Monday 16 September 1667

Up, and several come to me, among others Mr. Yeabsly of Plymouth, to discourse about their matters touching Tangier, and by and by Sir H. Cholmly, who was with me a good while; who tells me that the Duke of York’s child is christened, the Duke of Albemarle and the Marquis of Worcester godfathers, and my Lady Suffolke godmother; and they have named it Edgar, which is a brave name. But it seems they are more joyful in the Chancellor’s family, at the birth of this Prince, than in wisdom they should, for fear it should give the King cause of jealousy. Sir H. Cholmly do not seem to think there is any such thing can be in the King’s intention as that of raising the Duke of Monmouth to the Crowne, though he thinks there may possibly be some persons that would, and others that would be glad to have the Queen removed to some monastery, or somewhere or other, to make room for a new wife; for they will all be unsafe under the Duke of York. He says the King and Parliament will agree; that is, that the King will do any thing that they will have him. We together to the Exchequer about our Tangier orders, and so parted at the New Exchange, where I staid reading Mrs. Phillips’s poems till my wife and Mercer called me to Mrs. Pierces, by invitation to dinner, where I find her painted, which makes me loathe her, and the nastiest poor dinner that made me sick, only here I met with a Fourth Advice to the Painter upon the coming in of the Dutch to the River and end of the war, that made my heart ake to read, it being too sharp, and so true. Here I also saw a printed account of the examinations taken, touching the burning of the City of London, shewing the plot of the Papists therein; which, it seems, hath been ordered and to have been burnt by the hands of the hangman, in Westminster Palace. I will try to get one of them. After dinner she showed us her closet, which is pretty, with her James’s picture done by Hales, but with a mighty bad hand, which is his great fault that he do do negligently, and the drapery also not very good. Being tired of being here, and sick of their damned sluttish dinner, my wife and Mercer and I away to the King’s play-house, to see the “Scornfull Lady;” but it being now three o’clock there was not one soul in the pit; whereupon, for shame, we would not go in, but, against our wills, went all to see “Tu Quoque” again, where there is a pretty store of company, and going with a prejudice the play appeared better to us. Here we saw Madam Morland, who is grown mighty fat, but is very comely. But one of the best arts of our sport was a mighty pretty lady that sat behind, that did laugh so heartily and constantly, that it did me good to hear her. Thence to the King’s house, upon a wager of mine with my wife, that there would be no acting there today, there being no company: so I went in and found a pretty good company there, and saw their dance at the end of the play, and so to the coach again, and to the Cock ale house, and there drank in our coach, and so home, and my wife read to me as last night, and so to bed vexed with our dinner to-day, and myself more with being convinced that Mrs. Pierce paints, so that henceforth to be sure I shall loathe her.

27 Annotations

First Reading

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Betty Pierce's dark secret exposed...

If you were eternally pregnant, Sam, you might well "paint" yourself.

Sweet that she keeps a picture of James in her closet. And rather interesting that "closets" for women seem quite common among what I guess pass for upper middle class types of the time.

lisa schamess  •  Link

...i'm thinking, why would the man begrudge a woman her hobby?

then the light dawns.

ahhhh! she's a made-up strumpet! SP does have his standards...

cum salis grano  •  Link

standards : one for you and one for me.

ONeville  •  Link

The Painted Lady. Is Sam does set standards for his wife and is perhaps concerned that Elizabeth may want to espouse this particular art?

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"...upon a wager of mine with my wife..."

I'd fear demon gamble more than demon paint, Sam.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

inquisition taken at Earls Colne 30.7.19Chas2 before Thos Talcott coroner upon the view of the body of Jn Warren the jurors say that Wm Busbye of Earls Colne tailor 19.7. there assaulted Warren by throwing him into a tub of scalding wort where he was very much scalded by the ale therein on the belly loins and back of which he died on 21.7. indicted anew indictment as above pleads not guilty guilty of homicide read branded witnesses Jn Quilter Hen Burdocke Mary Norden Mary Pearetree Rich Caplyn junior Grace Haxall Thos Talcott
http://linux02.lib.cam.ac.uk/earl…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Wort, pronounced /ˈwɜrt/, is the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer or whisky. Wort contains the sugars that will be fermented by the brewing yeast to produce alcohol.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wort

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"the Duke of York’s child is christened..., and they have named it Edgar, which is a brave name."

The christening was on the 15th. L&M note that the Marquess of Worcester. writing to his wife on 17 September, explained that the Duke of York, the Lord High Admiral, 'fancied' Edgar as a name 'because he was the first King that had the dominion of the seas, which hee went upon about the Kingdom every year with a thousand ships': Historical Manuscripts Commission, Beaufort, p. 64.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Sir H. Cholmly...thinks there may possibly be some persons that would, and others that would be glad to have the Queen removed to some monastery, or somewhere or other, to make room for a new wife; for they will all be unsafe under the Duke of York."

See Moore's concurrence http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"her James’s picture done by Hales, but with a mighty bad hand, which is his great fault that he do do negligently, and the drapery also not very good."

Pepys' attention goes at once to the hands as a test of the painter's skill. We who have drawn the human figure from life know hands are the most challenging part of the human body.

As has been noted here, Pepys often records the character of the hands of those he meets -- as clues to their moral character..

