Friday 22 March 1666/67

Up and by coach to Sir Ph. Warwicke about business for Tangier about money, and then to Sir Stephen Fox to give him account of a little service I have done him about money coming to him from our office, and then to Lovett’s and saw a few baubling things of their doing which are very pretty, but the quality of the people, living only by shifts, do not please me, that it makes me I do no more care for them, nor shall have more acquaintance with them after I have got my Lady Castlemayne’s picture home. So to White Hall, where the King at Chapel, and I would not stay, but to Westminster to Howlett’s, and there, he being not well, I sent for a quart of claret and burnt it and drank, and had a ‘basado’ or three or four of Sarah, whom ‘je trouve ici’, and so by coach to Sir Robt. Viner’s about my accounts with him, and so to the ’Change, where I hear for certain that we are going on with our treaty of peace, and that we are to treat at Bredah. But this our condescension people do think will undo us, and I do much fear it. So home to dinner, where my wife having dressed herself in a silly dress of a blue petticoat uppermost, and a white satin waistcoat and whitehood, though I think she did it because her gown is gone to the tailor’s, did, together with my being hungry, which always makes me peevish, make me angry, but when my belly was full were friends again, and dined and then by water down to Greenwich and thence walked to Woolwich, all the way reading Playford’s “Introduction to Musique,” wherein are some things very pretty. At Woolwich I did much business, taking an account of the state of the ships there under hand, thence to Blackwall, and did the like for two ships we have repairing there, and then to Deptford and did the like there, and so home. Captain Perriman with me from Deptford, telling me many particulars how the King’s business is ill ordered, and indeed so they are, God knows! So home and to the office, where did business, and so home to my chamber, and then to supper and to bed. Landing at the Tower to-night I met on Tower Hill with Captain Cocke and spent half an hour walking in the dusk of the evening with him, talking of the sorrowful condition we are in, that we must be ruined if the Parliament do not come and chastize us, that we are resolved to make a peace whatever it cost, that the King is disobliging the Parliament in this interval all that may be, yet his money is gone and he must have more, and they likely not to give it, without a great deal of do. God knows what the issue of it will be. But the considering that the Duke of York, instead of being at sea as Admirall, is now going from port to port, as he is at this day at Harwich, and was the other day with the King at Sheernesse, and hath ordered at Portsmouth how fortifications shall be made to oppose the enemy, in case of invasion, [which] is to us a sad consideration, and as shameful to the nation, especially after so many proud vaunts as we have made against the Dutch, and all from the folly of the Duke of Albemarle, who made nothing of beating them, and Sir John Lawson he always declared that we never did fail to beat them with lesser numbers than theirs, which did so prevail with the King as to throw us into this war.

24 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

John Evelyn's Diary

22d March, 1667. Dined at Mr. Secretary Morice's, who showed me his library, which was a well chosen collection. This afternoon, I had audience of his Majesty, concerning the proposal I had made of building the quay.

http://snipurl.com/sz6lc

cape henry  •  Link

"...but the quality of the people, living only by shifts, do not please me..." Perhaps their strumpets are more strumpetty than his strumpets?In a way it is a funny juxtaposition to the next scene.

cum salis grano  •  Link

not shifty, shiftless or without shift.

"...living only by shifts..."
forever changing?

4. a. A fraudulent or evasive device, a stratagem; a piece of sophistry, an evasion, subterfuge.

c. by the shift: by way of makeshift; ‘at a pinch’ (Eng. Dial. Dict.). So on a shift. Now dial.

