The Great Plague

Plague victims died within days, in agony from fevers and infected swellings. With no cure, the authorities declared the ‘plague orders', which decreed that victims should be shut into their own houses and left to die.

The first case was discovered in April 1665, in St Giles-in-the-Fields, a built-up area just to the west of the walled City. By the end of May, 11 people had been infected – victims were shut into their houses and the doors were nailed shut and marked with a red cross. Guards were posted at the door to see that no one got out.

The guard had to be bribed to allow food in to the inmates, and families sometimes broke through the walls of the house to escape. In some houses, the inhabitants lowered a noose over the guard's head from an upper window and hung him so they could get away.

That summer of 1665 was unseasonably hot and the plague bacillus thrived. People fell sick across St Giles; then cases broke out within the City walls and spread across the districts of Whitechapel, Westminster and Southwark.

The rich left the city and most of the physicians went with them. Many clergy left too. The king and his court decamped to Salisbury. The poor, on the other hand, were forbidden to leave London. Seen as carriers of the disease, they were turned back at the boundaries.

By June the roads were clogged with people desperate to escape London. The Lord Mayor responded by closing the gates to anyone who did not have a certificate of health. These certificates became a currency more valuable than gold, and a thriving market in forged certificates evolved.

To try and protect themselves, people sniffed herbs and nosegays to drive out the bad air. They fasted and prayed, while the Privy Council closed inns and lodging houses. Many markets were cancelled and street stalls banned. Forty thousand dogs and 80,000 cats were slaughtered. This last move actually made things worse, as the plague- carrying rats were now free of predators. By the end of July, more than 1,000 Londoners were dying each week.

Edmund Berry Godfrey

A magistrate, Godfrey refused to leave the city and presided over the burial carts, dressed in his trademark black hat with a gold band ro ensure grave robbing and looting was kept to a minumum. Charles II enobled him for his services.

Different Types of Plague

Bubonic Plague is the most common. A flea bite deposits the bacilli into the body's lymphatic system. The disease is characterised by 'buboes', large, inflamed and painful swellings in the lymph glands of the groin, armpits or neck, depending on where the flea bite occurred. Historically, 60% of all those infected died of bubonic plague.

Septicaemic plague is almost invariably fatal, the bacilli enter the bloodstream directly, rather than the lymphatic system where they might be contained. Like bubonic plague, the septicaemic variety is caused directly by flea bites.

Pneumonic plague is the most deadly: it is usually fatal and it does not require flea bites to spread. When the bacilli reach the lungs, severe pneumonia occurs, and the bacilli are present in the water droplets spread by coughs and on clothing. Thus it is highly contagious, especially in crowded, poorly ventilated buildings.

Death occurs quickly with pneumonic plague – within three or four days – and even faster with the septicaemic type: 24 hours. In all three, internal bleeding causes large bruises to appear on the skin – hence the plague's name in the 14th century, the Black Death.

It is widely believed that the Great Plague's memory lives on in the nursery rhyme 'Ring-a-ring o' roses': the 'roses' refer to the red spots that appear over the buboes, and 'A-tishoo! A-tishoo! We all fall down!' recalls the violent coughing and swift death that accompanies pneumonic plague.

Heroism in the Midst of Horror

The plague broke out in the village of Eyam in Derbyshire, brought on a shipment of old clothes sent from London. Led by their courageous clergyman, the villagers realized that the only way to stop the spread of the plague to surrounding villages was to voluntarily quarantine the village. They refused to leave until the plague had run its course, and as a result, 259 died out of a total of 292 inhabitants. Each year this heroic event is commemorated by the Plague Sunday Service in Eyam.

Plague Doctor

Gown: A full-length gown was made out of waxed canvas, under which he wore leather breeches.

 

Mask:  The mask covered the head completely and was gathered in at the neck.

Leather Hat:  To indicate the man was a doctor and to add protection to the head. Undergarments: An embroidered smock soaked in exotic preservative liqueurs, camphor oil and wax. Again, intended to isolate the doctor's body from plague-causing bad air.

Beak: The beak that was attached to the mask was stuffed with herbs, perfumes or spices to purify the air when the doctor was close to victims.

Wooden Stick: To drive people who came too close to him away.

Glass/Crystal Eyes: Glass eyes were built into the mask to fully protect the eyes.

Leather Gloves and Full Length Boots: to protect the hands and feet from contact with the disease

The specter-like appearance of the garb was designed to communicate hopelessness! In a time when there when few people could read, the costume sent a powerful message: "Stay in your homes. There is plague in the streets."