Thursday 29 November 1666

Up, and to the office, where busy all the morning. At noon home to dinner, where I find Balty come out to see us, but looks like death, and I do fear he is in a consumption; he has not been abroad many weeks before, and hath now a well day, and a fit day of the headake in extraordinary torture. After dinner left him and his wife, they having their mother hard by and my wife, and I a wet afternoon to White Hall to have seen my Lady Carteret and Jemimah, but as God would have it they were abroad, and I was well contented at it. So my wife and I to Westminster Hall, where I left her a little, and to the Exchequer, and then presently home again, calling at our man-cooke’s for his help to-morrow, but he could not come. So I home to the office, my people all busy to get a good dinner to-morrow again. I late at the office, and all the newes I hear I put into a letter this night to my Lord Bruncker at Chatham, thus:—

“I doubt not of your lordship’s hearing of Sir Thomas Clifford’s succeeding Sir H. Pollard in the Comptrollership of the King’s house; but perhaps our ill, but confirmed, tidings from the Barbadoes may not [have reached you] yet, it coming but yesterday; viz., that about eleven ships, whereof two of the King’s, the Hope and Coventry, going thence with men to attack St. Christopher’s, were seized by a violent hurricane, and all sunk — two only of thirteen escaping, and those with loss of masts, &c. My Lord Willoughby himself is involved in the disaster, and I think two ships thrown upon an island of the French, and so all the men, to 500, become their prisoners. ‘Tis said, too, that eighteen Dutch men-of-war are passed the Channell, in order to meet with our Smyrna ships; and some, I hear, do fright us with the King of Sweden’s seizing our mast-ships at Gottenburgh. But we have too much ill newes true, to afflict ourselves with what is uncertain. That which I hear from Scotland is, the Duke of York’s saying, yesterday, that he is confident the Lieutenant-Generall there hath driven them into a pound, somewhere towards the mountains.”

Having writ my letter, I home to supper and to bed, the world being mightily troubled at the ill news from Barbadoes, and the consequence of the Scotch business, as little as we do make of it.

And to shew how mad we are at home, here, and unfit for any troubles: my Lord St. John did, a day or two since, openly pull a gentleman in Westminster Hall by the nose, one Sir Andrew Henly, while the judges were upon their benches, and the other gentleman did give him a rap over the pate with his cane, of which fray the judges, they say, will make a great matter: men are only sorry the gentle man did proceed to return a blow; for, otherwise, my Lord would have been soundly fined for the affront, and may be yet for his affront to the judges.

25 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Major-General William Drummond to Lord Rothes
Written from: Pentland
Date: 29 November 1666

Reports military service against the rebels in Scotland who on the 27th of November had come within two miles of Edinburgh. On finding the strength of the preparations made against them, they retreated across the Pentlands, & were hotly pursued. Gives details of the engagement at or near "Glencors-Kirk", a sword-fight, he says, so obstinate that our men and theirs were "mixed like chess-men in a bag". The rebels were routed, but "our loss is greater than many of their skins were worth". Their leaders were mostly "cashiered preachers".

http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/s…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"my Lord St. John
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Char… ] did, [yesterday ], openly pull a gentleman in Westminster Hall by the nose, one Sir Andrew Henly [ http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo… ], while the judges [ of the Court of Common Pleas ] were upon their benches, and the other gentleman did give him a rap over the pate with his cane, of which fray the judges, they say, will make a great matter: men are only sorry the gentle man did proceed to return a blow; for, otherwise, my Lord would have been soundly fined for the affront, and may be yet for his affront to the judges."

L&M note Henley was promply arrested; St John escaped, latter admitting his offense, pled "passion" and was pardoned.

Michael Robinson  •  Link

" ... our ill, but confirmed, tidings from the Barbadoes ... it coming but yesterday ..."

