Sunday 19 November 1665

(Lord’s day). Up, and after being trimmed, alone by water to Erith, all the way with my song book singing of Mr. Lawes’s long recitative song in the beginning of his book. Being come there, on board my Lord Bruncker, I find Captain Cocke and other company, the lady not well, and mighty merry we were; Sir Edmund Pooly being very merry, and a right English gentleman, and one of the discontented Cavaliers, that think their loyalty is not considered. After dinner, all on shore to my Lady Williams, and there drank and talked; but, Lord! the most impertinent bold woman with my Lord that ever I did see. I did give her an account again of my business with my Lord touching W. Howe, and she did give me some more information about it, and examination taken about it, and so we parted and I took boat, and to Woolwich, where we found my wife not well of them, and I out of humour begun to dislike her paynting, the last things not pleasing me so well as the former, but I blame myself for my being so little complaisant. So without eating or drinking, there being no wine (which vexed me too), we walked with a lanthorne to Greenwich and eat something at his house, and so home to bed.

12 Annotations

First Reading

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"...I out of humour begun to dislike her paynting, the last things not pleasing me so well as the former..."

Long day with no supper or wine waiting maketh for a sour critic.

Not to mention...

"And may I ask why your 'Self-Portrait' is all in black? You've never worn black."

"It represents my perpetual mourning for my lost soul...You did note the umbilical cord strangling me?"

"I rather thought it best not to...And what is this one? All dark blue, excepting that white hand...Scratching at something?"

"The emptiness of my existence,the hand representing my desperate yearning to claw my way to freedom."

"Ah...Well, the hand is quite nice, dear. And all this white with scrawls like writing?...And is that blood dripping?"

"The torn fragments of my Letter to you...My heart's blood dripping from each heartfelt piece. It expresses my repressed agony over your rejection."

"Really?" Hmmn... "Not quite as cheery as that series of landscapes you did last time..."

"Mr. Browne felt I needed to express myself more in my work."

"Yes?" Rather like to express myself to Browne just right now...

"Bess?! Are those men eating each other?!!"

"The haunted, starving sailors I saw at Woolwich, eaten and being eaten by the greed and indifference of our government. You do see I didn't include you with the leering, parasitic men in finery chuckling as they sell the wretches' clothing off their backs? You're just watching from that window." Points to a smug-looking Sam leaning out at window.

"Oh, yes. I...See...Well, why don't we put this one up in my closet." Turned to the wall, forever covered by one of my bookcases.

Todd Bernhardt  •  Link

"eat something at his house, and so home to bed."

Whose house?

cgs  •  Link

that right good English Gent?

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Whose house?" (Todd Bernhardt) "that right good English Gent?" (cgs)
Cocke's (L&M)

Australian Susan  •  Link

"....alone by water to Erith, all the way with my song book singing of Mr. Lawes’s long recitative song in the beginning of his book. ...."

'Waterman! waterman! Stop! Stop! We're here!'
'Sorry, sir, didn't hear you.'
'What's wrong with your ears? They seem full of something?'
'Oh that, sir. Yes, it's...it's...a new plague preventive I'm trying out. Rumour has it, it gets in through the ears. Best to fill them with bits of wool.'
'But you'd have difficulty hearing, man!'
'Yes, sir, 'tis true......'

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Abby may be the "...most impertinent bold woman with my Lord that I did ever see..." (What, did she give a "Billy, you're full of it!"? or is she handling all Bruncker's "other" naval business and telling him openly to let her do so? "Billy, you've no more head for this than Tom Povy, go get Pepys and me something to drink, Sam and I will handle this.") but one can't help noticing she's again been promoted in title...Now "My lady Williams". Not to mention that Sam is now handling business for her.

Sam seems fascinated by the idea of such an assertive, intelligent, charming woman, though perhaps torn between that image and his ideal of sweet womanhood, Lady Jem. I think he secretly loves what he sees of spirit in Bess, but there's always the fear that an independent Bess might well decide the pond Pepys is too small for her.

JWB  •  Link

"A meal /out wine is like a day /out sunshine"

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Mr. Lawes’s long recitative song in the beginning of his book."

L&M conjecture this may be "the first song in the 1653 book [of *Ayres and dialogues*..., sc.] Lawes's famous 'Ariadne'."

JWB  •  Link

Lawes' "Ariadne"
For a discussion from one of those perforated book reviews from Google,(do no evil)Books:
The Well-tun'd Word By Elise Bickford Jorgens
http://books.google.com/books?id=…

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"we walked with a lanthorne to Greenwich and eat something at his house"

Cocke's.

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