Sunday 17 April 1664

(Lord’s day). Up, and I put on my best cloth black suit and my velvet cloake, and with my wife in her best laced suit to church, where we have not been these nine or ten weeks. The truth is, my jealousy hath hindered it, for fear she should see Pembleton. He was here to-day, but I think sat so as he could not see her, which did please me, God help me! mightily, though I know well enough that in reason this is nothing but my ridiculous folly. Home to dinner, and in the afternoon, after long consulting whether to go to Woolwich or no to see Mr. Falconer, but indeed to prevent my wife going to church, I did however go to church with her, where a young simple fellow did preach: I slept soundly all the sermon, and thence to Sir W. Pen’s, my wife and I, there she talking with him and his daughter, and thence with my wife walked to my uncle Wight’s and there supped, where very merry, but I vexed to see what charges the vanity of my aunt puts her husband to among her friends and nothing at all among ours. Home and to bed.

Our parson, Mr. Mills, his owne mistake in reading of the service was very remarkable, that instead of saying, “We beseech thee to preserve to our use the kindly fruits of the earth,” he cries, “Preserve to our use our gracious Queen Katherine.”

27 Annotations

First Reading

Michael Robinson  •  Link

mistake in reading of the service

"That it may please thee to give and preserve to our use the kindly fruits of the earth, so as in due time we may enjoy them;

(R) We beseech thee to hear us, god Lord."

Close to the conclusion of the Litany; the prayers for the Monarch etc. come much earlier in the BCP text.

http://www.eskimo.com/~lhowell/bc…

Patricia  •  Link

"Our parson, Mr. Mills, his owne mistake in reading of the service was very remarkable, that instead of saying, "We beseech thee to preserve to our use the kindly fruits of the earth," he cries, "Preserve to our use our gracious Queen Katherine."" Pepys' Diary thus becomes the Dick Clark's "Bloopers" show of the 17th Century.

Paul Chapin  •  Link

At least he didn't say "God save our queer old dean," as Rev. Spooner was later reported to have said.

cumsalisgrano  •  Link

"...Mr. Mills, his owne mistake..." Was it so, or was it a sneaky way of praising the king and his future progeny?

Australian Susan  •  Link

Sleepy

Sam has not been to church for weeks and now promptly sleeps through the sermon! (which would have lasted about an hour). One wonders if this was common? Did the women do it too? Or was this a male prerogative? i have this image of a church full of slumped males and upright, cross, women.

andy  •  Link

my wife in her best laced suit...

Aargh! Pembleton!

Just when you thought it was safe...

pk  •  Link

...vexed to see what charges...
Could one of the language experts tell me if 'charges' translates as 'expense'in this entry?

Ruben  •  Link

charges
Burden?

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Somehow Sam I don't think it would be wise for good ole Uncle Wight to lay out a small fortune on entertaining you, Bess, and "your friends".

"Salmon again, eh? So, the Pepys are comin'...Again?"

"A little token for my successful nephew and niece, wife."

"Nephew, right. You ole fool!"

Ann  •  Link

"but I vexed to see what charges the vanity of my aunt puts her husband to among her friends and nothing at all among ours"
Ah, brings back memories of my late aunt, who would invite us over for "leftovers" the night after she had entertained others in high style -- and had no problem with letting us know!

From OED: Charge -- Pecuniary.

10. a. Pecuniary burden; expense, cost. arch.

A. De Araujo  •  Link

"I slept soundly"
That means REM sleep!How come he did not slump over?

Terry F  •  Link

If the "Sleepy Congregation" link is 403, GO to it again.

Bradford  •  Link

"Mistake"? A parson might commit the legendary Spoonerism, "Madam, this pie is occupewed; may I sew you to a sheet?", or give out the next hymn as "From Iceland's Greasy Mountains"; but no one would unintentionally turn a phrase so lengthy as "the kindly fruits of the earth" into "our gracious Queen Katherine," which sounds nothing like it. He might fluster, or stammer, to "excuse" the substitution; but it would be done on purpose. Unless, of course, one's screws were already almost jostled loose.

