Wednesday 15 February 1664/65

Up and to my office, where busy all the morning. At noon with Creed to dinner to Trinity-house, where a very good dinner among the old sokers, where an extraordinary discourse of the manner of the loss of the “Royall Oake” coming home from Bantam, upon the rocks of Scilly, many passages therein very extraordinary, and if I can I will get it in writing.

Thence with Creed to Gresham College, where I had been by Mr. Povy the last week proposed to be admitted a member;1 and was this day admitted, by signing a book and being taken by the hand by the President, my Lord Brunkard, and some words of admittance said to me. But it is a most acceptable thing to hear their discourse, and see their experiments; which were this day upon the nature of fire, and how it goes out in a place where the ayre is not free, and sooner out where the ayre is exhausted, which they showed by an engine on purpose. After this being done, they to the Crowne Taverne, behind the ’Change, and there my Lord and most of the company to a club supper; Sir P. Neale, Sir R. Murrey, Dr. Clerke, Dr. Whistler, Dr. Goddard, and others of most eminent worth. Above all, Mr. Boyle to-day was at the meeting, and above him Mr. Hooke, who is the most, and promises the least, of any man in the world that ever I saw. Here excellent discourse till ten at night, and then home, and to Sir W. Batten’s, where I hear that Sir Thos. Harvy intends to put Mr. Turner out of his house and come in himself, which will be very hard to them, and though I love him not, yet for his family’s sake I pity him. So home and to bed.

44 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

A curious letter written today and indexed in the Carte Calendar

H.? Bleyonbergh [Bleyenbergh?] to Sandwich
Written from: London

Date: 15 February 1665
....
Recommends M. Liliehoeck who waits upon his Lordship with letters from my Lords Wrangel & Carlisle, and is a young seaman desirous to serve his apprenticeship under so able a Captain. Mentions the tenders of service of some Swedish volunteers for the Navy. Adds that the affairs of Mr Coventry in Sweden are near to a conclusion.

http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/s…

"the affairs of Mr Coventry in Sweden " -- don't you too wonder what those are!

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"I had been by Mr. Povy the last week proposed to be admitted a member"

So Mr. Povey pays back SP's apparent patience w/ his bonehead accounting and thereby (SPOILER) prepares for Pepys's immortality as the President of the Royal Society named on the cover-page of Newton's *Principia*.

(I wonder why he failed to record in the Diary last week's meeting?)

Pedro  •  Link

The Isles of Scilly - Shipwrecks.

"The Isles of Scilly are the site of many, many shipwrecks over the years - there are 530 registered wrecks around the archipelago"

The first given is the Royal Oak, date as 18 January, St. Mary's - St. Agnes - Annet Area

http://www.shimbo.co.uk/leisure/i…

JWB  •  Link

"Mr. Hooke, who is the most, and promises the least, of any man in the world that ever I saw."

This I take not to be a comment on Hooke's humility, he did after all claim priority to just about everything Newton did, but on his appearance. His friend Aubrey, quoted in Jardine, left this description: "...midling stature, something crooked, pale faced and his face but little belowe, but his head large; his eie full and popping..."

Nix  •  Link

Terry -- I read the entry to say that Samuel had been proposed last week by Povey, but not that he had himself been there. Perhaps he failed to record the meeting because, as he wasn't yet admitted as a member, he wasn't there.

Pedro  •  Link

"Mentions the tenders of service of some Swedish volunteers for the Navy."

In 1658 Admiral George Ayscue commanded the English sailors enlisted into Swedish service.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Nix, your reading surely is correct. I wonder what words were said to solemnize Pepys's admission? (Every [especially relatively new] royal institution *loves* ceremony, and these were surely men (sic) of very many fine words.)

Pedro  •  Link

"coming home from Bantam"

One for LH?

Could it be the involvement in the Indies that led to the term "bantamweight" in old boxing terms?

JWB  •  Link

A batam is a small chicken, thus bantam weight.

alta aqua  •  Link


bantam:[Supposed to be named from Bantam in the north-west of Java, whence perhaps the fowls were imported to Europe, though, according to Crawford, originally from Japan.]

1. a. A small variety of the domestic fowl, most breeds of which have feathered legs: the cocks are spirited fighters.
1749 first ref:

alta aqua  •  Link

once more into the OED dothe Sam go;
OED AGIN: Soaker , not a drenching of rain at this time.
1. A drainer, exhauster. Obs
2. An immoderate drinker; a drunkard. Cf. 3b.
1593
3. old soaker: a. An old hand at anything; an old stager.
Perh. originally with allusion to drinking (cf. b and 2), but this does not appear in the quotations.
1589

b. An old hand at drinking; a regular toper.
1665 PEPYS Diary 15 Feb

Todd Bernhardt  •  Link

"where a very good dinner among the old sokers"

The old who...? As Pedro says, one for LH?

cgs  •  Link

OED has said it by using the phrase:
b. An old hand at drinking; a regular toper.
1665 PEPYS Diary 15 Feb 1665................

toper:
One who topes or drinks a great deal; a hard drinker;
a drunkard.

tope:
An exclamation used in drinking; app. = I pledge you.

