Plague Stone

Last time I mentioned that on a visit to Penrith the author Daniel Defoe inspected various historic features including The Giant's Grave.  I wonder, no, I quite suspect, that he might have visited another obscure site on the edge of town.

This is a Plague Stone, to be found on what would have been the outskirts of the community.

Some background is needed here.  Penrith being a border town in the north of England had to endure frequent unrest due to uprisings of Scots, Rievers and assorted ruffians.  Unfair as it may seem, they also had periodic bouts of Bubonic Plague.  The most serious episode occurred over 1597 and 1598.  About one third of the population perished, with the victims ranging from the heir to the local Lordship down to the humblest of citizens.

There was at the time some understanding of contagion, and this posed a problem.  In towns you had money, a need for food....but you also had the Plague.  In the thinly populated countryside you had food, usually little or no Plague, but also.... no money.  Markets were closed for obvious reasons.

The answer was to set up Plague Stones at the edges of towns.  These were stones with carved hollows in the top.  The depression would be filled with vinegar, thought to be an antiseptic.  Townspeople would approach, put their coins into the vinegar, then step back.  Farmers would come, take the money, and leave produce.  A rather effective triumph of capitalism if you think about it.

Here I am pretending to toss a coin or two in, expecting lunch to turn up.

Surprisingly it did.  A nearby house keeps chickens and despite the presence of a busy road behind me they were allowed to be loose.  They promptly marched over to see what I was up to.

mmmm, Chicken dinner...

No, I did not have a nice lunch at their expense, I doubt the local magistrate would have been impressed by my knowledge of local history.  But lets get back to Daniel Defoe for a moment.

Defoe has possibly the greatest biography of any writer ever.  He was a merchant and a ship owner.  For a while he owned civet cats to make perfume.  He spent time in prison for both his problematic political beliefs and his frequent debts. He at various times ran a brick factory and was appointed a government inspector deputized to collect the tax on bottles. He is known to have been a spy for King William III.  He wrote on an amazing range of topics using 198 known pseudonyms.  When he died of "lethargy" in 1731 he was probably hiding out from his creditors.

Defoe is of course best known for Robinson Crusoe, but he wrote many other memorable tales including Moll Flanders.  Two of his lesser known works have a bearing on our tale.

Between 1724 and 1727 he penned "A Tour Thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain", a very early form of travel literature.  In it he describes Penrith in detail.  He is known to have visited at an unclear date; many entries in the Tour seemingly based on his earlier journeys as a merchant.

In 1722 he had published "A Journal of the Plague Year".  In it is contained a highly detailed account of the London Plague of 1665. Now Defoe was only five years old at the time and was evacuated from the city quite promptly.  His narrator for the tale is listed as the enigmatic "H.F.".  This is generally considered to be his uncle Henry Foe. Perhaps nephew Daniel had access to an unknown memoir, although other interesting theories have been put forward including one that has DeFoe coming into possession of the contemporary diary of Samual Pepys and managing to break the encryption in which it was written!

The Bubonic Plague must to have fascinated Defoe; it is a topic he touched upon often prior to writing his "Journal" (if we assume it is at least partly his creation).  So I assume he would have to be interested in a Plague Stone when he visited Penrith.

Does the concept make it into his writing?

Yep.  

"It is true, People us'd all possible Precaution, when any one bought a Joint of Meat in the Market, they would not take it of the Butcher's Hand, but take it off of the Hooks themselves.  On the other Hand, the Butcher would not touch the Money, but have it put into a Pot full of Vinegar which he kept for that purpose.  The Buyer carry'd always small Money to make up any odd Sum, that they might take no Change."

Plague Stones appear to be reasonably common in England.  At least stones for which the claim is made are common.  Some are just hollowed out rocks.  Others, such as the Penrith example, are early cross bases repurposed for this role.  Likely the Penrith specimen originated at the same church where Defoe viewed The Giant's Grave.