Monday 29 October 1666

Up, and to the office to do business, and thither comes to me Sir Thomas Teddiman, and he and I walked a good while in the garden together, discoursing of the disorder and discipline of the fleete, wherein he told me how bad every thing is; but was very wary in speaking any thing to the dishonour of the Prince or Duke of Albemarle, but do magnify my Lord Sandwich much before them both, for ability to serve the King, and do heartily wish for him here. For he fears that we shall be undone the next year, but that he will, however, see an end of it.

To prevent the necessity of his dining with me I was forced to pretend occasion of going to Westminster, so away I went, and Mr. Barber, the clerk, having a request to make to me to get him into employment, did walk along with me, and by water to Westminster with me, he professing great love to me, and an able clerk he is. When I come thither I find the new Lord Mayor Bolton a-swearing at the Exchequer, with some of the Aldermen and Livery; but, Lord! to see how meanely they now look, who upon this day used to be all little lords, is a sad sight and worthy consideration. And every body did reflect with pity upon the poor City, to which they are now coming to choose and swear their Lord Mayor, compared with what it heretofore was.

Thence by coach (having in the Hall bought me a velvet riding cap, cost me 20s.) to my taylor’s, and there bespoke a plain vest, and so to my goldsmith to bid him look out for some gold for me; and he tells me that ginnys, which I bought 2,000 of not long ago, and cost me but 18 1/2d. change, will now cost me 22d.; and but very few to be had at any price. However, some more I will have, for they are very convenient, and of easy disposal.

So home to dinner and to discourse with my brother upon his translation of my Lord Bacon’s “Faber Fortunae,” which I gave him to do and he has done it, but meanely; I am not pleased with it at all, having done it only literally, but without any life at all.

About five o’clock I took my wife (who is mighty fine, and with a new fair pair of locks, which vex me, though like a foole I helped her the other night to buy them), and to Mrs. Pierces, and there staying a little I away before to White Hall, and into the new playhouse there, the first time I ever was there, and the first play I have seen since before the great plague. By and by Mr. Pierce comes, bringing my wife and his, and Knipp. By and by the King and Queene, Duke and Duchesse, and all the great ladies of the Court; which, indeed, was a fine sight. But the play being “Love in a Tub,” a silly play, and though done by the Duke’s people, yet having neither Betterton nor his wife, and the whole thing done ill, and being ill also, I had no manner of pleasure in the play. Besides, the House, though very fine, yet bad for the voice, for hearing. The sight of the ladies, indeed, was exceeding noble; and above all, my Lady Castlemayne.

The play done by ten o’clock. I carried them all home, and then home myself, and well satisfied with the sight, but not the play, we with great content to bed.

35 Annotations

First Reading

cape henry  •  Link

"...and of easy disposal." Our friend needeth only but a teenage daughter, and disposal would be rendered still easier, withal.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"...ginnys, which I bought 2,000 of not long ago, and cost me but 18 1/2d. change, will now cost me 22d..."

L&M refer us to 13 August 1666 for another mention of "the goldsmith's fee for supplying [exchanging] gold for silver": "After dinner, I abroad to Stokes, and there did receive 1000l. worth in gold, paying 18 1/2d. and 19d. for others exchange." http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

CGS  •  Link

jolly old inflation , war payments and the price of cheese and biscuits up as so many bakers ovens be out of commission.

Paul Chapin  •  Link

Sam today answers the question we were tossing around back when he bought the guineas. He bought 2,000 of them and paid the discount as a surcharge.

He doesn't mention, maybe it hasn't occurred to him, that his own store of gold has gone up in value with the increase in the discount.

Mary  •  Link

my wife (who is mighty fine, and with a new fair pair of locks......)

Poor old Sam. He is proud of his wife's beauty, but still ambivalent about her wish to adorn it with fashionable accessories. Might, perhaps, attract too much attention from others? We haven't heard about her patches for a very long time, but it appears that hair-pieces are now 'the thing.'

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"...who is mighty fine, and with a new fair pair of locks, which vex me, though like a foole I helped her the other night to buy them..." So Bess can be a bewitching devil, eh? No wonder the family Pepys fears her if she can occassionally blind our hero to such flights of folly.

CGS  •  Link

", maybe it hasn’t occurred to him, that his own store of gold ".

Do not count the eggs before the chickens have layed the eggs, only count that is in ones hand, they have yet to discover derivatives which will come thanks to the new math of Newton.

CGS  •  Link

see H of C
Suits arising from Fire of London.

A Bill for present Prevention of Suits by Landlords against their Tenants, whose Houses were burnt in the late and sad Fire, was read the Second time.