1665 PEPYS Diary 16 Nov., I..had a good bedd by the shift, of Wyndham's.

shift, n.
any of these senses belong also to MHG., MLG. schicht(e, mod.G. schicht division of property, stratum, layer, one of several sets of persons or things, period of working time (in mining), one of several successive parties of miners working together for a fixed period of hours. It seems probable that the Ger. word is identical with the Eng. and Scandinavian words, the substitution of (xt) for (ft) being found in other words introduced into standard German from LG. (cf. e.g. G. sacht = Eng. soft).]

cape henry  •  Link

"Forever changing..." Exactly.These are artists, I presume, and it's just interesting that Pepys should suddenly be so adamant "that it makes me I do no more care for them."His notions of quality have changed.But then it's off to "a ‘basado’ or three or four of Sarah" and a quart of wine.This is a low contrast moment, but it's actually quite in character.His standards of taste have long been evolving.His habits have not so much.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

A funny scene in a day spent rushing from place to place.

Miss Ann  •  Link

‘je trouve ici’ - ici indeed! I wonder how Tiger Woods would have fared in the 1600's.

Ruben  •  Link

"the Duke of York, instead of being at sea as Admirall, is now going from port to port, as he is at this day at Harwich, and was the other day with the King at Sheernesse, and hath ordered at Portsmouth how fortifications shall be made to oppose the enemy, in case of invasion, [which] is to us a sad consideration, and as shameful to the nation..."
Our Sam could not, from his position, see the big picture. But I presume the Duke had some "intelligence" about the tsunami coming his way soon.

Mary  •  Link

"living only by shifts"

Does this expression make any other British reader of the diary think fleetingly of Del-Boy Trotter of "Only Fools and Horses" and his attitude to business? (I don't know where else in the world this TV series may be shown, so apologise to readers who haven't seen it).

I have the impression that Sam is dissatisfied with the Lovetts' approach to their trade - do a bit of this, try a bit of that, but exhibit no serious, planned approach to running a professional business. Useful from time to time, but not solid, dependable (and hence worthy) tradespeople.

Australian Susan  •  Link

Oh, Mary! What wonderful images you have caused to be conjured up! Del-Boy and Sam! Oh, yes! A right pair!

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"Lovett’s and saw a few baubling things of their doing which are very pretty, but the quality of the people, living only by shifts, do not please me, that it makes me I do no more care for them..."

60's Bohemians...

Can't quite figure out what was wrong with Bess' outfit. Maybe that morning's romp with the Lovetts got him jumpy about any signs of "unconformity" among his own folks.

"I'll have no radical or French ways in my home!" stomps off to closet.

"Baby is hungry, get dinner on the table." Bess hisses to Jane.

***
So Lawson is the Rumsfeld of the Second Anglo-Dutch war?

spoiler...

Well, someone is truly about to be shocked and awed, that's for sure.

Robert Gertz  •  Link


"...then to Deptford and did the like there..."

What, no Bagwell? Maybe Cap't Perriman's presence put a wrench into any movement of the machinery that way?

***
"...yet his money is gone and he must have more, and they likely not to give it..."

I thought the financial situation had just been improved a bit with some cash voted in? Are they holding back now?

***
"What is it, Hewer?"

"Mrs. Pepys,sir...What it really necessary to...?"

"First Lovett and his 'free spirited' family, now I must answer to you when I point out her foolishness to my wife...?"

"Sir, it's just...Mrs. Pepys loves you so and was only trying a new look."

"I was an ass, wasn't I...?" sigh. "It was the news from Brampton, you know. Light colors just..."

"Well, sir...If I may..."

"You think you lost your love,
Well, I saw her [just]today."

"What is that, Hewer? You turned poet...? I hope this isn't how you spend your time in my absense from the office? Oh, very well...Continue..."

"It's you she's thinking of
And she told me what to say."

"What? She did what?"

"Sir...She says she loves you
And you know that can't be bad."

Hmmn...

"Yes, she loves you
And you know you should be glad."

"Well..."

"She said you hurt her so
She almost lost her mind.
But now she said she knows
You're not the hurting kind."

Uh... "Wait, when did she tell you this?"

"She says she loves you
And you know that can't be bad.
Yes, she loves you
And you know you should be glad. Ooh!"

"Ooh? Hewer..."

"Carried away, sir."

"She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah
And with a love like that
You know you should be glad."

