September 9 - Day 124 - 'It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living.' F. Scott Fitzgerald

Two days ago on September 7th in 1665, George Vicars, was the first villager in Eyam to die of the plague. Most people know the story well - the infected cloth delivered from London and then the now poignant and highly significant decision to isolate and ‘lockdown’. Mompesson, the Rector of Eyam believed he and the village had a responsibility to prevent the plague spreading nearby to Sheffield and Bakewell.

Being unpopular in the village, Mompesson’s success was most likely in his ability to ask for help from Stanley, the previous Rector who had been removed for refusing to acknowledge the Act of Uniformity but was still living in exile in the village. By working with someone he would have disagreed with, yet who had many supporters in Eyam, he was more able to focus on the reasons for isolating the village, rather than the individuals involved. The greater good had to be the focus, given that the villagers would know that by staying in Eyam (and not fleeing as many had wanted to do) that they were most likely choosing death. On 1 November 1666 the last of the 260 people from Eyam died, possibly three quarters of its entire population. The harrowing stories such as Elizabeth Hancock burying six of her children and her husband, watched from a distance by the people of Stoney Middleton unable and too scared to help. Then, of course there was the death of Mompesson’s own wife Catherine who died aged 27 after caring for many of the dying.

It is a story so relevant today and one I think we need to be reminded of. The people of Eyam must have lived in constant fear and yet their belief and actions, significantly reduced the spread, possibly preventing the death of thousands of people in the surrounding area.

So, when we are asked to maintain distancing measures, isolation, wearing a mask or just simply washing our hands, let us all hold on to that greater good and the need to protect the most vulnerable in our society. The sacrifice of a holiday, or a music event, an increased profit or just a hug doesn’t seem too bad when you consider the decision that the people of Eyam had to make, not only for themselves but their own children and the people they loved the most. It’s not a decision any of us would want to make.