Wednesday 17 October 1666

Up, and busy about public and private business all the morning at the office. At noon home to dinner, alone with my brother, with whom I had now the first private talke I have had, and find he hath preached but twice in his life. I did give him some advice to study pronunciation; but I do fear he will never make a good speaker, nor, I fear, any general good scholar, for I do not see that he minds optickes or mathematiques of any sort, nor anything else that I can find. I know not what he may be at divinity and ordinary school-learning. However, he seems sober, and that pleases me. After dinner took him and my wife and Barker (for so is our new woman called, and is yet but a sorry girle), and set them down at Unthanke’s, and so to White Hall, and there find some of my brethren with the Duke of York, but so few I put off the meeting. So staid and heard the Duke discourse, which he did mighty scurrilously, of the French, and with reason, that they should give Beaufort orders when he was to bring, and did bring, his fleete hither, that his rendezvous for his fleete, and for all sluggs to come to, should be between Calais and Dover; which did prove the taking of La Roche[lle], who, among other sluggs behind, did, by their instructions, make for that place, to rendezvous with the fleete; and Beaufort, seeing them as he was returning, took them for the English fleete, and wrote word to the King of France that he had passed by the English fleete, and the English fleete durst not meddle with him.

The Court is all full of vests, only my Lord St. Albans not pinked but plain black; and they say the King says the pinking upon white makes them look too much like magpyes, and therefore hath bespoke one of plain velvet. Thence to St. James’s by coach, and spoke, at four o’clock or five, with Sir W. Coventry, newly come from the House, where they have sat all this day and not come to an end of the debate how the money shall be raised. He tells me that what I proposed to him the other day was what he had himself thought on and determined, and that he believes it will speedily be done — the making Sir J. Minnes a Commissioner, and bringing somebody else to be Comptroller, and that (which do not please me, I confess, for my own particulars, so well as Sir J. Minnes) will, I fear, be Sir W. Pen, for he is the only fit man for it.

Away from him and took up my wife, and left her at Temple Bar to buy some lace for a petticoat, and I took coach and away to Sir R. Viner’s about a little business, and then home, and by and by to my chamber, and there late upon making up an account for the Board to pass to-morrow, if I can get them, for the clearing all my imprest bills, which if I can do, will be to my very good satisfaction. Having done this, then to supper and to bed.

25 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

The Royal Society today at Gresham College — from the Hooke Folio Online

Oct. 17. 1666. (Crone chariots & alkermes for medcine and Dying)
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerm… ]

There was tryd an Expt. touching the propagation of motion by a contriuance whereby 2 balls of the same wood and of aequall bignesse were soe suspended that one of them being Lett fall from a certaine height against the other, the other was Impl impelled vpwards, to neer the same height from wch. the first was Lette fall. the first by appearing /becoming/ then almost quiesent and the tother Returning impelled the 1st impelled the 1st. vpards againe to almost the same height it had fallen before, itself burning them in a menner mouelesse, till after some returnes they both vibrated together orderd that this Expt. be prosecuted and others of that kind thought vpon.

(Pouey about a mouing sand in Suffolk.) Dr. Balls curiositys for repository

http://webapps.qmul.ac.uk/cell/Ho…

JWB  •  Link

Beaufort

Seen here as a figure of ridicule, as perhaps are all royal bastards. If you can't make fun of your cousin who... Dumas makes him a 'malapopper'. Had all together fitting death.

R Kadish  •  Link

Does anyone know of a map of Pepys' London showing his favorite spots / daily movements around the city? Thanks...

JWB  •  Link

al-kermes for “red-coats”?

Drebbel for "Drebbel-red".

The color 'pink' seems to be derived from the color of pink-eye, contagious disease, being same as that of a pinked or poked eye. Can this be?

A. Hamilton  •  Link

"which did prove the taking of La Roche[lle], who, among other sluggs behind, did, by their instructions, make for that place, to rendezvous with the fleete; and Beaufort, seeing them as he was returning, took them for the English fleete"

Does L&M clarify this passage? I suspect "La Roche" does not refer to the port of La Rochelle. Perhaps it refers to a ship or the commander of a slow division of the French fleet? And in what sense are we to read "prove" -- establish or test or something else? Was "La Roche" (ship or ships) "taken" by the British around this time?

Terry Foreman  •  Link

La Roche

Andrew Hamilton, you are correct. L&M say La Roche was captain of "Rubis" [Ruby] a slug in Beaufort's fleet, captured by Allin on 18 September, which Pepys will note in summing up October. http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

House of commons today

Atheism, &c.

ORDERED, That the Committee to which the Bill against Atheism and Profaneness is committed, be impowered to receive Information touching such Books as tend to Atheism, Blasphemy, or Profaneness, or against the Essence or Attributes of God; and, in particular, the Book published in the Name of one White; and the Book of Mr. Hobbs, called The Leviathan; and to report the Matter, with their Opinions, to the House.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

SPOILER ---Hobbes will be protected by his former pupil, now King Charles II.

"The only consequence that came of the bill was that Hobbes could never thereafter publish anything in England on subjects relating to human conduct. The 1668 edition of his works was printed in Amsterdam because he could not obtain the censor's licence for its publication in England." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thom…

Australian Susan  •  Link

Pinked in this context means decoratively slashed. It is not referring to colour. incidentally, pink has changed colour - it used to mean red: thus huntsmen's coats are actually red, but are referred to as pink coats. Except for the Berkeley Hunt which has mustard coloured coats. Then there is the confusion over the Crimson Finch, which is a pale pink.... Also the Queen's Coach Horses are known as Windsor Greys, but are actually white. English English is very confusing sometimes...

