Plague victims being blessed, shown with symptoms from a late 14th century manuscript Omne Bonum by James le Palmer
Illustration of the Black Death from the Toggenburg Bible (1411)
Yesterday, YouTube had a song to recommend to me. This song brought back part of my childhood. It was a Proustian (Marcel Proust) experience. The song had the same effect on me as Madeleines, French cakes, dipped in tea, had for Proust, except that my experience will not yield a literary masterpiece. Proust (10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) wrote In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past (À la recherche du temps perdu), a form of anamnesis (recollection) published between 1913 and 1927.
* * *
After World War II, many Europeans migrated to Canada and, among those who spoke French, several settled in Quebec. Somehow, my parents met a Belgian couple whose life became inextricably linked with ours. Henri and Mariette were closer to us than most of our relatives.
Henri was a jeweller and Mariette had been the wardrobe mistress for the Brussels Opera (called La Monnaie [the mint]). While my father had long conversations with Henri, my mother and Mariette sat together talking away as they did needlework. Mariette often designed and sewed clothes for us, frequently using fabric reclaimed from larger garments.
Henri and Mariette both spoke French, but Mariette knew several languages, one of which was German. She therefore endeavoured to teach me little sentences in German as well as songs, one of which was the very well-known “Oh du lieber Augustin” (Oh, you dear Augustin). Mariette did tell me that it was and was not a children’s song. How confusing! But she was right. “Du lieber Augustin” sounds like a children’s song, but it is about the plague. It laughs away the plague, so it is not a memento mori (remember your mortality), good medecine for absolute monarchs.
The Plague
I am not taking us back to one of the worst pandemics in history, which took place between 1348 – 1350. It was called the Black Death and killed 6 to 7 persons out of 10, perhaps more, perhaps less. According to Wikipedia, the plague usually kills two-thirds of its victims within four days. See Bubonic plague.
The Bubonic Plague is a zoonotic disease because it is transmitted from one species, fleas, Oriental rat fleas, to another species: human beings. The pathogen is Yersinia pestis, a bacterium. The 1348 – 1350 pandemic travelled the Silk Road. There were flea–infested rats on merchant ships. The bacterium entered the skin and then traveled through the lymphatics or lymphatic system. The patient developed buboes, from βουβών, the Greek word for “groin,” hence the name Bubonic plague. It caused swelling in the groin and the arm pits. For pictures, see Rare diseases.
There were many epidemics of the plague, one of which took the lives of the Limburg Brothers, the miniaturists who had been commissioned, by Jean de France, to illuminate his Très Riches Heures de Jean de France, Duc de Berry. The Limburg brothers died in 1416, as did Jean de France. Plague epidemics lasted up to the beginning of the nineteenth century.
“Oh du lieber Augustin”
The song “Oh du lieber Augustin,” was composed by Marx Augustin who sang ballads, played the bagpipes and was called ‘dear Augustin.’ Marx Augustin passed away during the Great Vienna Plague which occurred in 1679. He was asleep and seemed dead. So he was thrown in a pit with the corpses of victims of the plague. He had been a professional entertainer. Therefore, when he woke up, he decided to die as he had lived, composing and singing a ballad. The Wikipedia translations of Oh du lieber Augustin (just click) differ from the German-language original. However, let us listen to the song.
Der lieber Augustin (Austrian stamp)
(please lick on the pictures to enlarge them)
Pieter Bruegel‘s The Triumph of Death (c. 1562) reflects the social upheaval and terror that followed the plague which devastated medieval Europe
The Great Plague of London, 1665
- Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, revisited (michelinewalker.com)
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I thank you for sending me your post. I would like to read the book.
Pandemics have killed more individuals than wars.
I’m glad Augustine turned it into a song.
I thank you for writing to me and for putting my post on your list of related articles.
With best regards,
Micheline
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As always your post, dear Micheline, is well documented.
I love the song! Thank you very much!
Big hugs, dear Micheline, with love, Stefania!
I like the song. It’s a simple ballad and ballads last.
I
A catchy little tune! Makes me think of Ring around the Roses, always sung by children but also about the plague, I believe.
Yes, it is a catchy little tune! It is difficult to associate it with the plague. Humor while facing horror.
Thank you Gallivanta,
Micheline
As usual, very interesting thoughts. Thank you, “michelinewalker”.
I thank you. I think Augustin has taught me something: acceptance of one’s fate. Micheline
“Augustin” is for me a new song now.
This may seem strange, but it is also a new song for me. It was a good idea to use the bagpipes.
Take care,
Micheline