The Plague Village

Eyam plague cottage (geograph.org.uk image)

Geraldine Brooks researched the English village of Eyam when she wrote her historical novel. Eyam (pronounced "eem", like seem without the s) was devastated by the plague 3½ centuries ago: [bold added]

In the parish church of St. Lawrence, a small, stark display told the story of the cottagers’ ordeal in 1665, when bubonic plague struck the village.

The disease, thought to have been carried from London in a bolt of infected cloth ordered by an itinerant tailor, began to take hold. Convinced by their pastor, the villagers took the unique decision to voluntarily quarantine themselves rather than flee, which would have spread the contagion. For a year, they lived cut off from the world, their supplies left at a boundary stone at the village edge. Illness racked the population, killing an estimated two-thirds of the 300 souls who resided there but sparing the surrounding communities.

There are few written records from that period because "In 1665, most villagers were illiterate miners or shepherds who could leave no account of their year in isolation."

Coincidentally the existence of microbes was discovered in 1665, but it wasn't until two centuries later that microorganisms were identified as the cause of disease, food spoilage, and other afflictions of humanity.

The villagers of Eyam had a limited understanding of plague, but they did know physical distancing would slow its spread. They could flee and save their own lives, or isolate themselves to save others. They chose the latter.

We have vastly greater medical knowledge and resources than the long-ago people of Eyam, who like today's frontline workers, didn't let fear rule their decisions.

They were better people than we are.