George VICCARS was a tailor in the Derby shire village of Eyam. One day in September 1665, he received a parcel from London. The cloth in the parcel was damp, so George Viccars hung it in front of the fire. The next day Viccars was very ill and a few days later he died. There were large purple rings on his face and his body. In London, thousands of people were dying from the plague. Now the terrible disease was outside the city, too. Nowhere was safe. When they heard the news a few rich people left Eyam, but the other people stayed. Everybody must stay in the village,' said the local vicar William Mompesson. In the next 13 months nobody left Eyam and 262 of the 350 villagers died. But the disease did not spread to other places. People from other villages brought food, clothes and medicine to places near Eyam. The people from Eyam collected the things and left money there. They left the money in small holes full of vinegar.