Pin Money

P in M o n e y S U S A N S T A V E S ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA In th e fifth act of V anbru gh's com ed y, T h e R e la p s e (1696), M iss H oy­ d en , th e sim p le-m ind ed d au ghter of an alm ost equally sim p le-m ind ed cou n try gen tlem an , eagerly an ticip ates h er ap p roach in g m arriage to L ord Fop p in gton an d all th e con com itan t d eligh ts of fash ion able L on ­ d on life. A ttem p tin g to rebu t som e of h er old n u rse's d ou bts abou t the m arital h ap p in ess to be exp ected w ith fashionable lord s, w ho have b een kn ow n to give th eir m on ey "to th eir slu ts an d th eir tru lls" in ­ stead of to th eir w ives, M iss H oyd en d eclares th at L ord Fop p in gton , at least, is "as free as an op en h ou se at C h ristm as": "F or th is very m orn in g h e told m e I sh ou ld have tw o h u n d red a year to bu y p in s. N ow , n u rse, if h e gives m e tw o h u n d red a year to bu y p in s, w h at d o you th in k h e w ill give m e to bu y fin e p etticoats?" T h e n u rse en lig h t­ en s h er: "A h , m y d earest, h e d eceives th ee faully, an d he's n o better th an a rogu e for h is p ain s. T h ese L on d on ers have got a gibberid ge w ith 'em , w ou ld con fou n d a gipsy. T h at w h ich th ey call p in -m on ey is to bu y th eir w ives every th in g in th e varsal w orld , d ow n to th eir very sh oe-ties: nay, I h ave h eard folks say th at som e lad ies, if th ey w ill h ave gallan ts, as th ey call 'em , are forced to fin d th em ou t of th eir p in -m on ey to o ."1 A s th e n u rse su ggests, p in m on ey w as p aid by h u sban d s to w ives, so m u ch p er year, an d w as su p p osed to be sp en t on clothes, am u sem en ts, charities, and su ch other ou t-of-p ocket exp en ses as a w ife in cu rred— n ot, of cou rse, in clu d in g th e m ain te­ n an ce of a lover. In 1696 even a girl m ore w orld ly-w ise th an M iss H oyd en m ight have fou nd "p in m on ey" a p u zzling term , since it seem s to h ave b een a relatively n ew social p h en om en on in th e late R esto­ ration an d early eig h teen th cen tu ry.2 T h ou gh th e term w as u sed m ore 47 48 / STAVES loosely, for m y p u rp oses here, it w ill be convenient to d efine p in m on ey as p aym en ts u n d er a con tract by a h u sban d to a w ife d u rin g cover­ tu re...