1651 STANLEY Excit. Anacreon Poems 94 By thy tall Majestic Flaggons; By Mas, Tope, and thy Flap-dragons..To thy frolick Order call us, Knights of the deep Bowle install us.

to tope
[Known 1654; origin obscure. Synonymous with the earlier TOP v.3, but, as in prec., the substitution of long o offers difficulties. See Note below, and that to TOPE int.]

1. trans. To drink, esp. to drink copiously and habitually.

2. intr. To drink largely or in large draughts.
1667 DRYDEN Maiden Queen V. i, I'll Tope with you, I'll Sing with you, I'll Dance with you. 1671 CROWNE Juliana 1, I can go into the Cardinal's cellar and tie my nose to one barrel, and my horse to another, and tope who shall tope most for a wager.

Hence {sm}toping vbl. n. (also attrib.) and ppl. a.
(The word in first quot. may be for TOPPING.)
1667 DRYDEN & DK. NEWCASTLE Sir Martin Mar-all V. iii. (1668) 68 A rare toping health this.
a1680 BUTLER Epigr. on Club of Sots, The jolly Members of a toping Club.
some other meanings:
tope :
1 measure of hay
2 A small species of shark, Galeus galeorhinus or G. canis, native to British seas, especially off the coast of Cornwall. Called also dog-fish, penny-dog, miller's-dog.
4: A clump, grove, or plantation of trees; in Upper India, chiefly of fruit-trees; esp. a mango grove or orchard. 1698

cgs  •  Link

soakers and topers led me to
some old drinking songs of Sams pals.
a bit of of one
.......
'twill make him earn for to decline
the verb that's called Mingo,
"T will make his nose like copper shine,
If his head be lin'd with Stingo.....

A cup of old Stingo

another:
The Toper....
she tells me with claret she cannot agree,....
Tom D'Urfey
Stingo

Old beer; sharp or strong liquor. [Old Slang]
popular drink of that slang name Yorkshire Stingo and and a pub too of that name.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"I hear that Sir Thos. Harvy intends to put Mr. Turner out of his house and come in himself, which will be very hard to them, and though I love him not, yet for his family’s sake I pity him."

Sir Thomas Hervey had just been appointed extra Navy Commissioner (note L&M), and ergo outranked Thomas Turner, General Clerk, who had been the Pepyses' next-door neighbor since the latters' July 1660 move to Seething Lane.

Pedro  •  Link

"Bantam...most breeds of which have feathered legs: the cocks are spirited fighters."

Thanks, it follows that the small boxers would be named after the spirited fighters, and the even smaller fighters the feather weights.

A. De Araujo  •  Link

"upon the rocks of Scilly;many passages therein very extraordinary"
The straits of Messina,the original Scylla and Charybdis.

Pedro  •  Link

bantam:[Supposed to be named from Bantam in the north-west of Java, whence perhaps the fowls were imported to Europe, though, according to Crawford, originally from Japan.]

Bantam fowl were erroneously thought to have originated there.

Copyright © 1994-2002 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Carl in Boston  •  Link

Gresham College, to become The Royal Society
In Pepys' time, the experiments were simple and understandable by anyone. They could light some wood and watch the fire burn in the open, go out after a while in a closed space, or go out instantly in another space. What to make of it was their topic of discussion, but the discussion was logical and a big improvement over medieval speculation. Pepys could jump in and join the discussion, and at this stage of the game, make a valuable contribution.
Nowadays it's hard to understand anything a scientist says, especially about the ins and outs of DNA.
We all understand about the dinner, no doubt about that.

Mary  •  Link

"upon the rocks of Scilly"

This refers to the Scilly Isles, off the coast of Cornwall, SW England. The Straits of Messina (Sicily) have nothing to do with the case.

