This is part 1 in a two-part series. 

The current coronavirus pandemic has stimulated a lot of interest in the history of other pandemics which hit the Maltese islands in the past.

The last pandemic fever on such vast proportions happened in 1918 with more far-reaching consequences than the current one. Similar happenings also include the 1813 bubonic plague in Malta and in Gozo in 1814.

However, the latter was mentioned for statistics purposes only and few details were divulged. Its history was mostly passed on from one generation to the other, with each generation repeatedly adding colourful anecdotes or fantasised accounts, virtually reducing the 1814 occurrence to almost a myth.

This brief contribution explores facts that contrast deeply with the traditional oral accounts which were written ad nauseam and wrongly attributed as facts.

It is undeniable that the 1814 alleged fatal malaise in Gozo started in the village of Xagħra and was successfully contained to this village. It was introduced by Angelo Galea Ir-Rungajl who, some months before, was quarantined at Lazzaretto in Malta after the village of Qormi, in which he was employed with a baker, was condemned and isolated because of the ravages caused by the bubonic plague.

On being released from the Lazzeretto confinement, Angelo crossed over to Gozo, taking some belongings previously hidden by him, including an infamous faldetta for his beloved daughter, Rosaria, in a wooden box.

The eventual deaths of Angelo, his daughter and her aunt, Anna Fjurina, a few days after his arrival sparked serious suspicions that Angelo had unknowingly carried the plague virus from Malta.

The successive quick deaths of several persons who had somehow come into contact with Angelo avowed the source of origin of the disease.

The victims bore identical scary physical symptoms to the victims of the plague disease in Malta. However, a medical report, drawn up by a team of doctors subsequently commissioned by the Maltese authorities to establish the cause of the deaths, drew up their conclusions after having carried out their investigations. Among others, they visited the site of Angelo’s dwelling and its surroundings of Għajn Xejba in the limits of Ġnien Imrik, among others.

A drawing of the old Xagħra church by the author.

Their conclusions cast doubts as to the original claims that were popularly believed and even poured cold water on the idea that it was the plague which afflicted the inhabitants.

In the 1854 report, the doctors, led by Dr W.H. Burrell, claimed that surroundings of Angelo’s house contained patches that were infested with stagnant water and other unhealthy agents. These could have easily infected the air that caused the contagious disease.

The extant residence of Angelo Galea at Xagħra.

In this same report (p.76), Dr Burrell asserted “that there is no evidence to prove, or even to render it probable, that the plague was introduced either into Malta in 1813 or into Gozo in 1814 by importation”.

Assuming that it was the plague, the spreading of it among the Xagħra inhabitants brought panic to the Maltese authorities. It took a week and a half after Angelo’s death for the authorities to realise the gravity of the situation. They immediately ordered strict lockdown for the whole island of Gozo.

Travelling for commercial purposes between the islands was prohibited, including sailing for fishing reasons. Inhabitants from Malta and Gozo were prevented from crossing the Gozo channel.

The number of deaths in Gozo was kept to the minimum in comparison to the death population in Malta the previous year. This was the result of the swift and prompt implementation of effective preventive measures which were successfully applied in Malta some months before.

The spreading of it [the plague] among the Xagħra inhabitants brought panic to the Maltese authorities

The inhabitants of Xagħra were ordered to keep themselves locked inside their dwellings except in cases of absolute necessity.

A typical shop with a sill in Xewkija.

The older church which stood at the centre of the village had its doors shut and barred. The interior walls of the church were whitewashed with lime up to two metres high and some objects of devotion were put on fire as a preventive measure against the disease. The church sacristan locked himself up in church and no Masses or religious functions were allowed to take place.

The only Masses that were allowed were celebrated from an open house terrace at Is-Sruġ area at a distance facing the tents and wooden huts erected at the Għajn Lukin area at a specific time of the day for the benefit of the infected people.

People were only allowed to go out of their own homes between six and 10am to do their shopping. Money was put in a bowl filled with vinegar prior to handing it to the shopkeeper.

The shop entrance had a stone sill built at the entrance door whereupon the bowl stood. Shop items were conveyed to the customer through a small opening above the sill.

A niche dedicated to St Catherine at Xewkija facing the village of Xagħra as an ex-voto for the protection of the village against the spreading of the disease.

Deliveries of groceries were also made to people locked up in homes by mule-drawn carts. Every residence should have had a container filled with water in which groceries, meat and eggs were put. These would have been eventually taken out of the container by the homeowner after the lapse of 30 minutes.

Whoever was found roaming the village streets after curfew time was to be shot at, as actually happened twice. Ġużeppi Said was caught wandering around the locality in a state of delirium while infected with the disease and Ġużeppi Refalo tried to hide his infection.

Even houses were put on fire and burnt down if they had been occupied by plague-contracted family members, while the remaining members of the family were constrained to seek shelter in one of the tents or wooden huts under the supervision of the medics on site.

Acknowledgement
This information features extracts from a publication in 2014 containing papers by a team of researchers with the name ‘A Peste, Fame e Bello Libera Nos Domine’ marking the bicentury of the 1814 contagious disease in Gozo.

An old shop with a sill in Ġnien Xibla street, Xagħra. Photo courtesy: Joseph Camilleri