R Kadish  •  Link

Thanks -- that's very helpful.

Kate Bunting  •  Link

All white horses are correctly called "grey".

My understanding is that the colour pink was called after the flowers, which are so called because of the "pinked" edges of their petals.

Australian Susan  •  Link

"all white horses are correctly called grey" - yes, I knew that! But, alas, not here in Australia. Endless confusions. They think "flea-bitten" means diseased.... And our American cousins write "gray". Not sure what they call their white horses.Thanks for the information about flowers.

CGS  •  Link

DNA speaks?
"...So staid and heard the Duke discourse, which he did mighty scurrilously, of the French, and with reason,.."

JWB  •  Link

In American and I think elsewhere:

Grays have black skin, are born dark and fade to shades of gray to full white. Whites have pink skin and are white.

CGS  •  Link

pink is to wink ; small, ship, fish, hole [pin prick], 9 nouns verbs etc.
OED for SP 1b:

pinking, n.1
1. a. The action of pinking cloth, leather, a garment, etc.; an instance of this. Also pinking-out. Cf. PINK v.1 1.
1503
b. Any work decorated in this way; esp. an ornamental edging or trim.
1611
1b 1666 S. PEPYS Diary 17 Oct. (1972) VII. 328 The King says the pinking upon white makes them look too much like magpyes, and therefore hath bespoke one [vest] of plain velvet.

2. The action or an act of tattooing. Cf. PINK v.1 3. Obs. rare.
1611
3. The action or an act of piercing, beating, or striking. Also fig. Cf. PINK v.1 2. Now rare (chiefly Sc.).
1637

The action of winking or blinking the eyes; an instance of this. Chiefly in winking and pinking (and variants). Cf. PINK v.2 1.
1608 T. HEYWOOD Rape of Lucrece sig. D4v, I..neuer so much as glaunc'd, neuer vs'd any winking or pinking, neuer nodded at her. 1668 DRYDEN Sir Martin Mar-all IV. 49 Leave off your winking and your pinking.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"There was tryd an Expt. touching the propagation of motion by a contriuance whereby 2 balls of the same wood and of aequall bignesse were soe suspended that one of them being Lett fall from a certaine height against the other, the other was Impl impelled vpwards, to neer the same height from wch. the first was Lette fall. the first by appearing /becoming/ then almost quiesent and the tother Returning impelled the 1st impelled the 1st. vpards againe to almost the same height it had fallen before, itself burning them in a menner mouelesse, till after some returnes they both vibrated together"

Isaac Newton (now ar Cambridge, 24 years old) was not yet known, but this experiment has come to be called "Newton's Cradle"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New…'s_cradle

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"between Calais and Dover; which did prove the taking of La Roche[lle], who, among other sluggs behind, did, by their instructions, make for that place, to rendezvous with the fleete"

L&M: Beaufort sailed out from La Rochelle to join de Ruyter in the Channel, but when off Dieppe was ordered back into port, the French authorities fearing that the Dutch fleet was going to leave him unsupported. La Roche, captain of the Rubis, was one of the 'slugs' (stragglers) captured by Allin on 18 September:
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… and https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

How interesting Elizabeth was buying lace today, it being St. Audrey's Day:

In The Winter’s Tale, IV.iv.278, the shepherdess, Mopsa, says, as a straight-line for the shepherd-clown:
“Come you promis'd me a tawdry-lace, and a paire of sweet Gloves.”

“Tawdry” was the common pronunciation of “St. Audrey”.
Tawdry-lace referred to lace bought at the annual medieval fair of St. Audrey, on October 17 in Ely. The fair was known as a place to buy gaudy knick-knacks and gewgaws in which unsophisticated country folk delighted.

“Sweet gloves” was the common term for perfumed gloves, and gloves were special gifts as we have heard before.

These lines were written 80 years before Pepys, of course.
But old traditions lived on, even subconsciously.

“At the Fair of St. Audry, at Ely, in former times, toys of all sorts were sold, and a description of cheap necklaces, which under the denomination of ‘tawdry laces’, long enjoyed great celebrity.” -- Chambers' Book of Days (October 17).

John G  •  Link

Many thanks San Diego Sarah for that very interesting snippet of information.
John G, Sydney

Christopher  •  Link

So THAT's why they are called "pinking shears"...

Third Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Terry stole my scoop on the debate about blasphemy in the House of Commons on this day in 1666.

Today I was reading an old article in the New Statesman about the Covid lockdowns in the UK, and the author made this point:

"In 1666-67, parliament debated a bill that would have made denying the central theological doctrines of Anglicanism punishable by imprisonment and exile. One of the books mentioned in the bill that prompted atheism and blasphemy was "Leviathan". Understandably, the bill sent Hobbes into spasms of fear. But ironically, this fear arose from the sovereign doing the same thing Hobbes had said in "Leviathan" it should do."
https://www.newstatesman.com/poli…

Charles II was tutored by Thomas Hobbes, briefly, in Paris during the 1650's. Apparently Charles was paying attention; and many in Parliament had also read Hobbes' works to pay attention.

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