Sunday 13 May 1666

(Lord’s day). Up, and walked to White Hall, where we all met to present a letter to the Duke of Yorke, complaining solemnly of the want of money, and that being done, I to and again up and down Westminster, thinking to have spent a little time with Sarah at the Swan, or Mrs. Martin, but was disappointed in both, so walked the greatest part of the way home, where comes Mr. Symons, my old acquaintance, to dine with me, and I made myself as good company as I could to him, but he was mighty impertinent methought too yet, and thereby I see the difference between myself now and what it was heretofore, when I reckoned him a very brave fellow.

After dinner he and I walked together as far as Cheapside, and I quite through to Westminster again, and fell by chance into St. Margett’s Church, where I heard a young man play the foole upon the doctrine of purgatory. At this church I spied Betty Howlett, who indeed is mighty pretty, and struck me mightily. After church time, standing in the Church yarde, she spied me, so I went to her, her father and mother and husband being with her. They desired and I agreed to go home with Mr. Michell, and there had the opportunity to have saluted two or three times Betty and make an acquaintance which they are pleased with, though not so much as I am or they think I am. I staid here an houre or more chatting with them in a little sorry garden of theirs by the Bowling Alley, and so left them and I by water home, and there was in great pain in mind lest Sir W. Pen, who is going down to the Fleete, should come to me or send for me to be informed in the state of things, and particularly the Victualling, that by my pains he might seem wise. So after spending an houre with my wife pleasantly in her closett, I to bed even by daylight.

19 Annotations

First Reading

Mary  •  Link

"I to bed even by daylight"

Now, this is a really early night and shows just how anxious Sam must have been to avoid any meeting with Pen this evening. Even allowing for the 11 days' calendar difference, London sunset would have been at about 8 p.m. with daylight lasting just a little longer than that.

Presumably the household was instructed that on no account was the master to be disturbed before morning.

Tony Eldridge  •  Link

So after spending an houre with my wife pleasantly in her closett, I to bed even by daylight.
Maybe it's my male mind, but I wonder if this had more to do with Sam's frustrations during the day - no Sarah, no Mrs Martin and only a few chaste kisses with Mrs Howlett in front of her family.

Australian Susan  •  Link

Tony - it's not just your male mind, my cynical one had thought that too - it seemed to me that Sam wanted release for pent up tension occasioned by the preparation of and then delivery of The Letter to the D of Y which could change all the lives of all the Navy Board Officers. He scurried round like a dog sniffing out bitches on heat. Yeuch! But, Sam records all this!! Amazing stuff.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"...and make an acquaintance which they are pleased with, though not so much as I am or they think I am."

Spoiler...

According to Tomalin, step one in Sam's slimy little game with poor new Mrs. Mitchell.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Heaven...Though perhaps at times like these,

"Ow!! Bess!!!"

"A Stand-in? I was your stand-in for those two...YOU SAID YOU WENT TO BED EARLY THIS DAY CAUSE YOU WANTED TO BE WITH ME!!!"

"You remember that?"

"Oh, wait until we get to 1669...The things I'll remember then."

***

djc  •  Link

Mary: " Even allowing for the 11 days’ calendar difference, London sunset would have been at about 8 p.m. with daylight lasting just a little longer than that."

No; add 11 days to Pepys' date to get today's calendar; also allow that there was no BST in the C17. So Sunset would be around 22:00.

ref: http://www.locationworks.com/sunr…

Mary  •  Link

Light evenings.

We must be using very different tables, djc.
My diary for the current year gives sunset on 24th May (equivalent to Sam's 13th May) as 20.58 BST in London. This equates to 19.58 GMT, which would have been the sort of clock that Sam was working to; thus roughly 8 p.m. by his reckoning.

[The latest time ever given for London sunset in this table is 21.22 BST, which would be 20.22 GMT].

jeannine  •  Link

“Up, and walked to White Hall, where we all met to present a letter to the Duke of Yorke, complaining solemnly of the want of money, and that being done,”

This letter (too long to place here) explained that there were several important areas of want of funds and also gives a good indication of the state of the merchants who sold their items to the Navy. In the letter Sam gives the example of a hemp merchant & the sorry state of the pool of merchants in general

“A hemp merchant (that from £60 first demanded had fallen to £58, and at last was prevailed to accept £57 per ton, being reproached by us that a private person had very likely bought of the same goods at £49 10s he immediately replied that he would thankfully exchange the price he had then agreed with us for of £57 for £49 to be paid ready money, which is 16 per cent, difference.

We conceive it likewise no slight evidence of our want of money or the ill effects of it, that in his Majesty’s yards, where the constancy of the employment used to make it matter for petition to be employed there, it is now so far from being such as to be reckoned a punishment, so as the workmen are frequently found to neglect and loiter therein in design only to provoke us into discharging them”

From “the Letters of Samuel Pepys” edited by Guy De Bedoyere

Ruben  •  Link

"a little time with Sarah at the Swan, or Mrs. Martin, but was disappointed in both, so walked the greatest part of the way home"
A cold shower is the best alternative.

A. Hamilton  •  Link

so walked the greatest part of the way home

Australain Susan has, I think, rightly made the connection between the job stress of the moment (money worries for the Navy Office, letter to Duke on same) and the impulse to search for beer and beauty. "(And it generally happens that he hasn't far to go.)"

A long walk is, in fact, a good antidote for this kind of stress.

Michael Robinson  •  Link

" ... where I heard a young man play the foole upon the doctrine of purgatory. "

SP, aged 33, sounds like one of his considerably older colleagues.

Phoenix  •  Link

Sam usually retires eleven maybe twelve or so. If at eight with Elizabeth I marvel at his stamina, if not, at his cowardice.

Paul Chapin  •  Link

JWB, thanks for that Wikipedia citation. I knew Indiana was all messed up timewise, but I had no idea of the extent of it. I used to be in a job where I had to telephone people all over the U.S., so I had to know what time it was pretty much everywhere, but for Indiana it was just impossible.

BTW (and even further OT), I recently learned that the entire nation of China is on a single time zone. Imagine what that must mean for people on the eastern and western borders.

tonyt  •  Link

Paul. No problem on China's eastern border because the single zone uses the natural Beijing time. In the far west the Han Chinese keep to Beijing time whilst the local indigenous people (Tajiks, Uigars etc.) tend to use the natural time about 2 hours behind. The result does not help with racial harmony.

GrahamT  •  Link

Daytime,
Although Sunset is around 20:00 GMT at this time of year, the twilight lasts for a considerable time. In June, when sunset is nearer 21:00 GMT there is still enough light in the sky at 22:00 GMT (23:00 BST) to see clearly.
Note also that dawn is about 04:00 GMT, so even when same arises "very betimes" it will probably already be full daylight.

GrahamT  •  Link

Sorry: "same arises..." should of course be "Sam rises...".

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"lest Sir W. Pen, who is going down to the Fleete, should come to me or send for me to be informed in the state of things, and particularly the Victualling, that by my pains he might seem wise."

For SP it's all about credit being given where it's due: L&M note that on 11 May Penn had been ordered by Albemarle to see to the dispatch of victualing ships.

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