Terry Foreman  •  Link

The afternoon's theatrical perambulations

"I away to the King’s play-house...but it being now three o’clock there was not one soul in the pit;"

Public theatres usually began at 3:30 p.m. (L&M)

"whereupon, for shame, we would not go in, but, against our wills, went all to see “Tu Quoque” again, where there is a pretty store of company...Thence to the King’s house, upon a wager of mine with my wife, that there would be no acting there today, there being no company: so I went in"

At this time theatregoers claimed the privilege of seeing the fourth or fifth act without payment, despite a prohibition issued by the Lord Chamberlain's office on 7 December 1663. (L&M)

We know from what Pepys has told us that theatregoers at this time commonly came and went during the performances. Keeping the audiences as full as possible was surely the playhouses' way of keeping the quality of the acting up.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"At this time theatregoers claimed the privilege of seeing the fourth or fifth act without payment..."

This also provided a preview to those who might return as paying customers. Restoration theatre evidently did not feature suspense or cliffhangers!

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"at the New Exchange, where I staid reading Mrs. Phillips’s poems"

L&M: Probably at Henry Herringman's: he had just published this first collected edition of Katherine Philips's Poems: https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Here I also saw a printed account of the examinations taken, touching the burning of the City of London, shewing the plot of the Papists therein; which, it seems, hath been ordered and to have been burnt by the hands of the hangman, in Westminster Palace. I will try to get one of them."

L&M: The book was ‘London’s Flames, or The discovery of such evidence as were deposed before the Committee of Parliament etc., with the insolences of the Popish party’, 1667. an unauthorized version of the evidence taken by the Commons' committee which had reported (January 1667) that the Fire had been planned by the French Catholics, the Jesuits and the Duke of York. Several impressions appeared, maliciously put out by critics of the government:
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"to Mrs. Pierces, by invitation to dinner, where I find her painted, which makes me loathe her"

L&M: Pepys loathed cosmetic paint: cf. e.g. https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… Mrs Pearse was described in 1678 as having a complexion 'florid and pure red without paint': J. Yonge, Journal (ed. Poynter), p. 156.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

""her James’s picture done by Hales, but with a mighty bad hand, which is his great fault that he do do negligently, and the drapery also not very good.""

L&M: The picture is no known to survive.

Nicolas  •  Link

“Being tired of being here, and sick of their damned sluttish dinner, my wife and Mercer and I away to the King’s play-house...”

I laughed out loud when I read this. How can a dinner be sluttish?

john  •  Link

"sluttish dinner"
Meanings change over time, Nicolas.

From the OED:
sluttish, a.
2. Of things: Unclean, dirty, grimy; untidy.
   1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 2 Tim. 23 In sluttishe clothes, with a countrefaicte grauitie of countenaunce,‥they conueye them selues in to other mens houses.    1553 Respublica iii. vi. 853 Suche hongrye doggs will slabbe vp sluttishe puddinges.    1599 Davies Immort. Soul Introd. xxxiii. (1714) 9 The Man loves least at Home to be, That hath a sluttish House.    1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 180 Their wives‥are attired in a sluttish gowne.    1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 311 Some boil the cream in a raw skin, so as it is commonly very sluttish, full of hairs and unsalted. [...]

Nicolas  •  Link

“Here I also saw a printed account of the examinations taken, touching the burning of the City of London, shewing the plot of the Papists therein...”

Invented conspiracy theories seem to be a human weakness or affliction of human nature.

Nicolas  •  Link

“‘sluttish dinner’
Meanings change over time, Nicolas.“

Aha, thank you, John.
I had assumed the dinner was sluttish because Sam thought the hostess a slut for having painted her face. Anyway it was the funniest thing I’ve read in the diary for awhile.

Nicolas  •  Link

“Here I also saw a printed account of the examinations taken, touching the burning of the City of London, shewing the plot of the Papists therein...”

I’ve found online

“A BALLAD UPON THE POPISH PLOT
Written by a Lady of Quality.“

The Popish Plot came after the conclusion of the diary, but Samuel was implicated, and was even confined to the Tower for some period of time. I enjoyed reading this ballad and thought others might too. I couldn’t find any performance of the ballad, maybe I didn’t try hard enough, but it’s to the tune of “Packington’s Pound” which I did find a performance of on Apple Music. It’s a pretty tune. Here are the lyrics: http://ebba.english.ucsb.edu/ball…

There’s even a comic strip (!) drawn by Francis Barlow about the plot. “The Horrid Hellish Popish Plot” (1682).

https://web.archive.org/web/20191…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"L&M: The book was ‘London’s Flames, or The discovery of such evidence as were deposed before the Committee of Parliament etc., with the insolences of the Popish party’, 1667 an unauthorized version of the evidence taken by the Commons' committee which had reported (January 1667) that the Fire had been planned by the French Catholics, the Jesuits and the Duke of York."

This UNAUTHORIZED version shows there was already a suspicion that James, Duke of York was sympathetic to French Catholics to ... do what exactly? Lose to the Dutch? Bring about the downfall of Charles II?
Fearful conspiracy theories don't need logic. But they were right about James' leaning towards Catholicism in general.

And thank you, Nicholas ... those are really interesting links. No doubt these 1666 and 1667 conspiracy theories and rumors laid the groundwork for the 1678-80 deadly Popish Plot hysteria.

For some reason parliamentary enquiries frequently don't answer people's fears. Americans still doubt the official reports on the assassinations of JFK, RFK and MLK, the first World Trade Center bombing and 9/11 bombing. Not to mention our current nemesis, QAnon, which will weaken faith in government for generations.

Sigh.

john  •  Link

A belated note to the "painted lady". L&M note that "Mrs Pearse was described in 1678 as having a complexion 'florid and pure red without paint'." Whether a birthmark of a bad case of rosacea is unknown but seems to explain the heavy make-up.

Timo  •  Link

Mrs Pierce got to see the Scornfull Man today

Third Reading

Trevor M Randall  •  Link

But one of the best arts of our sport was a mighty pretty lady that sat behind, that did laugh so heartily and constantly, that it did me good to hear her.

Ah yes.

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