Pepys had the more reason to discover that his wife sang out of tune in that he was able, in his own house, to make comparisons which were not to her advantage. It was the custom to keep servants who had some pleasant accomplishment; in the households of Pepys' friends we find musical servants who were true artists. Evans, who was butler to Lady Wright, was a master of the lute and used to give Pepys lessons.[1] Dutton, wife to the footman of one of his friends, was a magnificent singer.[2] It was a point of honour with Pepys that his servants likewise should be skilled performers, and as a good husband—not wholly disinterested—he insisted that his wife should have maidservants who were as agreeable to look at as to hear.
First of all came the pretty chambermaid, Ashwell, who played the harpsichord. Pepys used to buy musical scores for her and taught her the principles of her art:
Up to teach Ashwell the rounds of time and other things on the tryangle, and made her take out a Psalm very well, she having a good ear[3] and hand.[4]
He makes the little servant dance:
After dinner all the afternoon fiddling upon my viallin (which I have not done many a day) while Ashwell danced above in my upper best chamber, which is a rare room for musique.[5]
But Ashwell is not enough. We find him writing ingenuously:
