The Dickinson press., 1907-06-08
PLAGUE STONES.
Rsmindsins Of the Tine Of ths Crest
A1slgA ntiienea Ia .ass

aPeatiieines Ia England.
The story of the great plague Or
london issfaniliar to All readers Of his.
tory and has been dealt with by many
wrftersSof fiction. Even the bypathsI OF
history supplysmuch suggestive matter.
while hidden away In phurchwardens'
and other old accounts are many items
that remind us Of those days. Here.
for example. are. two entries from the,
parish accounts OF st. Mary Woolnoth.
London:
8t5s3AL Iteme Tor setting a crosse upon one
Aliens doors In the sicknesse
lime I'D
Item paid for setting two red.
crosses upon Anthony Sound his
8$. dofe :..... liJd
The crosses were about a foot in.
length. The crosses served as a cau.
ton against entering such houses. In,
various parts Of England the plague
stones are silent reminders Of the time
when epidemics laid low 8 many In
5habitants both in town and country.
a stone In the Derby arboretum
bears the following inscription:
s:Headless Cross Of. Market Stone
This stone formed part of the ancient
Cross ut the upper end Of Friar Gate
and was used by the inhabitants OF
Derby as a market stone during the
visitation of the plague 1906. tits thus
described by Fulton In his History Of
Derby
'1665-Derby was again visited by
the plague ut the same time in which
London fell under the severe calamity.
The town was forsallen; the farmers
declined the market place, and grass
grew upon that spot. which had fur
nished the supports of life.
( 1T prevent a famine the inlabit-.
ants erected at the top Of Nuns Green.
one or two hundred yards from the.
buildings, now Friar Gate, what bore
the name Of Headless Cross, consisting
Of about four .quadrangular steps FIVE
feet high. I knew it iii perfection.
"'Hither the market people, having
their mouth primed with tobacco as a
p~reservatiye, brought their provisions,
stood at distance from their property
and at a greater from the towns peo-
pie, with whom they were to traffic.
1.-The buyer was not suffered to.
touch any of the articles before pur-
chase. When the agreement was fin
ished lie took the>goods and deposited
the money in a vessel filled with vine
gar. set for that purpose"
The mention of tobacco In the fore
:" oNnfnep $ySorSrkinn ( sStin En,,rSoc{AD r shaw
ing that the. weed was then regarded
as a very eficacious preventive.
&. Winchester suffered much from the
plague in 1866. On the downs near the
city. r numerous curiously shaped
mounds which r said, to cover the
pits into which the dead were cast.
When the %pestilence ragged a primi-
tive kind of quarantine was practiced.
The country folk supplied food, which
was placed on a stone outside the city,
and in exchange the citizens placed
money in a bowl of water.
The old plague stone still remains,
built into the base Of q monument,
which bears an inscription as follows:
This monument is erected by the
Society Of Natives on the very spot Of
ground from which the markets were
removed and whose basis is the very
stone on which exchanges were made
while the city lay under the scourge Of
the destroying pestflence in the year
sixteen hundred sixty-six. The Society
Of. Natives was founded on the 28th Of
August, 1869, for the relief ofthe Wild
ows and orphans Of their fellow clti-
zens who died Of the great plague"
Beneath a spreading tree in the
grounds Of Tothby House, neal Afford,
Lincolnshire, issa plague stone. About
275 years ago the inhabitants Of, Spills
by and the surrounding villages day
after day toiled up to the top Of Miles
Cross hill, which overlooks the wide
marsh country, with Afford lying just
at the foot.
at the top they left food, etc, for the
poor: sufferers and took in return mon
ey deposited in8vessels containing wa
ter or other liquid placed on the plague
stone. Then the people Of Afford came
up the other side Of the hill for their
supplies. Thus the two parties kept
well apart.-Chambers' journal.
AaEE@1Sa6