Tuesday 1 March 1663/64

Up and to the office, where we sat all the morning, and at noon to the ’Change, and after much business and meeting my uncle Wight, who told me how Mr. Maes had like to have been trapanned yesterday, but was forced to run for it; so with Creed and Mr. Hunt home to dinner, and after a good and pleasant dinner, Mr. Hunt parted, and I took Mr. Creed and my wife and down to Deptford, it being most pleasant weather, and there till night discoursing with the officers there about several things, and so walked home by moonshine, it being mighty pleasant, and so home, and I to my office, where late about getting myself a thorough understanding in the business of masts, and so home to bed, my left eye being mightily troubled with rheum.

17 Annotations

First Reading

deepfatfriar  •  Link

Trapanned

Surprised to learn in the OED that the skull surgery meaning is much older than the entrapping meaning which seems to be used here (though I think I'd run for it, regardless of which option it was).

James in Illinois  •  Link

An online dictionary defines "trapan" as to ensnare or catch by a strategem. L&M, in a note to this entry, say that "Maes, involved in the dispute over Portuguese customs dues, had already been imprisoned once." He was mention earlier on February 10th. I agree, however, deepfatfriar, that I would run from having a hole carved in my skull,too! "Trepan" is the modern spelling for both meanings.

Terry F  •  Link

"walked home by moonshine"

"moonshine" has changed meaning in English. One wonders why. The OED probably dates it.

The German cognate has not changed: cf. Beethoven's "Mondschein-Sonate." language-hat?

Robert Gertz  •  Link

",,,but was forced to run for it." A rather modern expression...

The dangers of the sugar trade...

"Why, Sir John Robinson. What brings the Lieutenant of the Tower to my humble fishmongery?"

"Ah, Wight. You are to be honored with the presence of a most important guest this afternoon, here to see a demonstration of my department's efficiencey."

"Oh?"

"Yes. There is in fact to be an arrest at this establishment and our honored guest will witness it. This afternoon will see the recovery of those stolen letters of sugar transit. I trust I can expect no trouble."

"William Wight sticks his neck out for nobody." Wight shakes head.

And a difficult thing at that...Robinson notes Wight's lack of neck.

"Sir John." A guard calls.

"Ah...Our guest." Sir John opens door to reveal a coach with certain characteristic markings.

"Very nice." Wight eyes the royal coach. "Did he bring Castlemaine?"

"My Lady Castlemaine came alone...She takes an interest in affairs of sugar."

"Ah...Serving the chief lady of the land now are we?"

"My dear Wight...Lady Castlemaine doesn't interfere with me nor I with her. In London I am the master of my fate..."

"Robinson!!!" a shrill cry from the carriage door.

"You were saying..."

"Pardon me." Sir John heads off...The guard takes his stance at front.

The rear door of the shop opens...

"Wight! Wight! Help me, Wight!"

"Maes, you can't get away."

"You must hide me! You must do something!"

"Don't be a fool, Maes..."

Maes makes a desperate turn as the guard throws the front door open.

"Iuduco Maes. I arrest you in the King's name." Sir John at door, solemnly...Signaling to the guard as Maes breaks for the rear door. The guard shooting...

"I hope you'd do more for me when my turn comes." Aunt Wight eyeing Wight grimly...Both watching the unfortunate, late Maes carried out.

"I stick my neck out for nobody."

"But you did get those sugar transit letters from him before he croaked, right?" she hisses.

The letters that will buy back the beauty my own nephew took from me that day in 1655 when I left her at that bookseller's cart to buy that French novel for her?...You bet...Wight thinks, shrugging.

***

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"Sir John?..." the guard gasps at the body of Lady Castlemaine on the floor of the shop. Bess and Wight eyeing Robinson.

"Lady Castlemaine has been garroted." Sir John notes quietly.

"Tell the King he needs a new mistress...And round up the usual suspects."

"A Mr. Pepys is here in coach bound for Deptford, looking for his wife, sir." another guard at the door.

"And you must be on that coach, niece." Wight pats Bess.

"But William...You said." she blinks at him.

"I said a lot of things...But if you stay now the only place you'll wind up is the Tower, as will Samuel. Isn't that true, Robinson?"

"I'm afraid the King would insist." Sir John nods.

"As would I..." Aunt Wight, grimly.

"But William...What about...Us?" Bess takes his hand.

"You must be on that coach with my nephew, Bess. If not you'll regret it...Not today...And maybe not tomorrow but...Bess?"

"Oh, I think you're right, Uncle...Excuse me, all." Bess hurries out the front door.

"We'll always have that summer in Paris..." Wight calls after her, lamely.

"Yeah, sure...The kid was what, fourteen? You ole fool." Aunt Wight glares.

"I think while the death of Lady Castlemaine remains a mystery you ought to disappear from London for a while." Robinson notes. "If those letters of sugar transit were to reappear I might even be induced to provide you with papers for travel."

"Alone." he adds...Wight giving him a deeply grateful stare. Aunt Wight frowning...

