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Black Death . . .Of Thee We Sing

© Sharon K. West

My mother used to tell me the story of my great great grandmother who buried six of her children in one week's time during an outbreak of influenza. During the 14th century, a tragedy of even greater proportion swept across Europe. The Bubonic Plague, or Black Death, ravaged millions of the medieval population. Only someone like my great great grandmother could even begin to understand how horrible a plague of that magnitude might be.

Bubonic Plague occurs mainly in rodents, but fleas that bite infected rodents can then transmit the disease to humans. Fleas were common on humans as well during that period of history, so once the disease was transmitted to humans, fleas again spread the disease from one human to another. Only during the winter time, when the flea population was decreased, did the people see a decrease in the number of victims of the plague.

The Bubonic Plague began in China and soon spread to all of Europe. Death was everywhere. Entire families lay dead within their homes with no one to bury them. Peasants lay dead where they fell. Other bodies were stacked up and burned or buried in mass graves where animals, with no one left to take care of them, would dig them up and eat them. Thousands of animals lay dead in the fields from neglect. Twenty-five million people died within five years. The dead outnumbered the living in many towns, and Medieval society never fully recovered from the results of that plague.

The Bubonic Plague has reared its ugly head from time to time ever since. In 1926, there was an outbreak in California. The Japanese army also experimented with it as biological warfare during World War II. They dropped infected fleas in shell casings over Manchuria, China. Many people did contract the plague and died.

One thing we have not realized, however, is that we have unwittingly taught our children to sing about this gruesome plague. Let's examine the words to the popular Brothers Grimm nursery rhyme, "Ring Around The Rosy."

The first line, "ring around the rosy," speaks of the festering sores that appear on the skin of victims of the plague. The lesions start out as rosy lumps with discolored rings around them. They eventually turn black.

Next is "pockets full of posies." Flowers were placed in the pockets of the living and the dead for a two-fold reason. It was thought that the disease was transmitted by the smell of it, so flowers were used to ward it off, as well as to give relief from the foul odor.

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