Friday 21 July 1665
Up and abroad to the goldsmiths, to see what money I could get upon my present tallys upon the advance of the Excise, and I hope I shall get 10,000l. I went also and had them entered at the Excise Office. Alderman Backewell is at sea. Sir R. Viner come to towne but this morning. So Colvill was the only man I could yet speak withal to get any money of. Met with Mr. Povy, and I with him and dined at the Custom House Taverne, there to talk of our Tangier business, and Stockedale and Hewet with us. So abroad to several places, among others to Anthony Joyce’s, and there broke to him my desire to have Pall married to Harman, whose wife, poor woman, is lately dead, to my trouble, I loving her very much, and he will consider it.
So home and late at my chamber, setting some papers in order; the plague growing very raging, and my apprehensions of it great.
So very late to bed.
20 Annotations
First Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"the plague growing very raging, and my apprehensions of it great."
A quite sudden change of tone!
Robert Gertz • Link
And yet life goes on and one must seize the opportunity God has offered for unloading one's troublesome spinster sister.
Maurie Beck • Link
To this day, no one knows what the disease was. Of course, many of the symptoms are like those of bubonic plague, but it could have been any number of hemorrhagic fevers. In yesterdays annotations, there were questions about susceptibility. A lot of this depends on transmission (e.g. vector borne, bodily fluids, airborne, etc.).
Finally, the recipe for plague water sounds downright dangerous considering all the potential plant toxins involved. It probably worked, if at all, because it made one so sick that they stayed indoors and lowered their exposure.
Robert Gertz • Link
"Sam'l. Don't go back to London, stay here with me. It's dangerous, especially traveling back and forth as you do."
"Now, Bess...Both Duty and Business call. Siren songs I must heed. Besides, there's still plenty of people staying in London. Mr. Povy has no intention of leaving and..."
"Mr. Povy? The man you said was the biggest fool in Christendom?"
Hmmn...When you put it that way.
jeannine • Link
"and there broke to him my desire to have Pall married to Harman"
Riding off the heels of his latest matchmaker role, perhaps he's feeling lucky? Or perhaps he just received this exchange of letters between Pall to her ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” brother????
(borrowed from Bock and Harnick’s “Matchmaker, Matchmaker”)
From Pall to Sam:
Dear Sammy, Dear Sammy, make me a match
Find me a find, catch me a catch
Dear Sammy, Dear Sammy look through your book
And make me a perfect match
Dear Sammy, Dear Sammy I'll bring the veil
You bring the groom slender and pale
Bring me a ring for I'm longing to be
The envy of all I see
For poppa make him a scholar
For momma make him rich as a king
For me, well I wouldn't holler
If he were as handsome as anything
Dear Sammy, Dear Sammy make me a match
Find me a find, catch me a catch
Night after night in the dark I'm alone
So make me a match of my own
From Sam to Pall:
Pall, oh Pall, have I made a match for you
He's handsome, he's young - all right, he's 62
But he's a nice man, a good catch, true? True
I promise you'll be happy, and even if you're not
There's more to life than that - don't ask me what
Pall I've found him, will you be a lucky bride
He's handsome, he's tall - that is from side to side
But he's a nice man, a good catch, right? Right
You've heard he's got a temper, he'll beat you every night
But only when he's sober - so you're alright
Did you think you'd get a prince?