***

"Any trouble with Uncle?" Sam eyes a slightly flustered Bess as she enters the coach.

"Same old, same old..." she shrugs. "But no legacy yet, dear." she notes to his eager look.

Hmmn...Really should speak to him about this little obsession, I suppose, Sam thinks. Pity about the legacy, though.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"Bagwell?"

"Mr. Pepys, so good to see you in Deptfort, sir."

"Yes. I saw your wife the other day at my office."

"Ah, forgive poor Moll, sir...She is an affectionate wife, sir. Rather like your good lady who speaks so highly of you, sir."

"Yes...What is that you're reading there? Is that Hugh Aubry's book?"

Uh... "Yes, sir. I find him most enlightening and..."

"Was that Chapter 46 you were reading?" Sam eyes the desk drawer where Bagwell had hastily tossed the book...

Ummn...

"That would be...'Pimping Your Wife for Profit and Advancement'?"

"See you've read it, sir." Bagwell tries gamely.

***

cumsalisgrano  •  Link

"...so walked home by moonshine, it being mighty pleasant, and so home,..."
maybe known as a Lenten moon ther next full moon be the egg moon?
I always enjoyed the moon over the Tems near by and with drinking a Cutty Sark.

other than a blue moon discourse be varied
http://skytonight.com/observing/o…

some names:moonshine a lenten moon [full]
January Wolf Moon :: February Snow Moon ::March Worm Moon :: April Pink Moon :: May Flower Moon :: June Strawberry Moon :: July Buck Moon August Sturgeon Moon :: September Harvest Moon October :: Hunter's Moon November Beaver Moon :: December Cold Moon
http://obs.nineplanets.org/psc/fu…

Michael Robinson  •  Link

Pity about the legacy, though.

Robert, brilliant!

I will never again be able to read of SP and his cash gifts without recalling, "Your winnings, sir."

cumsalisgrano  •  Link

'...like to have been trapanned yesterday, but was forced to run for it;..."

this might be a bit of a bore, lifted from OED without control:

Verb : To bore in bone [EG skull]
a Pepys quote:
as a verb a. trans. To operate upon with a trepan; to saw through with a trepan, as a bone of the skull
1666-7 PEPYS Diary 28 Jan., Prince Rupert is..so bad, that he do now yield to be trepanned.
1751 Affect. Narr. of Wager 145 The poor Surgeon..could..trapan a broken Scull.
But it mostly used like R.G. puts to a scene:

.
v trans. To catch in a trap; to entrap, ensnare, beguile.
1656 BLOUNT Glossogr., To Trepan, or rather trappan (from the Ital. Trappare or trappolare, i. to entrap, ensnare, or catch in a gin) in the modern acception of the word, it signifies to cheat or entrap [etc.].

1658 SIR H. SLINGSBY Diary (1836) 431, I see that I am trepan'd by these two fellows.

1664 BUTLER Hud. II. III. 617 Some by the Nose with fumes trappan 'em, As Dunstan did the Devil's Grandamm [= Grannam].
Trepanner One who trepans; an entrapper, decoy, swindler.

1658-9 in Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 157 There came several trepanners from Whitehall, it pleased God to keep us upright.

2. [f. TREPAN v.2] The action of entrapping; a stratagem, trick; a trap or snare.
1665 Surv. Aff. Netherl. 131 So the Muscovite likely, upon a Trepan upon him, to be none of their mildest Foes, hath Engrossed the Comerce of the Caspian Sea
1. A person who entraps or decoys others into actions or positions which may be to his advantage and to their ruin or loss. Also applied to an animal (quot. 1686).
1641 T. JORDAN Walks of Islington II. ii. (1657) Dijb, If we had known you had been a Trapan, you should ne'r have been admitted into our company.

1653 (title) The Total Rout, or a Brief Discovery Of a Pack of Knaves and Drabs, intituled Pimps, Panders, Hectors, Trapans, Nappers, Mobs, and Spanners. 1686

A tool:
Trepine 1. a. An improved form of trepan, with a transverse handle, and a removable or adjustable sharp steel centre-pin which is fixed upon the bone to steady the movement in operating.

1628 WOODALL Viaticum Wks. (1639) 313 The Trafine..an Instrument of my owne composing,..although it may be said to be a derivative or Epitomy of or from the Trapan..I thought fit to put the name of a Trafine upon it (a tribus finibus) from the three ends thereof.

1656 RIDGLEY Pract. Physic 172 Raise it with a Trepan, or a Trefine

cumsalisgrano  •  Link

moonshine: other than Kentucky Hills specials there be some other meanings:
hope not too vane:
moonshine A. n.
B. adj. (attrib.).
1. Illuminated by the moon; moonlit; occurring by moonlight or at night; nocturnal. Now chiefly Caribbean. 1587 ......

BACON Sylva §866 Starre-Light Nights, yea, and bright Moone-shine Nights, are Colder than Cloudy Nights.
1660 S. PEPYS Diary 9 Oct. (1970) I. 262 And so home in our barge, a clear Moone-shine night.