CGS  •  Link

Lords duke it out: [see H o Laud]
D. Bucks and L. Butler, Quarrel.

This Day being appointed to take into Consideration what the Duke of Bucks acquainted their Lordships with on Friday of what passed between him and the Lord Butler; his Grace did upon his Honour aver, "That the Lord Butler told him, That he might remember he said something the other Day in the House, for which he would fight with him; which Challenge he accepted of; and confessed that Chelsey Feilds was the Place appointed to fight in."

Paul Chapin  •  Link

@CGS, the market value of a gold guinea has gone up 3 1/2d since Sam bought them, or about 1.4%. If Sam were to sell his gold now he would make a profit of over 20L (allowing for a bid/asked margin on the part of the gold dealers). No derivatives or other fancy financial machinery needed. Of course he would be foolish to sell it, since it is probably going to continue going up in value, and in any case he wants the tangible asset for portability.

language hat  •  Link

Yes, I'm sure Sam is aware of the profit potential, but as Paul says, it's worth more to him as it is.

Mary  •  Link

"he and I walked a good deal in the garden together"

Sam does a good deal of walking in the garden when visitors come to the office. I presume that this is often for privacy's sake, where the speakers would rather not have their conversation overheard by others in the office.

djc  •  Link

Walking in the garden.

Privacy certainly, but I think there is a sort of protocol here. They also walk in halls etc. Who sits and who stands matters. When the office 'sits' it is acting in a formal capacity and the supplicants for payment etc no doubt stand. Sitting is either formal or a if both parties sit then an entirely social situation. Walking/standing would appear to be the default mode in which to do business.

CGS  •  Link

"Walking in the garden."

neutral turf, not his office or mine, protocol very much in vogue, doffing , knee suppliant, dipping knee or flag, backside warming etc..

CGS  •  Link

See Canary in Encyclopedia. ans lies there.

Cactus Wren  •  Link

This is the first play that's been given since the Plague, isn't it? (I'm imagining one of the players asking a little plaintively, "Can we be funny?" and the King responding from the audience, "Why start now?")

A. De Araujo  •  Link

"I am not pleased with it at all,having done it only literally,but without any life"
Marcel Proust, even though he did not know english,translated Ruskin's "Sesame and Lilies"into french;he would ask someone to translate literally and then would put "life" into it.

Andrew Hamilton  •  Link

Yesterday:"Comes Captain Guy to dine with me, and he and I much talk together. He cries out of the discipline of the fleete..."

Today:"Thither comes to me Sir Thomas Teddiman, and he and I walked a good while in the garden together, discoursing of the disorder and discipline of the fleete..."

I'm reminded of a pillow Mrs. Longworth displayed on a sofa that said, "If you have no good to say about someone, come sit by me."

Andrew Hamilton  •  Link

That should be "no good to say about anyone"

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Mr. Barber, the clerk, having a request to make to me to get him into employment, did walk along with me, and by water to Westminster with me, he professing great love to me, and an able clerk he is."

William Barbour, clerk in the Navy office, had in March 1666 been employed by Evelyn in the Commission for the Sick and Wounded. In 1667 he became one of the four clerks of the Ticket Office. (L&M)

Terry Foreman  •  Link

'When I come thither I find the new Lord Mayor Bolton a-swearing at the Exchequer, with some of the Aldermen and Livery; but, Lord! to see how meanely they now look, who upon this day used to be all little lords, is a sad sight and worthy consideration. And every body did reflect with pity upon the poor City, to which they are now coming to choose and swear their Lord Mayor, compared with what it heretofore was."

The scene is described in a newsletter of 1 November: 'The new Lord Mayor was sworn in at the Exchequer bar, where they seemed as hearty though nor as numerous as before the Fire; all the [livery] companies were excused attendance, except those of the two lord mayors and two sheriffs, who went to and from Westminster in coaches' (H. Muddiman to G. Powell, CSPD 1666-7, p. 231.) There was no Lord Mayor's show, no banquet, no procession of barges from London to Westminster. The mayor's own company (Merchant Taylors') having itself suffered from the Fire, asked him to forego the 100 marks customarily paid for the beautifying of his house. But he refused.
R.T.D. Sayle, Lord Mayors' pageants of the Merchant Taylors' Co.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Who sits and who stands matters. When the office 'sits' it is acting in a formal capacity and the supplicants for payment etc no doubt stand. Sitting is either formal or a if both parties sit then an entirely social situation."

Very keen observation, djc. We have not attended to this that I can recall.

