Monday 30 November 1668

Up betimes, and with W. Hewer, who is my guard, to White Hall, to a Committee of Tangier, where the business of Mr. Lanyon1 took up all the morning; and where, poor man! he did manage his business with so much folly, and ill fortune to boot, that the Board, before his coming in, inclining, of their own accord, to lay his cause aside, and leave it to the law, but he pressed that we would hear it, and it ended to the making him appear a very knave, as well as it did to me a fool also, which I was sorry for. Thence by water, Mr. Povy, Creed, and I, to Arundell House, and there I did see them choosing their Council, it being St. Andrew’s-day; and I had his Cross2 set on my hat, as the rest had, and cost me 2s., and so leaving them I away by coach home to dinner, and my wife, after dinner, went the first time abroad to take the maidenhead of her coach, calling on Roger Pepys, and visiting Mrs. Creed, and my cozen Turner, while I at home all the afternoon and evening, very busy and doing much work, to my great content. Home at night, and there comes Mrs. Turner and Betty to see us, and supped with us, and I shewed them a cold civility for fear of troubling my wife, and after supper, they being gone, we to bed.

Thus ended this month, with very good content, that hath been the most sad to my heart and the most expenseful to my purse on things of pleasure, having furnished my wife’s closet and the best chamber, and a coach and horses, that ever I yet knew in the world: and do put me into the greatest condition of outward state that ever I was in, or hoped ever to be, or desired: and this at a time when we do daily expect great changes in this Office: and by all reports we must, all of us, turn out. But my eyes are come to that condition that I am not able to work: and therefore that, and my wife’s desire, make me have no manner of trouble in my thoughts about it. So God do his will in it!

18 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

The Royal Society today at Arundel House — from the Hooke Folio Online

nou. 30. Election Day. Mr Boyles new book [ http://goo.gl/TMxxi ] prsented - - comitted to the care of Mr Hooke for the Library. -- Sr Ph. Vernattys present fro India. -- All this was Deliuerd to the Curator for the Repository. -

http://webapps.qmul.ac.uk/cell/Ho…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Mr Boyles new book

Boyle, Robert,
A continvation of nevv experiments physico-mechanical, touching the spring and weight of the air, and their effects : written by way of letter, to the right honorable the Lord Clifford and Dungarvan : whereunto is annext a short discourse of the atmospheres of consistent bodies , 1669 http://echo.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/E…

Glyn  •  Link

Is there anything significant about the people that Elizabeth visited in her first ride in her own coach, or can we work out the route that she took?

Chris Squire  •  Link

'maidenhead, n.1 . .
2. gen. The first stage or first fruits of anything; the first example, proof, trial, or use; also in phrases (see sense 1b). Obs.
. . 1612    (title)    Parthenia, or the Maydenhead of the first musicke that euer was printed for the Virginalls.
a1687    W. Petty Polit. Arithm. (1691) i. 20   One sort of Vessels, and Rigging, where haste is requisite for the Maidenhead of a Market.
1755    T. Smollett tr. Cervantes Don Quixote I. i. ii. 8   Others affirm, that the Wind-mills had the maidenhead of his valour . .' [OED]

Chris Squire  •  Link

'turn out . . 4. intr. To get out of, leave, quit . .
1860 Dickens Uncommerc. Traveller in All Year Round 26 May 155/2 My last special feat was turning out of bed at two, after a hard day.
1892 Chambers's Jrnl. 1 Oct. 638/1 Five is an early hour to turn out of bed . . ' [OED]

FJA  •  Link

Today's entry makes me miss the days when Sam carefully set forth his end of the month accounts and toted up his net worth so that we could see and vicariously enjoy his rise in the world.

Mary  •  Link

St. Andrew's Day

Does anyone know when celebration of this day began in England , and when it died out again? It is, of course, still marked in Scotland, but its mention here by Pepys comes as a surprise.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Is there anything significant about the people that Elizabeth visited in her first ride in her own coach, or can we work out the route that she took?"

We can trust she went by St Paul's to this part of London. http://www.motco.com/Map/81002/Se…

Roger Pepys, MP, and the family barrister, lodged at the Temple. http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Jane Turner, Pepys's cousin, had inherited her father’s house in Salisbury Court. http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…

We don't know where Elizabeth Pickering Creed, Sandwich's niece and the wife of Pepys's rival, stayed when in town.

r l battle  •  Link

Couple of questions
When will Elizabeth call off the dogs & allow Sam to venture out without Will as a shadow?

Now that Elizabeth has a carriage does this eliminate the need for a companion or escort when doing her shopping or visiting?

Any guesses what Sam calls "my wife" when speaking to her? Elizabeth? Liz? Beth? Wife? Dear? Love?

