Does history repeat itself?

At the moment, everyone in the country is being affected by government rules and regulations put in place because of the pandemic caused by the coronavirus. In the , as in many other countries around the world, leaders have ordered people, apart from essential “key workers”, to stay at home. This is sometimes called “lockdown” and is an important way of stopping the disease spreading so quickly because someone with the virus can infect (or pass on the illness) to many others, whether or not they feel ill themselves. “Social distancing” (not going too close to other people we are not living with even when leaving the house is absolutely necessary) also means that the virus will not spread so easily.

One definition of “lockdown” is that people are not allowed to enter or leave a building or area freely because of an emergency [https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/lockdown] and this fits quite well with what we are experiencing at the moment in the United Kingdom. Rules at the moment are not quite as strict as this and we are allowed to go out to shop and for exercise. Until a little while ago rules in Spain were even more strict – children were not allowed out of their homes at all!

People over seventy years old and some others have been recommended to “self- isolate” – to stay indoors all the time to help avoid contact with anyone who may pass on the virus to them. It is called “self”-isolation because it is not a government order, but a strong recommendation and people have to make up their own minds about what is the best thing for them to do.

Throughout history there have been epidemics and pandemics which have killed many tens of thousands of people. It is said that we should learn from history, so it is interesting to look back at the past to see what lessons may be learned and to think about how people coped in the past.

Coronavirus is a pandemic – many countries across the world in all continents are being affected by it. You may be surprised to learn that in many of those countries (including USA, Canada and France, newspapers and television news stories are being reported about a small village in , called Eyam, just forty miles away from our school.

Eyam is famous the world over as “the plague village” and, when you know the history of the village, you will understand why the story of what happened there over 350 years ago is relevant to our current situation.

The following pages are adapted for you from newspaper and other articles that have been recently published together with resources from the Eyam Museum.

1 WJS/GJ Apr 2020 After reading the information, please try answering these questions. (There are other tasks at the end of the document.)

1a) List some similarities and differences between the plague and coronavirus.

1b) Next list some similarities and differences between the way people reacted to the plague and how people have responded to coronavirus.

2) It has been suggested that self-isolation is not so difficult for people now as it would have been in the 17th century. What different reasons could people give for this view?

3) If Rev’d William Mompesson had foreseen coronavirus coming and had written a letter to us in the 21st century, what do you think he would say?

4) If you could send something back in time to the people of 17th century Eyam, would you choose to send a mobile phone, some PPE, a message saying that their sacrifice and success is still remembered in 2020, or something else? Explain your choice.

So… The year was 1665. Just over a hundred years after the reign of King Henry VIII. A terrible illness, now called the bubonic plague, was killing thousands of people in London and people were very fearful that it would spread as it had in the 1300s when it killed about half the population of the whole country [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death_in_England].

This second bubonic plague pandemic had affected many countries. (It is regarded as starting in China in 1331 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Plague_of_London] and outbreaks affected different parts of the world from time to time between then and until it seemed to end in the 1750s.) There had been serious outbreaks in in 1603, 1625 and 1636 but the epidemic starting in 1665 (now known as the Great Plague) seemed more significant and brought fear to every corner of the country.

Everyone had heard terrible stories of how Londoners were being devastated by the plague and there were rumours that it was beginning to spread about the country. Then, to their horror, first one person, then a whole family showed symptoms and quickly died of the disease. The plague had come to Eyam and the people had to decide what to do.

The following text is adapted for children from “Remembering the selfless Derbyshire villagers who self-isolated during the plague” by Paul Fry and published on DerbyshireLive by the Derby Telegraph. Source: https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/health/eyam-derbyshire- bubonic-plague--3948082 and from Eyam plague: The village of the damned by David McKenna, BBC News, 5 November 2016 Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35064071

2 WJS/GJ Apr 2020

Because of the coronavirus, many countries are cutting themselves off from the rest of the world to help stop the infection’s spread. Eyam, a small hamlet in the , could be seen to have set the model for such an approach during Britain’s Bubonic Plague crisis in the 17th century. The village dates from the Roman era, though evidence of even earlier settlements has been found. Local people made their living from lead mining and the last pit at Ladywash only closed as recently as 1979. But Eyam’s fame comes not from mining but from how many of its villagers gave their lives to save countless others during the Great Plague of 1665 and 1666, when England, and London in particular, was ravaged by a ‘Black Death’ – the bubonic plague, a deadly disease carried by fleas transported by black rats. This occurred during the centuries-long pandemic – a long period of occasional but catastrophic epidemics which began in Europe in 1347 and lasted until 1750. The Great Plague killed about 100,000 people, roughly 15 per cent of London’s population at that time. This is the story of Eyam: In the early summer of 1665, with the terrible disease spreading north from London, an Eyam tailor called Alexander Hadfield ordered a bale of cloth from London to make into clothes for the villagers. When it arrived, the tailor’s assistant, George Viccars, had opened the roll of cloth but found it “damp and smelling foul’’, so he put it near the fire to dry.

