sam that goods not be ready, and Sam be taking a gander at a nice calf, below a knee. The Lass be needing help with putting her boots on, smoothing down the leather to a nice fit..

[ another boot OED ref: 1660 PEPYS Diary 13 Feb., For two books that I had and 6s. 6d. to boot I had my great book of songs.}
another version for carriage [1593 SHAKES. 2 Hen. VI, IV. i. 13 Thou that art his Mate, make boote of this.
1599 a. The fixed external step of a coach (cf. Fr. botte 5 in Littré);
b. An uncovered space on or by the steps on each side, where attendants sat, facing sideways; later, a low outside compartment before or behind the body of the vehicle. Obs. ]
Boot many ways to use OED has 4 and 3 verb versions.

Australian Susan  •  Link

"I was ready to laugh at myself to see how my anger would not operate, my disappointment coming to me by such a messenger"

Clever Mr Unthank! Hiding below the counter and choosing to send this particular person out to explain: obviously Mr U knows our Sam's weaknesses for pulchritude!

dirk  •  Link

"Fait-divers"

From a contemporary newsletter, written to Sir George Lane

Whitehall, 7 November 1663

"The King has given an extension [over a certain breadth of the suburbs] to the privileges & jurisdiction of the 'Corporation of Innholders of London', which, it is hoped, will prove to be a means of safety to travellers, by removing places that have heretofore been but "little harbours for robbers".

Source:
The Carte Papers, Bodleian Library
http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/s…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"...consulted Dr. Turner about some differences we have with the officers of the East India ships about goods brought by them without paying freight"

L&M note this was about disputed shipping fees owed by the Company to the government for goods to be sent in the King’s ships in April 1662-June 1663 to and from Bombay http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumb… . The Navy Board had claimed the Company had broken the contract by returning the ships empty, costing the government an expected £10,000; the Company alleged the officers had illegally engaged in private trade.

Pepys will again probe this matter in early 1668. http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

" Captain Taylor brought me a piece of plate, a little small state dish, he expecting that I should get him some allowance for demorage of his ship “William,” kept long at Tangier, which I shall and may justly do."

Usually we regard "his ship" said of a Captain as referring to one he is first mate on and in command of; here the *William and Mary* was [also?] owned by Captain Taylor and had been delayed on its way back from Aleppo by a dispute about fees payable to the Levant Company . (Per L&M footnote)

Bill  •  Link

MULCT, a Penalty or Fine of Money, an Amerciament.

AMERCEMENT, AMERCIAMENT, a Pecuniary Punishment imposed upon Offenders at the Mercy of the Court; it differs from a Fine, which is a Punishment certain and determined, by some Statute.
---An universal etymological English dictionary. N. Bailey, 1724.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

'"having got a scurvy cold". Sounds like Navy talk. Sam is picking up the language?'

Roboto, this word has two meanings. You are using it as a noun:
1. Pathology. a disease marked by swollen and bleeding gums, livid spots on the skin, prostration, etc., due to a diet lacking in vitamin C.

But it can also be an adjective:
2. contemptible; despicable; mean: as in 'a scurvy trick'.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"... Captain Taylor brought me a piece of plate, a little small state dish, he expecting that I should get him some allowance for demorage ... which I shall and may justly do."

Sounds like Capt. Taylor brought Sam "a little small state" gift to get his attention, and succeeded.

Cassidy  •  Link

The adjectival use of "scurvy" is also associated with sailors (specifically, pirates) today, isn't it? I.e. "scurvy dogs".

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

Re: ' . . goods brought by them without paying freight . . '

‘freight, n. < Middle Dutch . .
1. a. Hire of a vessel for the transport of goods; the service of transporting goods . . the sum of money paid for this . .
. . 1687 W. Petty Polit. Arithm. (1690) 19 Those who have the command of the Sea Trade may Work at easier Freight with more profit.
1712 E. Cooke Voy. S. Sea 353 Having agreed to pay no Freight there . . ‘
..................
Re: ' . . having got a scurvy cold . . '

‘scurvy < Late Old English . .
. . 2. a. fig. Sorry, worthless, contemptible. Said both of persons and things . . Also of treatment, etc.: shabby, discourteous . .
. . 1616 Shakespeare Othello (1622) iv. ii. 144 The Moore's abus'd by some outragious knaue: Some base notorious knaue, some scuruy fellow.
. . 1710 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 19 Nov. (1948) I. 99 Steele and I sat among some scurvy company over a bowl of punch . .
..................
(OED)

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