The great Plag
Mike Jackso
n - A retired
From 1665-1666, the Great Plague spread across parts of England,
people had to get rid of rubbish was to throw it out into the streets.
Primary Hea
dteacher
Questions
starting in London. That year had seen a very hot summer. Many
of the people in London lived in squalor and poverty. The only way
ue
1
Give three reasons why the Great Plague took place in 1665
2
Why were so many cats and dogs killed in London during
3
Why do you think we don’t have accurate figures for the
4
In some later versions of the rhyme ‘Ring-a ring o’ roses’ the
This would include human waste. As a result, London was filthy and a
perfect breeding place for rats.
Many people at the time thought the disease was caused by dogs
and cats and people were employed to round up and kill the cats and
dogs in London. This made no difference to the spread of the disease
because the plague was actually caused by disease-carrying fleas
carried on the bodies of rats. The filth found in the streets of London
provided the perfect environment for the rats.
this time?
Not surprisingly, the first victims of the plague were found in the
poorer districts of the city. The fact that so many people lived in the
slum areas of London meant it was difficult to avoid contact with
either the rats or someone who had the disease. It is estimated that
over 100,000 people died of the plague.
Legend has it that the rhyming game, ‘Ring-a-ring o’ roses’ found its
origins during the event of the Great Plague.
number of people who died from the Great Plague?
This popular children’s rhyming game is often sung in the playground.
It is a game where young children hold hands and dance around in
a ring, singing the rhyme and falling down on the ground at the last
line.
Ring-a-ring o' roses,
A pocket full of posies,
A-tishoo! A-tishoo!
We all fall down
line ‘A-tishoo! A-tishoo! was replaced with the words, ‘Ashes!
Ashes!’. Why was this?
Ring-a-ring o’ roses - This is supposed to describe the red
spots that come out on the skin during the first days of catching the
disease.
A pocket full of posies -
People used to carry small
bunches of flowers about with them during the plague. People believed that diseases were caused by ‘evil airs’ (bad smells) and that
having something sweet-smelling around would protect them.
5
Where do you think the disease carrying rats came from
in the first place?
Atish-oo! Atish-oo! - Sneezing or coughing was one of the
last symptoms before death. In later rhyme versions, Ashes! Ashes!,
replaces this sentence. The bodies of plague victims were usually
cremated, so this later adaption still works within the original idea.
We all fall down 10
The final outcome of the disease – death.
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