L&M footnote:

"This disaster had occurred on 16th. August. Willoughby of Parham, Governor of Barbados and the Leeward Islands since 1663, had led an expedition to retake St. Christopher's, captured by the French in the spring of 1666. He himself was drowned . Details of the disaster were given in letters from Plymouth to the Navy Board and to Williamson ( http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo… ), 27th. November: CPSD 1666-7, pp. 292-4. The 'Hope' was lost - it was the ship in which Willoughby was drowned - and the 'Coventry' captured. Pepys appears to be uncertain about the total number of the ships. There were in fact eight merchant ships as well as the two frigates: ...

Michael Robinson  •  Link

"That which I hear from Scotland is, the Duke of York’s saying, yesterday, that he is confident the Lieutenant-Generall there hath driven them into a pound, somewhere towards the mountains.”

"The Battle of Rullion Green was fought on 28 November 1666 on the southern lip of the Pentland Hills to the south-west of Edinburgh. A small army of Covenanter rebels was intercepted by government forces commanded by Tam Dalyell of the Binns and routed. Although the rebels had come from Galloway, Ayrshire and other parts of western Scotland, the location of the battle was to give the whole episode the name of the Pentland Rising. ..."

Continued:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batt…

CGS  •  Link

The House has orders to find monies quickly, Men of the Clothe have to pay up to0. [poor parishioners ]

the House extract.
Mr. Steward reports, That the Committee of the whole House had made some further Progress in the Poll Bill: And humbly moved, That the House would resolve into a Committee of the whole House To-morrow Morning, Ten of the Clock, to proceed to the Dispatch thereof.

Resolved, &c. That the House do sit To-morrow Morning.

Resolved, &c. That no Business be taken in hand, till the Poll Bill, and the Bill concerning Foreign Cattle, be dispatched.

CGS  •  Link

House of Lords still debating the legitimate state of the children of Lady Anne Ross , title involved, which lad gets to be Lord Ross .

William Baud Esquire is released as he was covered by the privilege of his master, never upset a Lordly ones staff.
The mystery is why was he hauled off to the Clink, did Katherine Pulton Widow have beef with the Squire?

enquiring mind wishes to know.

cape henry  •  Link

If there is a better name anywhere in this chronicle and commentary than "Tam Dalyell of the Binns" I have forgotten it. Thank you MR.

Michael Robinson  •  Link

“Tam Dalyell of the Binns”

His descendants are still with us:

Heckling for Britain: If Blair goes to war with Iraq, this man will be protesting the loudest - just as he did at Thatcher over the Belgrano. An Old Etonian baronet elected a Labour MP by Scottish miners, he is someone who always goes his own way. Andrew Brown on the irksome campaigner who is also Father of the House
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2…

and his frequent contributions to the Independent's
Obituary page are always eloquent, insightful and amusing.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news…

Paul Chapin  •  Link

"they having their mother hard by and my wife, and I a wet afternoon to White Hall"
I believe from the context that the comma after "wife" is misplaced, should be after "by". In the next sentence Elizabeth is with him as they go from Whitehall to Westminster Hall.

Michael Robinson  •  Link

@ Paul Chapin

L&M read:

"After dinner, left him and his wife, they having their mother hard by; and my wife and I, a wet afternoon, to White Hall to have seen my Lady Carteret and Jemimah; but as God would have it, they were abroad and I was well contented at it."

It's only the stops and dashes that are authorial, see the of the relevant section of the L&M 'Introduction' quickly summarized at: http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Disorderly in the court...

"...my Lord St. John did, a day or two since, openly pull a gentleman in Westminster Hall by the nose, one Sir Andrew Henly, while the judges were upon their benches, and the other gentleman did give him a rap over the pate with his cane, of which fray the judges, they say, will make a great matter:..."

So that's where Moe, Larry, and Curly got their material...

Don McCahill  •  Link

> to have seen my Lady Carteret and Jemimah, but as God would have it they were abroad

Does anyone know if the Dickensian tradition of leaving calling cards had yet started. Pepys misses meeting people frequently -- would he have left a card letting them know he had stopped by?

