[12] _Ball at Court._—“31st. [December, 1662.] Mr. Povy and I to White Hall; he taking me thither on purpose to carry me into the ball this night before the King. He brought me first to the Duke [of York]’s chamber, where I saw him and the Duchesse at supper; and thence into the room where the ball was to be; crammed with fine ladies, the greatest of the Court. By and by, comes the King and Queene, the Duke and Duchesse, and all the great ones; and after seating themselves, the King takes out the Duchesse of York; and the Duke, the Duchesse of Buckingham; the Duke of Monmouth, my Lady Castlemaine; and so other lords other ladies: and they danced the Brantle [? _Braule_]. After that the King led a lady a single Coranto; and then the rest of the lords, one after another, other ladies: very noble it was, and great pleasure to see. Then to country dances; the King leading the first, which he called for, which was, says he, ‘Cuckolds all awry [a-row],’ the old dance of England. Of the ladies that danced, the Duke of Monmouth’s mistress, and my Lady Castlemaine, and a daughter of Sir Harry de Vicke’s, were the best. The manner was, when the King dances, all the ladies in the room, and the Queene herself, stand up: and indeed he dances rarely, and much better than the Duke of York. Having staid here as long as I thought fit, to my infinite content, it being the greatest pleasure I could wish now to see at Court, I went home, leaving them dancing.”—(_Diary of Samuel Pepys, Esq., F.R.S., Secretary to the Admiralty, &c._) [13] [In margin, a later-inserted line reads: “_~Godolphin~, ~Cartwright~, ~Beaumont~, ~Montague~._”] Transcriber’s Note In a book of this kind, it can be hard to tell when something is a misprint or misspelling, and for the most part this e-text errs on the side of caution and preserves the original printing with all its inconsistencies. Only the following probable errors have been corrected. We do not have the _Supplement_ containing the songs the editor thought too immodest to include. Page 4, duplicate word “him” removed (Oh do not censure him for this) Page 14, duplicate word “am” removed (And all shall say when I am dead) Page 40, stanza number “3.” added Page 46, “Aed” changed to “And” (And took her up with speed) Page 79, “tewelfth” changed to “twelfth” (On the twelfth day all in the morn) Page 101, “keeep” changed to “keep” (I keep my horse) Page 102, “Gysie” changed to “Gypsie” (No Gypsie nor no Blackamore) Page 108, “befitingly” changed to “befittingly” (befittingly in his notes and comments) Page 125, “and” changed to “an” (With an old Lady whose anger) Page 168, “stifly” changed to “stiffly” (dancing somewhat stiffly) Page 189, the original page number [p. 121] has been added in what seems closest to the correct place.