Well I do the best I can
With no dowry, no money, no family background
Be glad you've got a match
From Pall to Sam:
Dear Sammy, Dear Sammy you know that I'm
Still very young, please take your time
Up to this minute I misunderstood
That I could get stuck for good
Dear Sammy see that he's gentle
You see Sammy that I’ll be his bride
It's not that I'm sentimental
It's just that I'm terrified
Dear Sammy, Dear Sammy plan me no plans
I'm in no rush, maybe I've learned
Playing with matches a girl can get burned
So bring me no ring, groom me no groom
Find me no find, catch me no catch
Unless he's a matchless match……
And from the annotators To Harman:
Dear Harmam, Dear Harman, run very fast
Don’t return here till the Dairy has passed
Dear Harmon, Dear Harmon check your caller id
Don’t take any calls if they say “Samuel P”……
Dear Harman it’s not that Pall is so bad
But Sam writes everything in his Diary
You’d become stark raving mad
He’d record your life for all to see
Dear Harman, Dear Harman don’t plan any plans
Don’t be in a rush, maybe you’ve learned
If you see Sam make a quick u-turn
So don’t bring a ring, don’t be a groom
Don’t be his find, don’t be his catch
Don’t become Sam’s latest match……
CGS • Link
"....so sick that they stayed indoors..." De fleas be in doors where de rodents be , near where they could wine and dine on the servant's spillage.
Rodents likes their calories in nice comfortable places out of the elements , and as de pesky devills would get energise from the excess heat of summer, mighty flea would enjoy the exercise of great jumpings onto fresh uncovered human skin,especially to find nice warm niches.
A. De Araujo • Link
Nice libretto for a mini Opera Jeannine!
A. De Araujo • Link
"that they stayed indoors and lowered their exposure"
I am not quite sure of that; maybe.
JWB • Link
"...the plague growing very raging..."
The plague may have raged, but its victims did not. They went "gently into that good night". Lethary is one of the results of the disease. They did not protest being shut-up or carted off to the pest house. Those of us who have been injected with anti-plague vaccine remember the three day "jet lag" along w/ fevor headache and overall body ache associated with the attenuated version.
Andrew Hamilton • Link
Bravo Jeannine!
Robert Gertz • Link
Wonderful, Jeannine. Thanks. And no doubt Harman is grateful for the warning.
Sam grumbling that Pall is hardly "young" by his definition and we may well expect to take one who "doth grow old and ugly" on our own charge should we wish to critize his dutiful efforts.
A. De Araujo • Link
"they did not protest being shut-up or carted off to the pest house"
Not according to Daniel Defoe JWB.
Ronal B. Morse • Link
I've had the Plague vaccine. Had someone suggested I go with them to a nice quiet place to die, I would have gone willingly. And I would have been happy to have made their acquaintance.
Pedro • Link
And if you are wondering just where the English Fleet has got to Sandwich says on this day…
At noon observed our latitude by my sea quadrant 56deg 56min. At night I observed the planet Saturn and by him found our latitude 56deg 57min. We suppose about 30 leagues from the Naze of Norway.
(The Journal of Edward Montagu edited by Anderson)
cgs • Link
"suppose about 30 leagues from the Naze of Norway".
The Naze [(Lindesnes)] be not Walton on, but the southern tip of Norway , NNW of Thisted Denmark, a dangerous stretch of waters as the Baltic meets the German sea.
t"...he Naze" was one of the most important Seamarks in Northern Europe from the middle age until the end of the nineteenth century. The sea route between the North Sea and the Baltic countries was one of the most important trade routes, and the Naze showed the way in and out of Skagerak. Today it is still an important landmark, and easy to recognise with its white painted lighthouse sending out the characteristic one white flash every 20 second as soon as the sun goes down...."
lifted from
http://www.norseadventure.com/ind…
JWB • Link
A. De Araujo
Defoe's "Journal" is an historical novel. I think someone said to be a plague sufferer who has the will & energy to protest anything of note has been misdiagnosed.
A. De Araujo • Link
JWB
I should have said the contacts.
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"to Anthony Joyce’s, and there broke to him my desire to have Pall married to Harman"
L&M: Pepys pursued this plan for almost a year, but nothing came of it.
Gerald Berg • Link
Sandwich heading towards Stravanger? AKA last known locale of de Ruyter. Impressive intelligence!
Jerry • Link
"Met with Mr. Povy, and I with him and dined at the Custom House Taverne, there to talk of our Tangier business, and Stockedale and Hewet with us."
Notable that Sam is still dining at taverns amid "the plague growing very raging, and my apprehensions of it great." The day prior he even noted the plague spreading at The Axe, yet seems not deterred.