JWB  •  Link

“cashiered preachers”
While Hobbes is being investigated by a committee of the House, Leviathan plays its sword & crosier in the field.

Mary  •  Link

calling cards,visiting cards.

These do seem to have been known in 17th century Europe, but are said to have been used by royalty and the aristocracy only. Also Europe is specified, rather than England or Britain.

Pepys has certainly never mentioned either leaving cards or having them printed. Perhaps whichever servant, clerk or other underling observed our man's arrival was expected to inform his employer in due course that he had been looked-for by Mr. Pepys of the Navy Office.

Or a working visitors' book, perhaps? Though if that were the case we might expect to find mention of such an article, either at the time or as an antique curiosity.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"The House has orders to find monies quickly"

1776 A. SMITH Inq. Wealth of Nations II. V. iii. 536 "The want of parsimony in time of peace, imposes the necessity of contracting debt in time of war."

CGS  •  Link

"..“Tam Dalyell of the Binns”.." it is a wonderful genetic defect to have.

chris  •  Link

just checking in from Mendoza Argentina. Great to see you guys are still on Sam´s trail

CGS  •  Link

"calling cards,visiting cards"
Just maybe, Samuell used a set of 52 cards especially printed with ace of hearts on each, as diamonds have been around a long time??????????

business, calling, visiting card, first mention found in the OED: 1795.

Card visiting 1795
c. bearing a person's written or printed name, or name and address. More fully with prefixed n. indicating the special purpose, as (a) visiting card: used chiefly for presentation on making a call, or to be left in token that a call has been made. Phrase, to leave a card on (a person). (b) wedding cards: bearing the names of the bride and bridegroom, and sent as a notification of the wedding
1795 S. ROGERS Words for Mrs. Siddons 51 A thousand cards a day at doors to leave.

business card;
1840 Boston (Mass.) Almanac 119 *Business cards printed in the most expeditious manner.

1781 COWPER Let. to Newton 4 Oct., Send Dr. Johnson..my poems, accompanied with a handsome card.

???1622 PEACHAM Compl. Gentl. xiii. (1634) 129 My booke..will teach you the use of colours for Limning..the manner of preparing your card.

Nix  •  Link

More on St. John/Paulet/Bolton, from the Oxford DNB:

"Bolton was somewhat of an eccentric, given the sobriquet the Mad Marquess of Winchester by some chroniclers of the period. As Bishop Burnet recalled:

"'He had the spleen to a high degree, and affected an extravagant behaviour. For many weeks he would take a conceit not to speak one word, and at other times he would not open his mouth till such an hour of the day when he thought the air was pure. He changed the day into night and often hunted by torchlight, and took all sorts of liberties to himself, many of which were very disagreeable to those about him.' (Helms and Watson, 3.278)

"Bolton, however, attempted to explain away his strange lifestyle as no more than a protective cover adopted to stay out of harm's way during dangerous times. Burnet conceded that the duke was a ‘very knowing and a very crafty, politic man’ (ibid.), judging him overall a ‘strange mixture’ (ibid.), ‘in all respects the great riddle of the age’ (ibid.)."

Second Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

My favorite story about Sir Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby of Parham is his adventure in South America. He set up a country called Willoughbyland (now Suriname), and one of the settlers was Alpha Behr, who later became a Royalist spy in 1663 and a successful playwright.

For more information, see http://www.historytoday.com/matth…

Mary K  •  Link

For Alpha Behr

read: Aphra Behn.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Aphra Behn (/ˈæfrə bɛn/;[a] 14 December 1640? (baptismal date)[1] – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright, poet, translator and fiction writer from the Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural barriers and served as a literary role model for later generations of women authors. Rising from obscurity, she came to the notice of Charles II, who employed her as a spy in Antwerp. ....She is remembered in Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own: "All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn which is, most scandalously but rather appropriately, in Westminster Abbey, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds."[3] Her grave is not included in the Poets' Corner but lies in the East Cloister near the steps to the church.[4]
[Her Image, life and works.] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aph…

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