Saturday 2 September 1665
This morning I wrote letters to Mr. Hill and Andrews to come to dine with me to-morrow, and then I to the office, where busy, and thence to dine with Sir J. Minnes, were merry, but only that Sir J. Minnes who hath lately lost two coach horses, dead in the stable, has a third now a dying. After dinner I to Deptford, and there took occasion to ‘entrar a la casa de la gunaica de ma Minusier’, and did what I had a mind … [a hazer con
14 Annotations
First Reading
Robert Gertz • Link
"Waste not, want not, eh, Pepys?" Sir John, beaming...
jean-paul • Link
Now, i know the origin of the expression "Honey, I'm home!"…
Carl in Boston • Link
who hath lately lost two coach horses, dead in the stable, has a third now a dying.
I marvel that Pepys can write so many letters and have them delivered. Evidently the Post Office delivers through fire, famine, pestilence, and plague.
A. De Araujo • Link
"who hath lately lost two coach horses,dead in the stable,has a third now a dying."
From the Plague?
dirk • Link
and there took occasion to ‘entrar a la casa de la gunaica de ma Minusier’, and did what I had a mind...
L&M: "and there took occasion to andar a la casa de la gunaica de mi Minusier and did what I had a mind a hazer con [ella], and volvió"
"entrar a la casa de la gunaica de ma Minusier" = "to enter the house of the Minusier (?) girl"
(guniaca = Greek - cf gynaecologist)
"and did what I had a mind a hazer con ella, and volvió" = and did what I had a mind to do with her, and returned"
Martin • Link
gunaica - good woman (Greek)
menusier - carpenter (French)
The good woman of my carpenter.
In other words, Madame Bagwell, whose husband is a ship's carpenter.
Martin • Link
"thence to dine with Sir J. Minnes, where merry, but only that Sir J. Minnes who hath lately lost two coach horses, dead in the stable, has a third now a dying."
I'm trying to make sense of "but only that." Does he mean "except for the fact that..."?
Mary • Link
"but only that" = "except for the fact that" indeed.
The death of two coach horses with a further death expected represents a considerable loss of money: good coach horses did not come cheap. Although plague can be transmitted to other mammals than man I've no idea whether it is transmissible to horses. More common causes of sudden equine death are contaminated feed or careless treatment (leading to colic) by a stable-hand.
C.J.Darby • Link
Wham,Bam,Thank you mam and home in pretty good time. I does not seem to cost him a thought or moral scruple with death looking over his shoulder.
A. De Araujo • Link
"gunaica"
Thank you Martin;Sam should stick to french and spanish;he had me all over the internet looking for guanica(I misread it).
Robert Gertz • Link
Mrs. B rates Greek? Is that some sort of Pepysian promotion for the favorite mistress?
Australian Susan • Link
Sudden horse death: could be equine flu, which is very contagious. I think if it had been colic caused by poor stable management, we would have heard about the iniquity of the stable boy etc. But food supplies could have been disrupted because of the plague, so contaminated food sounds likely.
Second Reading
San Diego Sarah • Link
"I marvel that Pepys can write so many letters and have them delivered. Evidently the Post Office delivers through fire, famine, pestilence, and plague."
I agree that in normal times there would be reliable, regular, public postal service between the towns of Greenwich and London. It was picked up at local spots throughout the town, went to a central sorting place where it was given to the appropriate waggonman, carried to another central sorting place in the destination town, resorted and sent on to community locations where people could walk to pick it up. Just how "normal" these days were for the postal system, who knows.
My guess is the Navy Board Offices, Ropeyard, and Shipbuilding Yards generated enough internal mail to support a private service -- it probably extended to the Duke of York's offices at St. James's, where Coventry usually worked. (Corporations do this today for things that can't go by email.)
Yesterday Tom moved to Woolwich with the rest of the Pepys' household, so he had Tom to run personal errands (as delivering an invitation for music and dinner must be). Plus I assume Hill and Andrews no longer lived in London, so Tom would need to know where to find them.
We know the Navy Board complex at Seething Lane employed two runners. Probably the dockyard management had some boys standing by for errands. If all else failed, boys on the street needing a few bob would be delighted to run errands.
Unless Pepys spells it out, we can only guess. Since his Diary is all about him, these "housekeeping" details are just guesses, some more educated than others.
For more general info. try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lond…
StanB • Link
Fascinating link Sarah, thanks for posting