www.grammarsaurus.co.uk Grammarsaurus

History

The Great PlagueI can recognise the symptoms of the Great Plague.

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1London then and London now

Back in 1665, London did not have a

great medical service like we do.

If we hurt ourselves or become ill,

we can easily go to the doctors or

the hospital and get the treatment

we need.

In 1665, it was not as easy as this

and, as a result, lots of people

died unnecessarily.

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2Symptoms of the plague

In 1665, there came a terrible illness that spread around London. It was know as the Great Plague.

Unfortunately, once you caught the plague there was not a good chance of survival.

Doctors did not know how to cure it and it spread very quickly.

The first sign of the plague was swellings that appeared in the groin or the armpits.

Some of the swellings became as large as an apple, sometimes they were the size of an egg.

The deadly swellings then began to spread in all directions over the body.

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3Symptoms of the plague

A few days after being infected, a victim developed a rash and there was pain all over the body.

The victim began to feel tired but the pain made it difficult to sleep. The temperature of the body

increased and this affected the brain and the nerves.

When the brain had been affected, the victims became less and less intelligible and their speech became

slurred. They would vomit. As the disease took more of a hold, the victim had the physical appearance of a

drunk with stumbling movement. The victim then became delirious.

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4Symptoms of the plague

After about six days, the lymphatic glands became swollen and inflamed. In the groin, neck and armpit

areas of the body this led to buboes – large and highly painful swellings. These buboes caused bleeding

underneath the skin, which turned the buboes and surrounding areas blue/purple (like a bruise). The buboes

eventually popped releasing blood and pus.

Unfortunately, most victims that had all of the symptoms died. The average time between the first symptom

and death was between four to seven days.

It is thought that between 50% and 75% of those who caught the disease died.

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5

How many symptoms canyou remember?

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6Did you know?

There’s a song about the Great Plague that you have been singing since you were little.

Does anybody know what it is?

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7Ring a Ring a Roses!

Ring a ring a roses,

A pocket full of posies,

A-tishoo, A-tishoo,

We all fall down.

The ring of roses was

supposed to symbolise

the ring of sores that the

victims get.

A pocketful of posies was

one of the ‘cures’ that we

will learn about in

another lesson.

A-tishoo, a-tishoo is

because some people

believed that victims had

coughs and sneezes too.

We all fall down is when

the victim dies.

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4Independent Task

Label the plague victim with the symptoms we have discussed this lesson.

• Swellings

• Rash

• Tired

• High temp

• Less intelligible

• Delirious

• Buboes