Sitting was a usual posture assumed to deliver authoritative opinion in Jewish tradition from Moses to Jesus and Peter and Christian bishops. http://www.catholic-convert.com/w…
and Charles Stuart II at his Coronation (some say Restoration to authority) was enthroned https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cha…

Etymologically and historically a session is the "sitting" of a deliberative body (e.g. a court) or assembly (e.g. a parliament) http://www.etymonline.com/index.p…

We should not wonder that the office--de jure the Navy Board--sits to consider contractual matters and requires a quorum for many cases (Pepys remarks when one lacks). And yes, those whose affairs are under consideration stand, supplicant. Recent period film portrayals of the Tudors and their aides (e.g. Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell) have been faithful in portraying this.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

It may seem a bit bathetic (going from the sublime to the trivial) to compare Moses with Pepys & Co., but it dramatizes the astute point made by djc.

Why Pepys describes the Navy Board's modus operandi as "sitting" has been the subject of many annotators' questions.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

OK, it's very bathetic, and djc made a very important point, which still applies.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

OK, my post is very bathetic, and djc made a very important point, "Who sits and who stands matters" which still applies.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"I away before to White Hall, and into the new playhouse there, the first time I ever was there, and the first play I have seen since before the great plague. "

L&M: This was in the Great Hall, Whitehall, which John Webb had converted into a permanent theatre in 1665.
See https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… and https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
The last play Pepys had seen was Love's Mistress at the TR, Drury Lane
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"But the play being “Love in a Tub,” a silly play, and though done by the Duke’s people, yet having neither Betterton nor his wife"

L&M: According to Downes (pp. 24-5) Betterton usually played Lord Beaufort,; Mrs Betterton, Graciana.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Besides, the House, though very fine, yet bad for the voice, for hearing. "

L&M: The Great Hall Theatre measured 87 X c. 39 1/2 ft. and had a proscenium arch 23 ft high and 25 ft wide. Pepys's criticism of its acoustics was thoroughly justified, however. It was a very high building; in February 1671 it was equipped with a cloth ceiling, and in 1675 with a permanent ceiling 'that the Voices may yhe better be heard'. See E. Boswell, Restoration court stagr, pp. 28, 38, 46. 50.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Message from the King.
Mr. Secretary Morice delivers a Message, in Writing, from his Majesty: Which was read by the Speaker.
Resolved, &c. That this House [of Commons] do lay aside all other Business till That of the King's Supply be settled.

https://www.british-history.ac.uk…

Pepys isn't the only one stuck in limbo.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Meanwhile, in the House of Lords, Lord Butler is sent to the Tower of London for threatening to duel with George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham over the ban on the importation of Irish beef to England. George avoids the Tower, but is put into the hands of the Black Rod (I suspect that means he can't go home).

Black Rod, in full Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod or Lady Usher of the Black Rod, an office of the British House of Lords (the upper house in Parliament), instituted in 1350. Its holder is appointed by royal letters patent, and the title is derived from the staff of office, an ebony stick surmounted with a gold lion.

The Black Rod is a personal attendant of the sovereign in the upper house [AKA House of Lords] and there functions as a sergeant at arms. The most prominent duty of the office is the summoning of the members of the House of Commons (the lower house) to the upper house to hear a speech from the throne or the royal assent given to bills. On such occasions the House of Commons closes its doors at Black Rod’s approach, whereupon he [or she these days] must knock three times before being admitted. The origin of this curious ceremony dates from the indignation of the lower house at the famous attempt of Charles I to arrest John Hampden, John Pym, and three other members of the House of Commons in 1642.

The Black Rod is ex officio an officer of the Order of the Garter.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/…

Louise Hudson  •  Link

“Sam today answers the question we were tossing around back when he bought the guineas. He bought 2,000 of them and paid the discount as a surcharge.“

Many thanks Paul Chapin for mentioning guineas. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what ginnys were.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

So Elizabeth is sporting fashionable new locks ... but six weeks ago Pepys was concerned that her hair was falling out. So maybe this wasn't entirely about fashion:

Tuesday 18 September 1666
"Betimes to bed, my wife also being all this day ill in the same manner. Troubled at my wife’s hair coming off so much."
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Edmund Calamy the Elder (1600 - 1666) died today, allegedly from a broken heart having seen his beloved St. Mary's, Aldermanbury burned by the Great Fire. He was buried in the ruins of his church, near the place where the pulpit had stood.
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

I'm sure he wasn't the only subsequent death. Just as we have people still recovering from 9/11, people must have suffered for decades from the affects of the Great Fire.

Log in to post an annotation.

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