"Within reason, Hewer, within reason."

"You know it's up to you,
I think it's only fair,
Pride can hurt you, too,
Apologize to her..."

"What?"

"Because she loves you
And you know that can't be bad.
Yes, she loves you
And you know you should be glad. Ooh!"

"Enough with the oohs, Hewer."

"She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah."

"She loves me, yeah, yeah, yeah?"

"[And}with a love like that
You know you should
be glad!"

"With a love like that
[I suppose I] should
be glad."

"Bess!"

Mark  •  Link

" ... her gown ..., did, together with my being hungry, which always makes me peevish, make me angry, but when my belly was full were friends again, ..."

Low blood sugar! Peevish! Tell me about it! For some of us "hunger", or rather the need to eat, is indicated by the intensity of that ratty feeling and not anything else. Confirmation is provided by the sudden ability to voraciously eat in contrast to the preceding lack of interest in food. Some mothers know of this and wisely inform their new daughters in law; they may however neglect to tell the mere male involved.

Our Sam shows a much more integrated awareness of his 'inner man' as some used to say. He seems to be constantly foraging, making strategic arrangements for the future supply of large cuts of meat, etc, for parties and feasting as well as opportunistically acquiring oysters, pasties, and the like as he passes on his way.

I think this "peevish" comment of Sam's shows his degree of almost hyper activity to be more likely a general feature of metabolism, perhaps a relatively high level of thyroid activity, rather than a form of ADD or the like.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

I count fifteen stops today (of course 'so home' more than once).

JWB  •  Link

"The Fifteen Stops" with sundry shifts as the MacGuffin.

Fern  •  Link

Mr Gertz, you made me laugh so much, my breakfast got cold.

How about that quart of claret at Howlett's? Now that's what I call a breakfast. Just over one litre by my reckoning. No wonder Sam took a coach when he left. (Or was a "quart of claret" something quite different in the 17thC?)

Larry Bunce  •  Link

Dusk of the evening.
We now normally think of dusk as after sunset. In the field of meteorology 'dusk' means early dawn or later evening twilight. Pepy's usage suggests that dusk did not imply evening to him.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Meanwhile, at Dutch Military Headquarters...

Jacqueline Gore  •  Link

"Maybe Cap’t Perriman’s presence put a wrench into any movement of the machinery that way?"

Think I'll have to preserve that one among my collection of RG gems.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

" the King is disobliging the Parliament in this interval"

L&M note on 8 February Parliament had been prorogued to 19 October. (It reassembled briefly on 25 and 29 July, only to be prorogued again until 10 October.)

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"so to the ‘Change, where I hear for certain that we are going on with our treaty of peace, and that we are to treat at Bredah."

L&M: By a decision of 20 March.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"so home. Captain Perriman with me from Deptford, telling me many particulars how the King’s business is ill ordered, and indeed so they are, God knows! "

L&M: John Perryman was a Navy Board agent for river business. On 18 March he had reported a shortage of river pilots because the pay was too small andofte not forthcoming. Trumpeters were employed as able seamen on board ship. See NWB, p. 108.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"L&M: John Perryman was a Navy Board agent for river business. On 18 March he had reported a shortage of river pilots because the pay was too small and often not forthcoming. Trumpeters were employed as able seamen on board ship. See NWB, p. 108."

What's the relationship between river pilots and trumpeters? Trumpets were used like flags at sea, to convey orders from the admirals and captains, so employing a trumpeter as an able seaman makes sense. A river pilot guides large ships up a river to a dock which requires special local knowledge; if they have gone on strike for lack of pay (or gone over to the Dutch), that's a potential disaster.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"... nor shall have more acquaintance with them after I have got my Lady Castlemayne’s picture home."

Really, Pepys? You are godfather to their one year old son, who is named Samuel. Or perhaps you only did that in order to get close to the pretty Mrs. Lovett, which relationship has gone nowhere so you are now cutting your loses?

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