Tuesday 14 April 1668
(Tuesday). Up betimes by water to the Temple. In the way read the Narrative about prizes; and so to Lord Crew’s bedside, and then to Westminster, where I hear Pen is, and sent for by messenger last night. Thence to Commissioners of Accounts and there examined, and so back to Westminster Hall, where all the talk of committing all to the Tower, and Creed and I to the Quaker’s, dined together. Thence to the House, where rose about four o’clock; and, with much ado, Pen got to Thursday to bring in his answer; so my Lord escapes to-day. Thence with Godage and G. Montagu to G. Carteret’s, and there sat their dinner-time: and hear myself, by many Parliament-men, mightily commended. Thence to a play, “Love’s Cruelty,” and so to my Lord Crew’s, who glad of this day’s time got, and so home, and there office, and then home to supper and to bed, my eyes being the better upon leaving drinking at night.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Water, | 1s. |
| Porter, | 6d. |
| Water, | 6d. |
| Dinner, | 3s. 6d. |
| Play part, | 2s. |
| Oranges, | 1s. |
| Home coach, | 1s. 6d. |
23 Annotations
First Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"to Westminster, where I hear Pen is, and sent for by messenger last night."
Grey's Debates - Tuesday, April 14.
[Scroll down a bit to this:]
[A second narrative was brought in by Sir Thomas Lee, from the Commissioners of Accounts, and the matter relating to Sir William Penn, as to the embezzling of Prize Goods, was debated.]
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…
Robert Gertz • Link
"...my eyes being the better upon leaving drinking at night."
Bess gone and Sam spends the week so foxed he can't keep up the Diary? But perhaps as he picks himself up off the floor of the "Folly", escorted out by two grim-looking thugs having exhausted his penny purse (this is after all our Sam...He'll lose his head but not his fortune) it could lead to another major literary work, "The Lost Week"?
Oh, I know...C'mon.
Robert Gertz • Link
"...so back to Westminster Hall, where all the talk of committing all to the Tower..."
Whoa...Enough to make a man turn to drink and (the) Folly all week.
Terry Foreman • Link
"Play part,__________2s."
L&M note Pepys apparently went to the theatre after the first act and paid half-price for a seat in the boxes.
Terry Foreman • Link
Arlington to Ormond
Written from: London
Date: 14 April 1668
Lord Ossory's letter of the 6th mentions the Lord Lieutenant's readiness to come away for England, "which I wish", says the present writer, "this may come time enough to prevent, at least for a few days; because complaints are reviving again very warmly in the House of Commons; and that the session, according to his Majesty's message, must have its period on Monday the 4th of May - which is not like to be changed". ...
http://www.rsl.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwm…
Terry Foreman • Link
"Oranges,_______1s." L&M note usually 6d. each.
Jim • Link
Sam spent as much on oranges today as he spent at the "Folly" yesterday.
If I remember correctly there were "orange girls" selling oranges at the theater.
In fact Sam once said someone had dressed up as an "orange wench".
See http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
Does anyone think that its odd that oranges would cost as much as the "Folly" ?
Margaret • Link
I find it interesting that he paid 1/6 for water. Does anyone know how this worked? Were water carriers walking the streets with especially good water from special sources?
These days a lot of people pay for bottled water when they could get the stuff out of the taps for free.
Paul Chapin • Link
Margaret, I believe he is referring to transportation by water, i.e. a boat on the Thames, oared by a waterman for a fare.
JKM • Link
Yeah, I briefly thought "water" and "porter" were beverage items, then realized they are more likely to be services.
Margaret • Link
Okay, that makes a lot more sense. Thanks.
Terry Foreman • Link
"Yeah, I briefly thought “water” and “porter” were beverage items, then realized they are more likely to be services. "
The service-sector of the economy and Pepys's share of it grow apace. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serv…
"The seventeenth century saw major growth in the service sector of London's economy, in all areas from professional to personal." Nice discussion of the servant population's growth and distribution in certain London parishes as well: http://www.history.ac.uk/cmh/pip/…
Second Reading
psw • Link
Terry Foreman on 15 Apr 2011 • Link • Flag
"Oranges,_______1s." L&M note usually 6d. each.
and JIM: that is a "tip" to one of his orange girls with little doubt. Probably the former ho who tipped him off far back to the goings on of another.
Terry Foreman • Link
"Up betimes by water to the Temple. In the way read the Narrative about prizes;"
L&M: Produced br the Brooke House Committee: CJ, ix. 80, 81.
San Diego Sarah • Link
And today's mundane details included:
April 14. 1668
Harwich.
Capt. Ant. Deane to the Navy Commissioners.
Has taken 30 tuns of beer into the new ship;
60 men arrived in a smack, which makes the number 120;
when the ketch comes, all things will be on board to take first wind and come away.
[S.P. Dom., Car. II. 238, No. 97.]
April 14. 1668
Deptford.
John Cox to Thos. Hayter.
Asks for 200 or 300 tickets for the men of the Charles;
with note that 2 quires were sent by John Rudd.
[S.P. Dom., Car. II. 238, No. 98.]
April 14. 1668
Woolwich.
John Moore, master attendant's deputy, to the Navy Commissioners.
Sent the Falcon to Long Reach;
she can now take in her provisions, and her guns go down to-day.
[S.P. Dom., Car. II. 238, No. 99.]
April 14. 1668
Woolwich.
Roger Eastwood to [the Navy Commissioners].
The plating and glazing of the ships' lanterns here fitting for sea may amount to 150l.
[S.P. Dom., Car. II. 238, No. 100.]
San Diego Sarah • Link
Although Charles II has authorized his signature on the Peace Treaty, perhaps the crown still lies uneasily on his head?
