Tuesday 29 May 1666

(King’s birth-day and Restauration day). Waked with the ringing of the bells all over the towne; so up before five o’clock, and to the office, where we met, and I all the morning with great trouble upon my spirit to think how I should come off in the afternoon when Sir W. Coventry did go to the Victualling office to see the state of matters there, and methinks by his doing of it without speaking to me, and only with Sir W. Pen, it must be of design to find my negligence. However, at noon I did, upon a small invitation of Sir W. Pen’s, go and dine with Sir W. Coventry at his office, where great good cheer and many pleasant stories of Sir W. Coventry; but I had no pleasure in them. However, I had last night and this morning made myself a little able to report how matters were, and did readily go with them after dinner to the Victualling office; and there, beyond belief, did acquit myself very well to full content; so that, beyond expectation, I got over this second rub in this business; and if ever I fall on it again, I deserve to be undone.

Being broke up there, I with a merry heart home to my office, and thither my wife comes to me, to tell me, that if I would see the handsomest woman in England, I shall come home presently; and who should it be but the pretty lady of our parish, that did heretofore sit on the other side of our church, over against our gallery, that is since married; she with Mrs. Anne Jones, one of this parish, that dances finely, and Mrs. … sister did come to see her this afternoon, and so I home and there find Creed also come to me. So there I spent most of the afternoon with them, and indeed she is a pretty black woman, her name Mrs. Horsely. But, Lord! to see how my nature could not refrain from the temptation; but I must invite them to Foxhall, to Spring Gardens, though I had freshly received minutes of a great deale of extraordinary business. However I could not helpe it, but sent them before with Creed, and I did some of my business; and so after them, and find them there, in an arbour, and had met with Mrs. Pierce, and some company with her. So here I spent 20s. upon them, and were pretty merry. Among other things, had a fellow that imitated all manner of birds, and doggs, and hogs, with his voice, which was mighty pleasant. Staid here till night: then set Mrs. Pierce in at the New Exchange; and ourselves took coach, and so set Mrs. Horsely home, and then home ourselves, but with great trouble in the streets by bonefires, it being the King’s birth-day and day of Restauration; but, Lord! to see the difference how many there were on the other side, and so few ours, the City side of the Temple, would make one wonder the difference between the temper of one sort of people and the other: and the difference among all between what they do now, and what it was the night when Monk come into the City. Such a night as that I never think to see again, nor think it can be. After I come home I was till one in the morning with Captain Cocke drawing up a contract with him intended to be offered to the Duke to-morrow, which, if it proceeds, he promises me 500l..

24 Annotations

First Reading

Michael L  •  Link

"had a fellow that imitated all manner of birds, and doggs, and hogs, with his voice, which was mighty pleasant."

Ah, yes. The good ol' barnyard imitations get them every time.

Todd Bernhardt  •  Link

"and Mrs. sister did come to see her this afternoon"

??

Michael Robinson  •  Link

" ... thither my wife comes to me, to tell me, that if I would see the handsomest woman in England, I shall come home presently; ..."

Following on yesterday, I wonder if this is part of a campaign by EP to undermine SP's obvious fascination with the company of the Mrs Pierce and Knipp?

Michael Robinson  •  Link

“and Mrs. sister did come to see her this afternoon”

The L&M text reads: "and Mrs. ....... sister did", but footnote that there is no blank present in the MS.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"...thither my wife comes to me, to tell me, that if I would see the handsomest woman in England, I shall come home presently..."

Madame Pepys, tres sophisticated...Madame you are une femme de la monde.

"I meant me!" Bess notes.

Well...Eleanor had confidence in Franklin until Lucy Mercer showed up.

Michael L  •  Link

Where is the war?

It occurs to me that even though the English are in the middle of a war with the Dutch, one hears next to nothing of any actual warfare going on. Oh sure, there is a lot of supplying and shipbuilding coming through Sam's office. But when is the last time we heard of any actual shots being fired in anger? You would expect that by this time of year, the weather ought to be good enough for some serious ship-to-ship action somewhere.

cgs  •  Link

Where is the war?
WWII declared Sept 3 '39, blud shed May 10th '40; it always takes time for the unprepared to get all the ducks [&Gnu] lined up .

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Meanwhile...Again at that den of global iniquity, the Vatican...

Papal reception hall. Swiss guard lined in rows. A lone Cardinal solemnly treads to a point before the Presence, kneeling to kiss ring on extended hand.

"Your Holiness..."

"Speak, Cardinal."

"Phase two of our great scheme appears to be less successful than hoped. Despite the weakening of the heretics of England owing to the dispersal..."

Frown from on high...Though We are His instruments on this Earth. We must never speak so frankly.

