Wednesday 17 April 1667

Up, and with the two Sir Williams by coach to the Duke of York, who is come to St. James’s, the first time we have attended him there this year. In our way, in Tower Street, we saw Desbrough walking on foot: who is now no more a prisoner, and looks well, and just as he used to do heretofore. When we come to the Duke of York’s I was spoke to by Mr. Bruncker on behalf of Carcasse. Thence by coach to Sir G. Carteret’s, in London, there to pass some accounts of his, and at it till dinner, and then to work again a little, and then go away, and my wife being sent for by me to the New Exchange I took her up, and there to the King’s playhouse (at the door met with W. Joyce in the street, who come to our coach side, but we in haste took no notice of him, for which I was sorry afterwards, though I love not the fellow, yet for his wife’s sake), and saw a piece of “Rollo,” a play I like not much, but much good acting in it: the house very empty. So away home, and I a little to the office, and then to Sir Robert Viner’s, and so back, and find my wife gone down by water to take a little ayre, and I to my chamber and there spent the night in reading my new book, “Origines Juridiciales,” which pleases me. So to supper and to bed.

20 Annotations

First Reading

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"...we saw Desbrough walking on foot: who is now no more a prisoner, and looks well, and just as he used to do heretofore."

Cromwell's brother-in-law, according to the link. Shades of "Ulysses" when Bloom and others spy Parnell's brother at various locations in Dublin.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

N.B. Mr Edward Brouncker intervening on behalf of Carkesse, the clerk of his brother, William Brouncker, 2nd Viscount Brouncker, the arrogant President of the Royal Society, which whom Pepys has also had other issues of late, specifically, in regard to the way he's treated Mrs. Turner, into whose house he gas moved with his mistress. http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Australian Susan  •  Link

"...the first time we have attended him there this year...." Does this mean since Lady Day and thechange of year old style or does he mean calendar year?

"...my wife gone down by water to take a little ayre..." What with this and the outdoor rollickings at Jamaica House, the weather must be on the up and up. Spring has sprung!

Mary  •  Link

St. James ..... this year.

The Duke of York is said to have used St. James as his summer residence so 'this year' would mean 'this calendar year.' Come the autumn he'll presumably return to the Prince's Lodgings in Whitehall Palace.

Mr. Gunning  •  Link

Australia Susan,
You need to look up what 'on the up and up' means :)

Mary  •  Link

Mr. Gunning, please elaborate.

Mr. Gunning  •  Link

The correct meaning of the idiom, 'on the up and up' is 'above board' and not 'improving'.

But I guess if enough people think otherwise it will change its meaning.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/on_…

Australian Susan  •  Link

"on the up and up" in colloquial English (at least where I was raised) was slang for a person who was rising in wealth through slightly suspect means (i.e. like our Sam). I was making a joke, which spelt out like this seems tedious - I was implying that even the weather is (to use another similar term), "on the make" in Sam's world. I did look the phrase up since your posting and the English dictionary of slang i used gave the meaning as I used it. Now we should drop this.

language hat  •  Link

"The correct meaning of the idiom"

The correct meaning of an idiom is however people use it, and your personal use is not automatically the universal one. As it happens, different dialects use "on the up and up" differently.

Harvey  •  Link

To me in New Zealand "the up and up" also means improving and has no sense of 'on the level'... perhaps its an antipodean thing, or Pacific since it seems to apply in North America too.

Australian Susan  •  Link

BTW, I'm English - I just happen to live in Australia at the moment.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"...we saw Desbrough walking on foot: who is now no more a prisoner, and looks well, and just as he used to do heretofore."

L&M elaborate: John Desborough, Cromwell's brother-in-law and one of his major-generals, had been released from the Tower a few weeks before. Atr the Restoration he had suffered nothing worse than exclusion from public office and a brief imprisonment, because he had taken no part in the King's trial. Since ten he had lived abroad, mostly in Holland. But he had returned in July 1666 in obedience to a proclamation, and was held in the Tower. After examination by a committee of council on 23 February 1667, he was released unconditionally. He survived undisturbed until his death at Hackney in 1680.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Thence by coach to Sir G. Carteret’s, in London"

L&M: I.e. to the Navy Treasury in Broad St.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"saw a piece of “Rollo,” a play I like not much, but much good acting in it"

L&M: The bloody brother, or Rollo, Duke of Normandy was a tragedy by John Fletcher and others. According to Downes (pp. 5-6), Hart played Rollo; Kynaston, Otto; Mohun, Aubrey; Burt, Latorch; Mrs Corey, the Duchess; and Mrs Marshall, Edith.

mountebank  •  Link

The annotators' squabble was more entertaining than the diary entry today.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"N.B. Mr Edward Brouncker intervening on behalf of Carkesse, the clerk of his brother, William Brouncker, 2nd Viscount Brouncker ..."

Good try, Terry, but I only know of two Brouncker brothers, and the one working for James, Duke of York was the younger one, Henry. Later this year Henry will be dismissed from the York’s household for his hostility to Anne Hyde's father, the Earl of Clarendon, although it may be that the Duke had been made aware of Brouncker’s cowardice at sea, which had compromised James' reputation for courage.

You don't like William Brouncker, Terry? I agree he has not behaved well towards the Turners: when people run out of money, they grab the nearest lifeboat. I believe Pepys finds him overall a worthy comrade. And for whatever reasons he didn't marry Madame Cromwell Williams, he appears to have been reasonably faithful, and took care of her in his will.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

The Brounckers

"When we come to the Duke of York’s I was spoke to by Mr. Bruncker on behalf of Carcasse."

L&M note: Henry Brouncker was a Groom of the Bedchamber in the Duke's Household, and the brother of Lord [William, 2nd Viscount] Brouncker], whom Carkesse served a clerk.
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Pepys told an anecdote of their father, Sir William, 1st Viscount Brouncker (d. 1645): https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… and https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

Third Reading

Trevor M Randall  •  Link

I’m from the south east of England, and for what it’s worth, like Mr. Gunning and Louise Hudson I have always used on the up and up to mean above board, honest, respectable.

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