Fascinating causes of death 1632

We’re so lucky to have been born when and where we have.
I can remember being taught, at quite a young age, about the plague, ‘bring out your dead!’ and all that; not to mention the tortures and punishments dealt out.
I wonder if it’s still so…

Common Causes of Death in Folk SongsDrowning: Submersion is a frequent fate, whether accidental or malicious. Examples include The Cruel Sister (pushed by a jealous sibling) and The Outlandish Knight (drowning a deceitful lover).Murder and Execution: Violent stabbings, hangings, and poisonings drive the entire subgenre of "murder ballads". Famous examples include Knoxville Girl, Long Lankin, and execution songs for highwaymen.Broken Heart / Grief: Many lovers pass away simply from sorrow after the death or betrayal of a partner, as heard in Barbara Allan.War and Combat: Soldiers falling in the "cruel wars" make up a massive percentage of traditional British and American broadside ballads.Mistaken Identity: A tragic and bizarrely specific trope where a hunter mistakes a lover for a swan or animal, famously found in Polly Vaughn.Supernatural and Fairy Abduction: Characters are spirited away by the Queen of Elfhand, cursed by mothers, or lured away by the Devil (The Daemon Lover).Exposure: Wandering off, getting lost in dark woods, and laying down to die.
I've always rather liked this one, especially the last one; the graph is better but I can't copy it...

Greyduster

Kings Evil was apparently a disease called scrofula which eventually just went away by itself but gave rise to the myth that it could be cured by a touch from the monarch!

"Touching for the King's Evil" was a medieval royal healing ceremony where English and French monarchs laid their hands on sufferers of scrofula, believing their divine right granted them miraculous curative powers.What Was the King's Evil?The "King's Evil" was an old name for scrofula, a form of tuberculosis that causes swollen, painful lumps in the neck's lymph glands.The condition often clears up on its own, which helped build the myth that the king's touch worked a miracle.People called it an "evil" because "evil" simply meant an illness or sickness in older English.History of the Royal TouchEdward the Confessor in England and King Philip I in France were early adopters of the tradition in the 11th century.Monarchs like Edward I touched tens of thousands of afflicted people, even while on military campaigns.Charles II revived the custom on a massive scale after the restoration of the monarchy to help prove his divine right to rule.Queen Anne was the last official English sovereign to perform the ceremony in 1712, famously touching a young Samuel Johnson.The Ceremony and Touchpieces. Isn't there a Dick King Smith book that refers to it?

I'm thinking of The Queens nose but it isn't about that. Although I think it was the book that first made me look up touching the kings evil..