Andrew Hamilton  •  Link

A day, and an entry, that foreshadow two of Sam's later honors after the period of the diary: Master of Trinity House (1676-1689) and President of the Royal Society (1684-1686). I have to keep reminding myself that Sam is still a young man here, just over a week before his 32nd birthday. He is also but a Younger Brother at Trinity. Maybe that, plus the excitement of being included today among elders "of most eminent worth" at Gresham College, explains his dismissive but delightful description of the Trinity House "brothers" as "old sokers."

alta aqua  •  Link

If thee want a navy, get more prize ships, 'tis 'wot' keeps the ships afloat in beer monies and cheeses.
see the House of C. for Navy debt.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Banten was a thorn in the side of the Dutch East India Company at this time

"Ageng (also known as Tirtayasa, 1631-1695) was the sultan of Banten (on Java in modern Indonesia) during the kingdom's golden age. He built a strong fleet on European models, which did considerable trade within the Indonesian archipelago, and, with help from the English, Danes, and Chinese, were able to trade with Persia, India, Siam, Vietnam, China, the Philippines, and Japan in the Javanese tradition of long-distance traders. This trade gave considerable wealth to Banten.

"Ageng was a strong opponent of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and inevitably came into conflict with their headquarters at Batavia (modern Jakarta), 75 km to the east...." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agen…

The Dutch have trouble all over -- in Asia, Africa, North America and nearby.

A. De Araujo  •  Link

Of course not.
Thanks Mary.

Pedro  •  Link

Mr. Boyle.

This definitely refers to Robert Boyle, but as yet there are no annotations. The previous references to a Mr. Boyle are in 1660, and the background points to Charles Boyle, and it is there that the annotations have up to now been sited…

http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…


Pedro  •  Link

Robert Boyle/Charles Boyle.

L&M say the entries are PROBABLY Charles Boyle, but give no personal details about him.

In his biography of Robert Boyle, Louis Trenchard More says the Diary entries of the 11th and 20th April 1660 may have referred to Robert. He also has no information of Charles Boyle, but obviously much on Robert, so casting doubts on L&M?

Terry Foreman  •  Link

The Royal Society today at Gresham College — from the Hooke Folio Online

Feb: 15. (Dr Charleton [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt… ] merganser [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comm… ].)

Mr. Pepys nomine contradiente Elect & Admitted.

(Dr. Charleton of the Trachea)

mr. Hook made an Expt. wth. charcole inclosed in a glasse to wch. niter being put and the hole suddenly stopd againe the fire reuiued although noe fresh air could get in (mr Boyle tht Gunpowder would soe burn, also that tin mixt wth niter would burn) Mr Hook also adds that filings of Iron mixed wth niter will kindle it It was orderd the Expt. should be tryed

(yesso [Sp. yeso ~ gypsum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyps… ] from Spain)

orderd that mr. Hooke make tryall wth a flaming & a body heated wthout flame, whether the heat & flame are preserved best in / 46 ] in hot or cold air.

mr. Hooke made an expt. of Gunpowder burning wthout air orderd tht the seald weatherglasses be made of thicker glasse to be inclosed in the compressing engine to see whether any alteration will be made in the liquor.

(monstrous Calf) madrid obseruation of Comet.)

Sr. Robert moray moued that mr Hookes Lecture might be perfected & printed which was assented to. Kindle charcole included in a Receiuer wthout exhausting the air, went out in a minute, repeated again it continued. 1 1/3 minute .(about anatomy.) orderd that mr Hookes expt of the resistance of air passing into small holes be tryed.

http://webapps.qmul.ac.uk/cell/Ho…

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"an extraordinary discourse of the manner of the loss of the “Royall Oake” coming home from Bantam, upon the rocks of Scilly, many passages therein very extraordinary, and if I can I will get it in writing."

The Royal Oak (an E. Indiaman, not the royal ship of the same name) had been wrecked on the Bishop and Clerks' Rocks [of the Scilly] ib a storm during the night of 17-18 January 1665, the survivors taking refuge on the tallest of the rocks. fragments of their cargo -- boxes of pepper -- were evenntually washed up on St Mary's, and two days later boats were sent to their rescue. Pepys kept among his papers 'Mr. Daniel's report of the losse of The Royal Oak....': Rawl. A 165a, f. 180r-v. (L&M note)

Terry Foreman  •  Link

:"Above all, Mr. Boyle to-day was at the meeting, and above him Mr. Hooke, who is the most, and promises the least, of any man in the world that ever I saw."

L&M: Robert Hooke was curator of experiments to the society: a melancholy, deformed, even sordid person, but a gifted experimentalist, and one of the most versatility and original virtuosi of his day.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Oh, the Isles of Scilly is the graveyard of many fine ships over the centuries. There are hundreds of rocks and islands in the chain which stretch over hundreds of miles. If a ship needed six weeks of quarantine before docking in England, this is one place they could stay. Lots of fresh water, fresh food and safe moorings.

