Page 192 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL FALL 2020 South Africa

With the recent worldwide spread of the frightening also the way that its devastated townsfolk reacted
Coronavirus--COVID-19--we're vividly reminded of the to the deadly, infectious disease. They sacrificed
terrifying 17th-century Bubonic Plague. This is the themselves so others could live: Courageously cor-
story of how brave villagers in a small English town doning themselves off from the outside world, the
took it upon themselves to self-quarantine for 14 Eyam villagers kept the evil event from spreading
months and save lives. further, and this was the last place it hit in England .
As I stood by a charming, attached stone cottage The plague, which first surfaced around the late
in this peaceful village, the heart of England's Peak 1320s in China, spread rapidly by fleas and rats via
District, watching a homeowner sweep her walk- trading ships. Eventually it hit Europe and, during
way on this crisp, sunny day, I was stunned to read the mid-1300s, killed some 25 million, one-third of
the plaque in front. Once--355 years ago--the the population. Later, between December 1664
happy Siddall family had and the beginning of 1666,
lived here. And, one by one, some 100,000 died in Lon-
they had been struck down don, about one-fourth the
by the plague. population.
First there was Richard, It was during this time,
age 11, who died on Sept. 11, the summer of 1665, that a
1665. He was followed, resident of London--150
within weeks, by his sister miles away--shipped
Sarah, age 13, then his fa- Alexander Hadfield, an
ther, and three more sisters. Eyam tailor, some cloth.
Another sister died in April The package of old clothes
and, by October 17, 1666, and cloth patterns arrived
when his mother died, the wet and the tailor’s assis-
family was gone. Except for tant, George Viccars, who
young Joseph, age 3, who lived with the family, was
survived. told to take the cloth out-
Few of us can imagine the side and spread it out to
horror of an illness wiping dry--as well as dry it by the
out not only most of one’s fireplace.
family--but neighbors, Obviously no one realized
friends, nearly an entire that the damp cloth was al-
town. Of the 350 villagers in ready infected by fleas car-
Eyam (pronounced “eem”), rying the curse of the
260 died this horrible death, including 58 children. plague. In just four days Viccars was dead, the first
Caused by a bacterial infection, the plague hits victim in Eyam to die of the plague, buried on Sept.
its victims with swollen lymph nodes, fever, chills, 7, 1665. A plaque in front of the home, "Plague
headache, fatique, muscle aches. Symptoms can in- Cottage," lists some of the household members who
clude a rosy, red rash--and black boils, from dried died within days of each other. Only one, the tai-
blood under the skin, caused by internal bleeding, lor's wife, Mary, survived. She lost 13 relatives.
appear in the armpits, neck and groin. The “Black Another plaque summarizes the horror of the
Death,” as it is known, can be excruciatingly painful Hawksworth family, who lived nearby. The hus-
and horrible for others to watch. band, Peter, was the third victim of the plague in
What makes this bucolic, mountainous Der- the village; his son Humphrey, 15 months, died just
byshire village (known as "The Plague Town ”) so weeks later. And Peter's wife, Jane, was the sole
unique is not only that the plague wiped out such a survivor of the household, eventually losing 25 rel-
high number of residents in such a short time, but atives.

192 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE 2020