In the following year there was some chance that Pepys might retire from public affairs, and take upon himself the headship of one of the chief Cambridge colleges.  On the death of Sir Thomas Page, the Provost of King’s College, in August, 1681, Mr. S. Maryon, a Fellow of Clare Hall, recommended Pepys to apply to the King for the appointment, being assured that the royal mandate if obtained would secure his election.  He liked the idea, but replied that he believed Colonel Legge (afterwards Lord Dartmouth) wanted to get the office for an old tutor.  Nothing further seems to have been done by Pepys, except that he promised if he were chosen to give the whole profit of the first year, and at least half of that of each succeeding year, to “be dedicated to the general and public use of the college.”  In the end Dr. John Coplestone was appointed to the post.

On May 22nd, 1681, the Rev. Dr. Milles, rector of St. Olave’s, who is so often mentioned in the Diary, gave Pepys a certificate as to his attention to the services of the Church.  It is not quite clear what was the occasion of the certificate, but probably the Diarist wished to have it ready in case of another attack upon him in respect to his tendency towards the Church of Rome.

Early in 1682 Pepys accompanied the Duke of York to Scotland, and narrowly escaped shipwreck by the way.  Before letters could arrive in London to tell of his safety, the news came of the wreck of the “Gloucester” (the Duke’s ship), and of the loss of many lives.  His friends’ anxiety was relieved by the arrival of a letter which Pepys wrote from Edinburgh to Hewer on May 8th, in which he detailed the particulars of the adventure.  The Duke invited him to go on board the “Gloucester” frigate, but he preferred his own yacht (the “Catherine “), in which he had more room, and in consequence of his resolution he saved himself from the risk of drowning.  On May 5th the frigate struck upon the sand called “The Lemon and Oar,” about sixteen leagues from the mouth of the Humber.  This was caused by the carelessness of the pilot, to whom Pepys imputed “an obstinate over-weening in opposition to the contrary opinions of Sir I. Berry, his master, mates, Col.  Legg, the Duke himself, and several others, concurring unanimously in not being yet clear of the sands.”  The Duke and his party escaped, but numbers were drowned in the sinking ship, and it is said that had the wreck occurred two hours earlier, and the accompanying yachts been at the distance they had previously been, not a soul would have escaped.

Pepys stayed in Edinburgh for a short time, and the Duke of York allowed him to be present at two councils.  He then visited; with Colonel George Legge, some of the principal places in the neighbourhood, such as Stirling, Linlithgow, Hamilton, and Glasgow.  The latter place he describes as “a very extraordinary town indeed for beauty and trade, much superior to any in Scotland.”