April 14. 1668
Portsmouth.
Hugh Salesbury to Williamson.
Col. [Sir Thos.] Morgan has arrived at Southampton;
the Roebuck, now at Spithead, will convey him and recruits to Jersey and Guernsey.
[S.P. Dom., Car. II. 238, No. 107.]
April 14. 1668
Falmouth.
Thos. Holden to Williamson.
Several vessels have departed for France;
Sir Thos. Allin continues off the Lizard;
11 French fish drovers have arrived, bound for the coast of Ireland.
Maybe this is just the 17th century version of "Trust, but verify"?
[S.P. Dom., Car. II. 238, No. 108.]
San Diego Sarah • Link
And regarding Ireland, probably the most interesting letter today was in cypher, so we do not know what was said:
Arlington to Ormonde
Written from: London
Date: 14 April 1668
Shelfmark: MS. Carte 46, fol(s). 625
Document type: Holograph
Lord Ossory's letter of the 6th mentions the Lord Lieutenant's readiness to come away for England, "which I wish", says the present writer, "this may come time enough to prevent, at least for a few days; because complaints are reviving again very warmly in the House of Commons; and that the session, according to his Majesty's message, must have its period on Monday the 4th of May - which is not like to be changed". ...
@@@
A Cypher used in the Correspondence of the Duke of Ormond, 1668; with the Lord Chancellor of Ireland
Date: 14 April 1668
Shelfmark: MS. Carte 50, fol(s). 410-411
Document type: Original; endorsed, by Lane, as "received, 14 April 1668"
https://wayback.archive-it.org/or…
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... complaints are reviving again very warmly in the House of Commons; and that the session, according to his Majesty's message, must have its period on Monday the 4th of May - which is not like to be changed".
So Arlington is telling Ormonde to stay in Dublin because Charles II intends to prorogue Parliament on May 4. Arlington is thinking they may not get around to the Ormonde/Irish Adventurers issues, but if he's in London, he will just stoke the fire of outrage.
Or is Arlington thinking it will be easier to convict Ormonde if he isn't there, or arrives too late, to defend himself?
How can Charles II not know that his "friend" and chief advisor, George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Lord Ashley, are creating chaos behind the scenes with the Country Party MPs? They get away with this for years.
San Diego Sarah • Link
I just found out who the returning Governor of Jersey was. He's the Welsh uncle of Henry Morgan, the pirate/privateer, and a colleague of long standing to the Duke of Albemarle. It was a small world.
For more about Sir Thomas Morgan, 1st Bart, see https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
Sam Ursu • Link
Sorry to answer your query ten years later, but the reason oranges were as expensive as a theater play is because most oranges at that time were imported from places that were really far away (primarily Palestine during Sam's time).
The greenhouse wouldn't be invented until the Victorian period, so the only way to grow a tropical fruit like oranges in chilly Europe was by constantly pumping vast amounts of heat into a building, so only a few royals (most notably the King of France at Versaille) could afford to do it.
Note: often, the heat was chemical in nature caused by the breakdown of horse manure, so the "orangeries" were powered by tons of decomposing manure changed daily.
As for "orange girls," they were thought to be a half-step above prostitutes (and actresses). They would wear "skimpy" clothing and guys would win their favor by buying overpriced oranges roughly analogous to the modern practice of putting a dollar bill in the garter of a dancer at a strip club.
Orange girls sold oranges both outside the theater (before and after the show, as well as during intermissions) and inside it (during the play), sometimes in a "private" arrangement in a side room, but not always. One orange girl became the mistress of the King of England, which was pretty scandalous.
Stephane Chenard • Link
1s. isn't a bad price for imports from Palestine. Maybe those oranges were small, but they're not even such a luxury that (on 15 January last) they can't be thrown at a bad actress.
There must have been quite a nice amount of demand. The present volume of State Papers mentions ships laden with oranges only three times in the 10-month period it covers but, happily, they're all Spanish or Portuguese vessels. Those ships are mostly described as carrying "oranges and lemons" and little else, so they may have been packed full with fruit; a risky venture, what with the rats and the weeks of sailing. The peace between those two and between Spain and France should now allow the oranges to flow unimpeded.
As for the orange girls, discussed yesterday, they seem the direct ancestors to the beer girls of Southeast Asia - who, skimpily dressed in Heineken green, cruise the beer gardens of Bangkok or Phnom Penh, making sure that your glass is always full and your need for a fifth bottle instantly satisfied. They're not indeed considered to add class to an establishment, but that's hardly the point. We think that if they could travel back in time and space to the King's playhouse they would, after a brief moment of adjustment, know exactly what to do with Sam and his insatiable thirst for agrumes.
JayW • Link
Sam Ursu- the orange girl who became the mistress of Charles II was Nell Gwynn
San Diego Sarah • Link
"A Cypher used in the Correspondence of the Duke of Ormonde, 1668; with the Lord Chancellor of Ireland"
The Lord Chancellor was Archbishop Michael Boyle, Jr. (1609 – 1702), a Church of Ireland bishop who served as Archbishop of Dublin from 1663 to 1679, Archbishop of Armagh from 1679 to his death, and as Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1665 to 1686, which the last time a bishop was appointed to that office.
Archbishop Michael is uncle to the large crop of Boyles living in London at this time, and to Roger Boyle, Baron Broghill, 1st Earl of Orrery (1621 – 1679), who is currently giving the Lord Lt. of Ireland, James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde sleepless nights as Orrery has recently returned to Ireland and is living at his home, Charleville.
The Butlers and the Boyles are rivals.
For more about the Earl of Orrery's Charleville enterprises, see https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…