But the warmth from the fire caused fleas contained in the cloth to settle on him. He was dead within seven days, followed soon after by his two stepsons, a next-door neighbour – and then the tailor himself. Within a few weeks, in September, five people from the village died. In October, 23 perished altogether. People were dropping, all seemingly at random. It was clear the much- Figure 1 The village of Eyam sealed itself off during the Plague to stop the feared plague had disease spreading (Image: Tamworth Herald) reached the village. The disease swept through the village. Between September and December 1665, 42 villagers died and by the spring of 1666, many were on the verge of fleeing their homes and livelihoods to save themselves.

3 WJS/GJ Apr 2020 It was at this point that the newly appointed rector [the minister of the village church, Rev’d] William Mompesson, intervened. Mompesson suggested that they should all agree to quarantine themselves, allowing nobody to enter or leave the village – fully knowing that many would not survive. Most of the people had wanted to go to Sheffield, the nearest big city, or the nearby town of but he persuaded them that to do so would be to risk countless more lives when the north had not suffered as London and its surrounding area had. They reluctantly agreed. Figure 2 William Mompesson convinced the remaining villagers to stay He ordered families to bury their dead in their own plots of land, not the church burial ground. Later he even stopped people going to church for services so that they were not crowded together – instead he only held services and meetings in the open-air where people could spread themselves out. In the weeks and months that followed, things were tough – it was a struggle to survive. The villagers were given food by those who lived outside the village. People brought donations of food and left them at large stones that marked the boundary of Eyam village. The villagers, in turn, left money in a water trough filled with vinegar to sterilise the coins. The Boundary Stone can still be seen. One can only imagine how the villagers tackled each day. For many, of course, there would be the task of nursing a sick loved one. There were no modern medicines or PPE in those days. For the dying, there was awful suffering, but thankfully only for a few days; for the dead, there could not even be a proper funeral service.

August 1666 saw the highest number of victims, reaching a peak of five or six deaths a day. The weather was remarkably hot that summer, which meant the fleas were more active, and the pestilence spread unchecked throughout the village.

Figure 3 Services were held in the open air at Cucklet Delf and families stood apart from each other to avoid the spread of infection Image copyright EYAM MUSEUM

Despite this, hardly anyone broke the cordon; even those who were reluctant to stay saw it through. Some of the richer villagers, including the squire and Mompesson’s own children, had, in fact, left Eyam before the quarantine was agreed but Mompesson and his wife, Catherine, decided to stay. He felt that it was his duty to his parishioners to

4 WJS/GJ Apr 2020 stay. In any case, he was the most senior figure left in the village and someone they all looked to for guidance. He offered up prayers, made wills, dispensed medicines and supported his parishioners as best he could. One evening, it is said, when William and Catherine were taking their regular walk in the fields behind the Rectory, she “thought the air smelled Figure 4 Cucklet Delf today - just a short walk from the sweet’’. This shocked William, village because he knew people often felt like this before they showed other symptoms of the plague. She came down with the disease within days. William nursed her, despite the fact that she asked him to stay away for his own safety. She was the 200th villager to die – one of 78 to perish that terrible August of 1666. The current rector, Mike Gilbert, said: "When you read Mompesson's letters - he must have assumed he was dying. In one he writes 'I am a dying man'. "He was scared but he did it all the same. There was definitely that hope of heaven that kept them going, but it was phenomenally difficult to simply face it - it wasn't a nice way to die. 'I'm going to die in pain and there is nothing anyone can do about it'. "It is almost overwhelming to think what it must have been like - I suspect fear stalked them every day of their lives at the time." Soon, however, the worst of the plague was over for Eyam. The number of cases fell in September and October, and by November the disease had gone. Quarantine had worked. Next, he encouraged the remaining 90 villagers to burn all their clothing, furniture and bedding in case they had plague fleas on them. Houses were fumigated. He burned everything he could as an example to the villagers. Mompesson wrote of the long ordeal: “Now, blessed be God, all our fears are over for none have died of the plague since the eleventh of October and the pest-houses have long been empty.’’ During the outbreak, Eyam's death-rate was higher than that suffered by the citizens of London as a result of the plague. In just over a year, 260 of the village's inhabitants, from no fewer than 76 different families, had died. Historians have placed the total population of Eyam at between 350 and 800 before the plague struck. However, Mompesson knew his actions, and the courage of his parishioners, had probably saved thousands more. He left Eyam in 1669 to work in , Nottinghamshire, but such was the reputation of the "plague village" he was forced to live in a hut in Rufford Park until the residents' fears had decreased.