Sleep through the whole sermon!---and the "simple fellow" apparently not even a Scot.

cumsalisgrano  •  Link

Homilies, Sermons, Lectures and spouting laymen, put most to sleep, the drone or be it buzz is soothing, such tones are used by a good Nanny, to put a child to rest. Alas, for most males it be easy to cat nap, for females it may differ as they have to watch for the sleight of hand, when they are on the same resting area. [long hat pin be a girls best friend]
For the lesson to be imbedded or enter the labyrinth, one neads to involve the other senses besides the auditory apparatus.
Of course the cat napping Samuell does espie nice tresses, enticing waists or other distractions to keep his mind in high gear.

DiPhi  •  Link

I couldn't get to the Hogarth print via Terry's link, but I was able to Google it and get there. Well worth the effort. Thanks for the lead, Terry!

Terry F  •  Link

DiPhi, I was having trouble with the link too, which is why I added the next post. If you get an "Access forbidden" screen, hit the "GO" button on your browser to the right of the URL (either IE or Firefox); that should get you there.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

I'm surprised Sam didn't consider the possibility of Mills currying favor with the Court...Unless he meant to be ironic with that remark about Mills' "mistake".

Pedro  •  Link

"I slept soundly all the sermon"

The naming of the Norfolk villages of Great Snoring and Little Snoring (Little is bigger than Great), is nothing to do with the congregations of their churches...

http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/…

(SPOILER...Sam does snore)

language hat  •  Link

"hit the "GO" button on your browser"

Do you know, I'm not sure I've ever done that before -- I may have vaguely noticed it there without having the faintest notion what it was for. I'm still not sure what it does, but it worked. Thanks!

cumsalisgrano  •  Link

Thanks LH and Terri F.: My browser, just has regurgitation, and that does not work, inspired by LH, I tried blacking out the url line and "'it " return, byjove that did it, then looked at the five orders of perukes/perriwigs.

Australian Susan  •  Link

Women, men and the differences.....

Women had to remain upright and awake in church because they were strapped into corsets and therefore v. uncomfortable and could not slump off to sleep! Creaking poking whalebones will keep you awake and fairly inacapable of doing much. It always amazes me to think that women conquered the bush here and the wild west in the USA wearing corsets and full skirts (to keep up appearances). and men think they have problems.... And don't get me started on periods and childbirth.

Second Reading

Bill  •  Link

“I vexed to see what charges the vanity of my aunt puts her husband to among her friends and nothing at all among ours.”

CHARGE, A Burden, or Load; an Employ, an Office; Cost, or Expence; Also an Accusation, or Impeachment; an Onset; Also hurt, damage.
---An universal etymological English dictionary. N. Bailey, 1724.

Cassidy  •  Link

Stays are actually considered to be pretty comfortable. It's hard to wrap a modern brain around because we grow up "knowing" that corsetry is Bad, but 'tis true. (At least, when they fit. I suspect Bess goes to a reputable staymaker.)

A woman in a boned bodice could still fall asleep in church - but her stays would hold her upright instead of slumping, so maybe it would be less obvious.

Bridget Carrie Davis  •  Link

It surprises me that Elizabeth is so calm about being restricted from church for over two months due to Sam's jealousy. I realize that, by law, she must obey him, but is this level of control common in this era?

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"Sam has not been to church for weeks and now promptly sleeps through the sermon! (which would have lasted about an hour). One wonders if this was common? Did the women do it too? Or was this a male prerogative? i have this image of a church full of slumped males and upright, cross, women."

Sleeping parishioners must have been a problem for centuries:

An unusual position at Exeter cathedral in the 18th century was that of 'sluggard waker', who had a long wooden pole with a brass knob on one end and a foxes tail (or something similar) on the other.

The brass end was used to prod any man in the back who had dared fall asleep during a service, and the fluffy end was used on women who had nodded off to tickle them awake.

For this and other "employment" at the Cathedral, see
https://www.devonlive.com/news/de…

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