"Er...The visitation of God's Holy Wrath among them, the Dutch heretics and your own loyal Frenchmen have failed to take advantage. Even as the plague decreases."

"It is as I have foreseen, Cardinal. And proper."

Hmmn...Would be nice if He'd enlighten us from time to time, the group of cardinals in the chapel rear collectively sigh.

"We should not wish the heretic Dutch to become more powerful through total victory. And even Our loyal Louis must be kept in some degree of...Check. All is well. Corruption, discontent, and fear flow through throughout the government of our most dangerous enemy and I foresee more shared blood of both our common enemies shortly."

"Yes, Holiness."

"We shall now proceed to Phase Three. How long before all is in position?"

"Our agents shall be ready by September at the latest, Holiness."

"Excellent. First the visitation of civil war among the heretics...Next plague...And next...Ha, ha...Ah,ha,ha."

Eyes group of cardinals and minions.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha..." chorus.

***

Jesse  •  Link

Where is the war?

This seems to be a type of naval warfare where the goal is 'limited' to neutralizing your opponent's navy (as opposed to an invasion or conquest of territory). My guess is that, in addition to lining one's guns up as stated above, that there's lots of tactical maneuvering going on. Trying to catch the other guy at a disadvantage while not getting caught oneself and so forth. The sea covers a vast area of which, especially in those days, it's hard to obtain good intelligence of your adversary's whereabouts and goings on.

Thus, like many turf races, there's a lot of apparent plodding about until the fireworks(sorry) at the end.

cgs  •  Link

spy business ; in spite of the sloth mail the intelligence of Carlos II was as good as the modern, they still do not believe wot hath been "scene", only in wot they see in their own fibrous mirror.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"after dinner to the Victualling office; and there, beyond belief, did acquit myself very well to full content; so that, beyond expectation, I got over this second rub in this business; and if ever I fall on it again, I deserve to be undone."

Thus this day end days and nights of High Anxiety!

language hat  •  Link

"WWII declared Sept 3 ‘39, blud shed May 10th ‘40"

If you don't count Poles, I suppose.

A. Hamilton  •  Link

Lining up the gnus

When life is glum and cares attack
What fun it is to pot a yak,
Or puncture hares and grizzly bears,
Or others I could mention.
But in my animal's who's who
No name stands higher than the gnu.
And each new gnu that comes in view
Receives my prompt attention.

When Afric's sun is sinking low
And shadows wander to and fro,
And everywhere there's in the air
A hush that's still and solemn,
Then is the time good men and true
With view halloo pursue the gnu.
The safest spot to put your shot
Is through the spinal column....

Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, via memory

cgs  •  Link

"touchez" : I was only thinking of the Phony war of the Brits, those on the great continent had been suffering under the heel of oppression, even before and that be another story.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

""after dinner to the Victualling office; and there, beyond belief, did acquit myself very well to full content; so that, beyond expectation, I got over this second rub in this business; and if ever I fall on it again, I deserve to be undone.""

L&M: The first rub [check, obstacle] had been his meeting with Coventry on 7 May: https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

" the pretty lady of our parish, that did heretofore sit on the other side of our church, over against our gallery, that is since married;"

L&M: She appears to have been the 'new Morena' mentioned at 18 December 1664: https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

arby  •  Link

"small invitation"?

Martin  •  Link

Short notice, perhaps.

Gerald Berg  •  Link

"and what it was the night when Monk come into the City. Such a night as that I never think to see again..."

What exactly is Pepys referring to here? Is this something along the lines of Leclerc's entry into Paris in 1944?

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"What exactly is Pepys referring to here? Is this something along the lines of Leclerc's entry into Paris in 1944?"

Yes. "On the night of 24 August, elements of General Philippe Leclerc's 2nd French Armored Division made their way into Paris and arrived at the Hôtel de Ville shortly before midnight. " https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lib…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"What exactly is Pepys referring to here? ..."

I find it hard to guess what Pepys is recalling. He didn't place himself to see the troop movements (dangerous? possible riots? those apprentices drinking too much? Royalist conspirators?), but heard about them and reported what happened. On February 9, 1659/60 he was woken by the sound of the Parliamentary troops saddling up to leave London so Monck's troops could come in unopposed.

https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

RSGII  •  Link

As I understand it, on the day of or after Monk’s entry into the city, and defiance of the rump Parliament, Pepys interviewed Monk’s personal secretary and got the inside story of what had happened from him, a far better source than trying to make sense of troop movements. He then reported on this to Sandwich and us along with careful details of the celebrations and atmospherics, e.g. the number of bonfires observed at various locations, the eating of rumps, etc.

Log in to post an annotation.

If you don't have an account, then register here.