5 WJS/GJ Apr 2020 Facts about the Black Death

. Plague has a case-fatality ratio of 30%-60% if left untreated

. It was known as the Black Death during the 14th Century, and caused an estimated 50 million deaths

. People infected with plague usually develop flu-like symptoms after an incubation period of 3-7 days

. There are three forms of plague infection: bubonic, septicaemic and pneumonic. Bubonic, characterised by painful swollen lymph nodes - buboes - is the most common form

. Plague still is endemic in many countries, including in Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Peru

. In 2013, there were 783 cases reported worldwide, causing 126 deaths

Source: World Health Organisation

6 WJS/GJ Apr 2020 Some vocabulary work

1) What is the meaning of the word “prevail” in the sentence below?

“The story shows how the human spirit can prevail in the most frightening of circumstances.”

2) The author(s) of the Derby Telegraph use the word “hamlet” to describe the settlement of Eyam. Other types of settlement include: city, conurbation, homestead, metropolis, town, village

Put these terms in order of size (from smallest settlement to largest) and remember to include hamlet in your list.

______(smallest)

______

______

______

______

______

______(largest)

3) What does the abbreviation PPE stand for? What does it mean? What are some examples of PPE?

4) What are the meanings of the words highlighted in yellow in the above text. Give your best definition and then check your ideas in a dictionary and an on-line dictionary. Also discuss their definitions with an adult.

7 WJS/GJ Apr 2020

Some creative writing

Treatments for people suffering from the Black Death

1) One of the major “remedies’’ of the time, suggested by the College of Physicians, involved taking “a great onion, put in a fig, a dram of Venice treacle; put it close stuffed in wet paper, and roast it in the embers; apply hot under the tumour; lay three or four, one after the other; let it lie three hours.’’ 2) An apothecary, William Boghurst, noted of his treatment of one female victim: “I laid a great mastiff puppy dog upon her [for] two or three hours together and made her drink Dill, Penny-royal, Fennel and Aniseed water, for she was a fat woman and could bear it.’’ 3) If there do a blotch appear; take a pigeon and pluck the feathers off her tail, until bare, then set her tail to the sore, and she will draw out the venom till she die; then take another and set her likewise, continuing so till all the venom be drawn out, which you will see by the pigeons, for they will all die with the venom as long as there is any in: chickens can be used instead. 4) All sorts of possible plague cures were suggested, including eating live frogs, while “some say a dried toad will do it better’’. 4) People were advised: “All should … avoid dancing, running, leaping about… and baths’’.

Some of these made me think I was reading something from Roald Dahl!

Creative writing task Create and write out a recipe for an awesome medicine that you think could have become popular in 17th century Eyam. Give clear instructions about how it was to be “administered” to a patient. Write an advertisement for the medication, using persuasive language to make it a potential best-seller.

8 WJS/GJ Apr 2020 Just a little maths The text says: This second bubonic plague pandemic had affected many countries. (It is regarded as starting in China in 1331 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Plague_of_London] and outbreaks affected different parts of the world from time to between then and until it seemed to end in the 1750s.) There had been serious outbreaks in England in 1603, 1625 and 1636 but the epidemic starting in 1665 (now known as the Great Plague) seemed more significant and brought fear to every corner of the country.

Some calculations: 1) According to this, how many years ago did the plague start in China?

2) How many years are there between the Great Plague and the other outbreaks in England?

3) According to the text: In just over a year, 260 of the village's inhabitants, from no fewer than 76 different families, had died. Historians have placed the total population of Eyam at between 350 and 800 before the plague struck. a) What fraction and what percentage died if the actual number of villagers was 520? b) What fraction and what percentage died if the actual number of villagers was 650?

4) A challenge! According to the text: The Great Plague killed about 100,000 people, roughly 15 per cent of London’s population at that time. If 100,000 is 15% - can you calculate the approximate population of London in those days?

9 WJS/GJ Apr 2020 And some geography… with a little maths in it!

Tasks and challenges using the map of Eyam which was produced by Eyam Museum for use by visitors and by schools…

1) Stiles are wooden or stone structures to help people get over a fences or walls (the walls being present to keep animals in their fields). How many sets of styles are marked on the map?

2) How many water troughs can you see in the village? Why do you think there were so many?

3) How far is it in metres from St Lawrence’s Church to the Boundary Stone “as the crow flies” (that is, in a direct line)? (Hint: use a ruler and use the scale on the map.)

4) How far is it from Cucklet Church to the Boundary Stone as the crow flies?

5) How much further is it to walk from Cucklet Church to the Boundary Stone using the paths and roads? (Hint: use a piece of string, wool or thread to track along the whole twisting and turning route then measure the length of string/thread that represents the whole journey to discover how far it is.)

6) Look at the distances on the map and the walking times to different key sites from the Eyam Museum. Now estimate how long it would take to walk: a) From Mompsson’s Well to Riley Graves b) From Cucklet Church to Lydgate Graves c) From the Boundary Stone to Lydgate Graves d) From the Boundary Stone to The Square Which one of these could you “calculate” rather than estimate?

10 WJS/GJ Apr 2020