Mary  •  Link

St. Andrew's Day.

I may have answered my own question. In "A History of the Royal Society: 1660 - 1940" published in 1944, Sir Henry Lyons noted that the Royal Society was originally founded on 28th November 1660 but that November 30th, St. Andrew's Day, had been adopted as its official anniversary, partly as being a more memorable saint's day and possibly because one of the founders, Sir Robert Moray, was a Scot and used his influence to shift to this date.

The wearing of St. Andrew's flags (a cross of ribbon worn in the crown of the hat) was a practice that lasted only for about 20 years.

Thus we do not seem to be observing a general practice in England.

Andrew Hamilton  •  Link

Interesting that Nov. 30 should be called "Election Day" at the Royal Society from its earliest years. Is this an early example of scientific secularism?

http://www.wmich.edu/slcsp/SLCSP1…

(Pardon the late post. I missed reading the diary on my Saint's Day!)

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"having furnished my wife’s closet and the best chamber, and a coach and horses, that ever I yet knew in the world: and do put me into the greatest condition of outward state that ever I was in, or hoped ever to be, or desired"

[301] "[S]ome members of the middle class owned their own transport, the greatest status symbol of the age being one's own coach or carriage. This was no light matter, as readers of previous hit Pepys's next hit diary will remember, months of planning, worry and discussion finally ending with the arrival of his coach and horses in November 1668, an acquisition which 'doth put me into the greatest condition of outward state that I ever was in, or hoped ever to be, or desired'.[61] Such glory was an immense expense, not just for the £50–£100 or more that the coach would cost, but for the very high maintenance costs and such ongoing expenses as rent of a coach house, the wages of the coachman and the cost of feeding the horses, a horse's food being about 5s. a week, very much the same as that of any other member of the household. It is not surprising, then, that only sixteen men in our sample owned a coach, nearly all of them merchants with a median fortune of £15,000.[62]

"Lesser men had to content themselves with their own riding horse, though this too posed problems in the more densely populated areas and horsekeeping was likely to cost considerably more each year than the value of the horse. Nevertheless, one in five men had his own horse, this being virtually essential for some occupations, such as the apothecaries who had to be able to visit their patients. The remainder had to content themselves with hiring a coach or a horse when they needed one, while on most occasions they would have walked, this being much the commonest way of getting round London. Contemporary diaries leave us in no doubt that early modern men and women were much more active pedestrians than we are today.[63] It is clear, too, that they positively enjoyed walking for the fresh air and exercise and also for their health, though, as will be seen in the next chapter, it might take more than walking to keep a person alive in Augustan London." http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpre…

pepfie  •  Link

"I away by coach home to dinner, and my wife, after dinner, went the first time abroad *to take the maidenhead* of her coach"

CS:
Speaking of a coach OED 2 apparently is the only possible selection on a conscious level but why that rather implausible figurative choice of words instead of, e.g., maiden trip? Considering "this month ... that hath been the most sad to my heart" I do believe this is OED 1.b resurfacing from his subconscious no matter how hard he (assisted by EP, Will Hewer and Archbishop Laud†) wants to put the lid on.

Second Reading

Tonyel  •  Link

Today we might say she "christened" the coach as a light-hearted reference to making use of something for the first time. Sam's equivalent reflects the blunter attitudes of his time.

I'm rather surprised that there has been no mention of the new coachman - I imagine Sam would have carried out some careful interviewing before entrusting him with his coach - and his wife.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

You're right, Tonyel, many previously covered details are being dropped by Pepys from his Diary these days.

"Thus ended this month, ... that hath been the most sad to my heart ..."

Apart from worries about his eyesight, I suspect Pepys is fighting depression and/or PTSD at this, the darkest time of the year.

He's lost the respect of his wife ... he's lost someone he is infatuated with ... his job/income/housing/freedom is in jeopardy ... he saw and experienced traumatic things during and after the plague, fire and war ... he doesn't seem to find pleasure in singing or playing music any more. He's buying off Elizabeth's ire. He has no close men friends to speak of.

I'm wondering if he'll hit the bottle again. Self-medication is classic at times like this.

Harry R  •  Link

"and there comes Mrs. Turner and Betty to see us, and supped with us, and I shewed them a cold civility for fear of troubling my wife,"

And so Mrs T, neighbour and frequent visitor over the past couple of years, disappears abruptly off the face of the diary. In September Sam had made a surprise move on her after which her visits thinned out, in October he's reproachful of her ingratitude towards him for assisting with Mr T's promotion, and now he's coldly civil towards her, though he does say it's so as not to upset Elizabeth. The writing was on the wall.

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