1. a. = MOONLIGHT n. 1a. Now chiefly poet. and Caribbean. c1425
b. In fig. context. Radiant sweetness; pleasant distraction.

1607 G. CHAPMAN Bussy d'Ambois IV. 43 Women..as the tender Moon-shine of their beauties Cleeres, or is cloudy, make men glad or sad.

2. a. Appearance without substance; something unsubstantial or unreal; (now) esp. foolish or fanciful talk, ideas, plans, etc. Originally

moonshine in the water.
1468 Paston Lett. (1976) II. 389 Sir Thomas Howys wer..made byleve and put in hope of the moone shone in the water and I wot nat what.

b. to hang by the moonshine: to have no basis in fact. Obs.
1532 T. MORE Confut. Tyndale in Wks. 564/2 Ye may wel perceiue..that the profe of al his whole conclusion..hangeth all by the moneshyne.

a. eggs in moonshine, a dish consisting of egg yolks on a sweet base, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries; also used allusively with reference to sense

2a. Obs. ?1558
b. Any of various sweet, usually light puddings, often made of blancmange, meringue, etc., originally sometimes formed in a moon-shaped mould

4. colloq. Smuggled or illicitly distilled alcoholic liquor. Freq. attrib.
The precise application varies with the locality; in the United States, usually whisky.
1782

2. Vain, empty, foolish; worthless. rare.
1668 H. MORE Divine Dialogues I. III. xxvi. 471 They are weak, abortive, Moon-shine Conceptions

jeannine  •  Link

Trepanning Spolier!
In January of 1667 Prince Rupert's "old wound" in his head will start causing him trouble and he'll be trepanned twice over the period of a few weeks. Lucky for us all, we'll have our man on the streets Samuel Pepys to report the details. And, during his convalescence Prince Rupert, always the scientist will amuse himself 'designing surgical instruments to help the doctors treat him more easily". So, even if Rupert gets a little bored in the process, I am sure we won't be bored reading Sam's description of it. Just think if Sam had chosen a career in medicine, he'd be doing this all the time with his past experience "boring holes"!

http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Frank Kitson "Prince Rupert: Admiral and General At Sea.

Terry F  •  Link

"my left eye being mightily troubled with rheum."

rheum - "a watery discharge from the mucous membranes (especially from the eyes or nose)". http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl…

And why? "*Discharge [from the eyes]* usually accompanies red eye and is commonly caused by allergic or infectious conjunctivitis, blepharitis, and, in infants, ophthalmia neonatorum. Infectious discharge may be purulent in bacterial infection, such as staphylococcal conjunctivitis or gonorrhea. Less common causes include dacryocystitis and canaliculitis." http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec09/c…

Pepys's eye, of course, might have been aggravated by particulate matter, esp. soot from fyres, it being still Winter. Cf. John Evelyn's *F U M I F U G I U M:
or The Inconveniencie of the AER AND SMOAK of LONDON DISSIPATED.* http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Le…


Robert Gertz  •  Link

As to that left eye, I wonder which side of his face he puts the candle on when late at the office...I'd bet it's to the left.

cumsalisgrano  •  Link

Ja! good point.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

F U M I F U G I U M:

or The Inconveniencie of the
AER AND SMOAK of LONDON DISSIPATED.

TOGETHER With some REMEDIES humbly PROPOSED
By J.E. Esq;
To His Sacred MAJESTIE,
AND To the PARLIAMENT now Assembled.
http://www.gyford.com/archive/200…

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

RE: ’ . . like to have been trapanned yesterday . .’

‘trepan < A word of obscure and low origin, probably originally a term of thieves' slang . . originally applied to a person in sense 1 below . . Thence arose the verb describing the action of such persons, trepan v.2 . . Hence, finally, a second use of the noun as a name of the action . . The earlier spelling of the noun was trapan , probably formed in some way < trap n.1 . . The change to trepan , seen first in the verb, may have been due to association with trepan v.1 (a much earlier and well known word), of which trepan v.2 may have been supposed to be some sort of fig. application . . Obs. or arch.

1. A person who entraps or decoys others into actions or positions which may be to his advantage and to their ruin or loss. Also applied to an animal (quot. 1686).
1653 (title) The Total Rout, or a Brief Discovery Of a Pack of Knaves and Drabs, intituled Pimps, Panders, Hectors, Trapans, Nappers, Mobs, and Spanners . . ‘
………….
‘trepan, n.1 < French trépan < medieval Latin trepanum < Greek τρύπανον a borer.

1. A surgical instrument in the form of a crown-saw, for cutting out small pieces of bone, esp. from the skull.
. . 1676 R. Wiseman Severall Chirurg. Treat. v. ix. 393, I began to work with the Trepan, which I much prefer before a Trephine, it being an Instrument which doth its work lightly, and cutteth the Bone equally . . ‘

(OED)

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