Ysbyty dros-dro Fictoraidd yn ystod Pandemig ‘Russian Flu’ 1889-93. A Victorian make-shift hospital during the Russian Flu pandemic of 1889-93.
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Blog diddorol iawn iawn - ac yn hynod o berthnasol gan Elin Tomos - a fantastic bilingual blog about the russian flu in the 1890s on our Merched Chwarel website: a must read! So relevant, the parallels with this time round are a real eye opener. Scroll down for English version
“Pan y clywson gyntaf… fod y clefyd yn gwneyd difrod mawr yn y dwyrain bell… yr oeddym ni yn y wlad hon yn tueddu i ddiystyru a gwawdio y syniad fod clefyd o’r natur hwn, - dim ond annwyd cyffredin, felly y tybiem ar y pryd, - yn peri y fath ddifrod, anghysur ac ofn. Ymledodd yr haint gyda chyflymder i wahanol wledydd, ac yn fuan clywsom ei fod yn anrheithio Paris a Berlin. Yna, cawsom brofi ei ymosodiadau yn y wlad hon,
ac mewn byr amser ymledodd dros pob parth o’r wlad, gan ymosod ar bob oed a sefyllfa… nid anhwylder dibwys ac un i’w ddiystyru ydoedd.”Y Genedl Gymreig, 17 Mehefin 1891, t. 7.
Er mor ddychrynllyd o addas ydi’r geiriau yma heddiw, fe’u hysgrifenwyd 130 o flynyddoedd yn ôl yn ystod pandemig Influenza 1889-93 neu’r Russian Flu fel y cyfeiriwyd ato ym mhapurau newydd y cyfnod.
Roedd dros ddeugain mlynedd wedi mynd heibio ers y pandemig influenza diwethaf ac er bod y ffilw yn ymwelydd blynyddol pob gaeaf ac yn achosi salwch a marwolaethau roedd meddygon wedi tyfu’n gynyddol ddibryder yn ei gylch: yn grediniol mai problem dymhorol yn unig oedd yr ‘anwydwst.’
Roedd y byd yn le gwahanol iawn yn 1889 a ma’ hi’n rhyfedd (ac yn anghyfrifol bron) i geisio tynnu cymariaethau rhwng pandemig o’r gorffennol â’r hanes byw yr ydym oll yn ei brofi rŵan. Bwriad y blog yma ydi edrych ar effaith y pandemig ar bentrefi’r chwareli a’u trigolion. Darllen mwy
Y fferyllydd lleol, Richard Hughes, ei wraig Jane, a’u merch Katherine.
Richard Hughes, the local pharmacist, his wife Jane, and their daughter Katherine.
“When we first heard ... that the disease was doing great damage in the east ...in this country, we overlooked and even ridiculed the idea that a disease of this nature, - just a common cold, so we thought at the time, - could cause such damage, discomfort and fear. The infection spread rapidly to different countries, and we soon heard that it was ravaging Paris and Berlin.
Then, we experienced the attacks in this country, and in a short space of time it spread across every zone of the country, attacking all ages and situations ... it was not a trivial disease and certainly not one to be dismissed.”Y Genedl Gymreig, 17 June 1891, p. 7.
Although these words might feel scarily relevant today, they were in fact written a 130 years ago during the ‘Russian Flu’ pandemic of 1889-93.
In 1889, over forty years had passed since the last influenza pandemic. In the meantime, influenza had become a seasonal occurrence and while it still caused illness and deaths each Winter, doctors had become increasingly unconcerned, seeing it as nothing more than ‘a minor seasonal annoyance.’ The Russian Flu pandemic would not only demonstrate influenza’s power and danger but also force the medical establishment to analyse its nature and affects.
The world was a very different place back then and it’s complicated – and almost irresponsible – for historians to try and draw comparisons between a pandemic that shook the lives of our ancestors and the very real history we’re all living through right now. In this blog, I will explore the ways the pandemic affected the north-west Wales quarrying districts and their inhabitants. Read more