Tuesday 10 April 1666

Up betimes, and many people to me about business. To the office and there sat till noon, and then home and dined, and to the office again all the afternoon, where we sat all, the first time of our resolution to sit both forenoons and afternoons. Much business at night and then home, and though late did see some work done by the plasterer to my new window in the boy’s chamber plastered. Then to supper, and after having my head combed by the little girle to bed. Bad news that the plague is decreased in the general again and two increased in the sickness.

17 Annotations

First Reading

Lawrence  •  Link

"Then to supper, and after having my head combed by the little girle to bed"

I thought he donned a wig, so as to make life a little easier, he would have his hair cropped? this seems strange to me? that he'd want someone to comb hair you probably don't have!

Mary  •  Link

Sam hasn't mentioned his wig(s) for a long time. No discussion of them being sent to the wig-maker's for 'dressing' as was alluded to in the past. Perhaps he quietly abandoned them pro. tem. during the plague year?

Mary  •  Link

"...... and two increased in the sicknesse."

L&M note that burials from all causes had decreased by 16 from the previous week, but that plague burials had increased from 26 to 28. Presumably this is what Pepys means.

Mark Peaty [aka Xodarap]  •  Link

Mary: "Sam hasn’t mentioned his wig(s) for a long time. No discussion of them being sent to the wig-maker’s for ‘dressing’ as was alluded to in the past. Perhaps he quietly abandoned them pro. tem. during the plague year?"

An interesting thought Mary, does a wigless head make a smaller target for a flea to land on when the rich and powerful [and the wanna-bes] incline their heads together for quiet discussions and deal making?

It would be nice to think that the more sculduggerous types, whispering only, would have their heads closer together and therefore risking higher mortality than than more "upright" types who were happier to speak louder! :-)

Bryan M  •  Link

"Sam hasn’t mentioned his wig(s) for a long time. No discussion of them being sent to the wig-maker’s for ‘dressing’ as was alluded to in the past. Perhaps he quietly abandoned them pro. tem. during the plague year?"

I don't think we have to look too far for evidence that Sam is still wearing a wig. The oil was still drying on Hale's portrait (below & above).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File…

Lawrence  •  Link

I wonder what a dash he cut? with his wig, and he being only 5'1'' tall?

Mary  •  Link

re: the portrait.

We know that Sam borrowed (or hired) the "Indian robe" that he wears in the portrait. Perhaps his donning of a wig was equally temporary?

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"...the first time of our resolution to sit both forenoons and afternoons."

Well, I guess there is a war on.

Australian Susan  •  Link

Closeness of heads

There was an increase in headlice in upper classes primary schools here about 10 years ago when it was customary for a group to cluster around a computer screen (when a classroom might only have one or two). In Queensland, headlice breed fast and furious.

Re the combing. I think there was been a sudden outbreak of headcombing as Bess is away - working out how much he can get away with before he pounces?

Working as a group in two sessions: as RG said - there's a war on : Keep Calm & Carry On as the poster said.

cgs  •  Link

"...No discussion of them being sent to the wig-maker’s..."
The periwigers [makers and stylists] were with the money, near those that keep fashions in style , most,if not all periwiggers wearers had left town, exception be the Diarist.
Seaman barber be not of use, short back and sides be the only skill.

Mary  •  Link

Seaman barber.

I'm not sure that such a profession existed at this time. Many seamen seem to have worn their hair long, both at this point and much later; not in flowing locks around the face and shoulders, but plaited into a queue.

If you look at Lord Nelson's jacket, as preserved in the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, you can observe the dark stain between the shoulder-blades where his greasy queue (plait) marked the cloth.

cgs  •  Link

Thanks, a good point, probably true also for the average male who only earns less than 12 d a day.

Girls had fun on lovers lane swishing for 'luverly' lice

When did the phrase come into fashion "cleanliness be next to..."

Second Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"... my new window in the boy’s chamber plastered. Then to supper, and after having my head combed by the little girle to bed."

So now we know the little girle didn't go with Bess to Brampton either. How about the boy went ... that way his chamber is available for these alterations.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Oh dear, Evelyn is sick:

https://www.thefreedictionary.com…

ap·o·plex·y (ăp′ə-plĕk′sē) n.
1. Sudden impairment of neurological function, especially that resulting from a cerebral hemorrhage; a stroke.
2. A sudden effusion of blood into an organ or tissue.
3. A fit of extreme anger; rage: "The proud ... members suffered collective apoplexy, and this year they are out for blood" (David Finch).
[Middle English apoplexie, from Old French, from Late Latin apoplēxia, from Greek apoplēxiā, from apoplēssein, apoplēg-, to cripple by a stroke : apo-, intensive pref.; see apo- + plēssein, to strike; see plāk- in Indo-European roots.]
--- American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

(SPOILER) Turns out Evelyn is fine tomorrow, so it must be D'Oyly who had apoplexy.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Sir William D'Oyly MP went down with a stroke in April 1666, and his colleagues considered his recovery little short of miraculous.8
• 8. CSP Dom. 1666-7, pp. 103, 568; CJ, viii. 437, 511, 531, 578, 592, 594, 598; C. J. Palmer, Hist. Yarmouth, 214; Add. 32094, f. 24; Pepys Diary, 9 Sept. 1665; Milward, 4, 9; Bayley, 119; Evelyn Diary, iii. 433, 448.

https://www.historyofparliamenton…

I wonder who covered his responsibilities, or did Charles II appoint a replacement?

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