For a full(er) list of wrecks, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lis…

This wreck is listed as:
1665 18 January — while on her first voyage home from the Moluccas and Bantam to London, the East Indiaman ship Royal Oak (British East India Company flag.svg British East India Company) was lost (probably) on Pednathise Head in the Western Rocks. Some of the crew managed to abandon ship and took to a ″low rock″ where they were rescued 52 hours later. She was carrying peppercorns, cloth and porcelain.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"Here excellent discourse till ten at night, and then home, and to Sir W. Batten’s, ..."

Are you kidding? How could it be other than an afternoon and dinner of EXCELLENT discourse with that group of people? Oh to be a fly on the wall! Then home (by coach, I bet) to find there's a party over at the Batten's. Which ignores his drunken lunch with all those Sirs and rich merchants.

This was a day from heaven for Mr. Social Climber Pepys. (I know -- he did it for the King and England.) I bet he was wearing his red suit with fur lined cloak. And I also bet he kept his hat on -- all day.

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

There's another small group of islands, with a lighthouse, called the "Bishops and Clerks" near Ramsey Island, by St David's Pembrokeshire.

I always assumed that the name was a reference to nearby St David's Cathedral, but there seem to be other groups with similar names around the world, so I don't know.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bis…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

The Bishops and Clerks, off St Davids Head on the north coast of Pembrokeshire, are not, as might be supposed, a bunch of clergymen cloistered on an offshore island.

They are in fact a treacherous archipelago of fang-like rocky islands [larger rocks and their attendant smaller rocks] encircling the coast like a sinister necklace waiting to choke unwary sailors.

The Elizabethan antiquary and writer George Owen of Henllys, near Nevern, described them in one of his books in 1595 as “The Bishop and these his Clerkes preache deadly doctrine to their winter audience, such poor seafaring men as are forcyd thether by tempest, onlie in one thing they are to be commended, they keepe residence better than the rest of the canons of that see are wont to do.”

George Owen miscounted when he mentioned the Bishop, for there are in fact two - the North Bishop, some three miles due west of St Davids Head and the South Bishop, a similar distance due west of the southern tip of Ramsey Island. The two Bishops are about 9 miles apart and their retinue of clerks of various sizes amount to over 20 islets and rocks, protruding like canine teeth above the surface at low water, but most of them hidden treacherously beneath the surface when the tide is high. They have caught many an unwary sailor down the ages. http://www.bluestonewales.com/pem…

JayW  •  Link

I didn’t realise that there was a connection between The Royal Society and Gresham College. I’ve been using their podcasts for some time. Many lectures on a huge range of subjects can be found online at:

Gresham College
https://www.gresham.ac.uk
Exists to provide free public lectures which have been given for over 400 years. Includes a guide to subjects and digital archive of past lectures.

Tonyel  •  Link

Thanks for the link, Peter. A delightful catch but I think you would need to be sober to sing it!

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Nice one Terry!
If you ever come to Pembrokeshire, I'll take you on a tour :)

Charles Taylor  •  Link

If memory serves me right, there was a movie called "The Old Soak", based on a script by Don Marquis, of Archie and Mehitabel fame. Old drunk saves the town from teetotalers-something like that. Hey, it's Don Marquis.

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

Re: ‘ . . the loss of the “Royall Oake” coming home from Bantam . . ‘

‘bantam, n. < Supposed to be named < Bantam in the north-west of Java, whence perhaps the fowls were imported to Europe, though, according to Crawford, originally from Japan . .

1. a. A small variety of the domestic fowl, most breeds of which have feathered legs: the cocks are spirited fighters.
1749 M. Delany Autobiogr. & Corr. (1861) II. 518 We fed all the bantams, guinea-fowl, pheasants . .

b. fig. in reference to small size or ‘cockiness’.
1787 ‘P. Pindar’ Lyric Odes to Royal Academicians (ed. 5) iii. 9 And struts the veriest Bantam Cock of Paint.

c. bantam weight n. (Boxing): see quot. 1954.
. .1954 F. C. Avis Boxing Ref. Dict. 8 Bantamweight, a standard weight division for professional boxers weighing more than 8 st. but not more than 8 st. 6 lb.; amateurs 8 st. and 8 st. 7 lb. respectively.

d. Applied to battalions, etc., of small-sized soldiers.
1914 Daily Express 20 Nov. 5/5 ‘Bigland's Bantams’ will probably be the pet name of a battalion which is being raised of men who are just too short to enlist under the ordinary conditions... The Bantams Battalion has been recognised by the War Office . . ‘ (OED)

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"After this being done, they to the Crowne Taverne, behind the ‘Change, and there my Lord and most of the company to a club supper"

Fellows of the Royal Society formed dining-clubs at an early date. (Per L&M note)

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