Wednesday 25 May 1664
Took physique betimes and to sleep, then up, it working all the morning. At noon dined, and in the afternoon in my chamber spending two or three hours to look over some unpleasant letters and things of trouble to answer my father in, about Tom’s business and others, that vexed me, but I did go through it and by that means eased my mind very much. This afternoon also came Tom and Charles Pepys by my sending for, and received of me 40l. in part towards their 70l. legacy of my uncle’s.
Spent the evening talking with my wife, and so to bed.
12 Annotations
First Reading
Eric Walla • Link
The Bios of Tom and Charles don't seem to synch with this post. Phil's Bio of Charles mentions his brother Thomas "the turner", but the bio of Thomas from Pauline looks like another Thomas entirely.
I would probably go for Charles "the joiner" and Thomas "the turner" coming along at Sam's summons. Unless the "turner" is also "the executor" that Pauline describes.
Looks like we're in need of a second Thomas Pepys entry.
Todd Bernhardt • Link
Wonder what reason prompted Sam to take a mid-week physique (besides the fact that it rhymes)? He usually saves this for the Lord's Day.
Interesting time-saving technique, too, taking it betimes, and then devoting only the morning to its effects...
Cumsalisgrano • Link
Peasse pudding failed
cape henry • Link
(Bravo to yesterday's excellent series of annotations by all responsible.)
"Unpleasant letters." The brother who was a disappointment in life is now a burden in death as Sam predicted.Sam has a very hard edge about this whole matter and it apparent that he will have nothing to do with the "bastard" little girl, though that isn't mentioned as a part of this entry.I find it rather poignant that Tom, who would otherwise have vanished forever, is immortalized by the brother who found him so wanting.
Terry F • Link
"The Bios of Tom and Charles don't seem to synch with this post."
The post is fine, but uses "cousin" ambiguously. This Thomas is Samuel's "second cousin" -- his father, also Thomas, was first cousin to Samuel's father. Charles, the joiner, is Samuel's first cousin, who has a brother Thomas, a turner by trade; they were sons of Samuel's Uncle Thomas, his father's older brother.
Whew! My father was one of 12, who took great pains their children's names NOT replicate family names; because he bore his father's first name, he was always "Mac" -- an abbreviation of McElroy, his middle name.
Australian Susan • Link
"it working all the morning."
Oh, yuck, yuck! Light the incense! spray the air freshener! pass me a pomander!
Apropos of family names: my sister has researched one strand of our family tree and had endless difficulties as from father to son for the entire 18th and 19th centuries the Christian name was William. That was our mother's family. On my father's side we had three generations of Johns, but of course, when you are actually living with it, you don't get confused as you use titles: Dad, Granddad or a nickname (my brother was Ned for years, not John) and our Sam usually gets round this by saying Uncle or Cousin before a name. It's only the historians or biographers who get the headaches!
Robert Gertz • Link
What one must admire, Susan, is that he plunged right into dinner immediately afterwards with gusto. I seriously doubt I could look at food afterwards for the best part of a day.
"Ar-ah...(One can almost hear a Teddy Roosevelt 'bully'. Actually between their hidden sensitivity and their joy in life they must be spirit brothers he and Sam.) Nothing like a good course of physique to sharpen the old appetite!"
pepf • Link
TF
"This afternoon also came Tom and Charles Pepys by my sending for, and received of me 40l. in part towards their 70l. legacy of my uncle’s."
As EW does rightly question Pepys is referring to his cousins Tom (the turner) and Charles (the joiner), sons of his paternal uncle Tom, collecting part of their uncle Robert's legacy; the link to second cousin Tom (the executor) is off target as yet.
Second Reading
Phil Gyford • Link
Thanks pepf - belatedly fixed!
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Wonder what reason prompted Sam to take a mid-week physique (besides the fact that it rhymes)? He usually saves this for the Lord's Day."
Sam has been working long hours, Sundays, and got very wet yesterday. My guess is he took what's now known as a "mental health day" and attended to the things that were worrying him. He will do his job better as a result of this. A wise move.
Terry Foreman • Link
"Wonder what reason prompted Sam to take a mid-week physique....?"
DiY medicine or "I was prescribed this when last I felt that way"? like we do?
Often in Pepys's Diary we find a popular treatment of humoral deficiency was to restore the equilibrium by depleting the other humours which would now be present in relative excess. Purges would result in diarrhoea and a depletion of black bile. Emetics would cause vomiting and reduce the yellow bile.... Blood letting of course would reduce the amount of the dominant humour. http://phisick.com/article/humora…
Bridget Carrie Davis • Link
I was touched by Cape Henry's observation:
I find it rather poignant that Tom, who would otherwise have vanished forever, is immortalized by the brother who found him so wanting.
Well said!