“In 1815 Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies erupted, spewing so much ash into the atmosphere that 1816 became “the year without summer” because temperatures stayed so low, preventing crops from maturing and causing probably millions of deaths from starvation (300,000 just in Ireland).”
The years when the Thames froze over, crops rotted in the fields, wheat mildewed, and diseases spread throughout the country. There was unrest among the peasants, and the people thought it was the end of times. So many people starved to death. In many villages there was not even a rotten potato to be found that could be the base for a pot of soup.
If we just got some ham we could have ham and eggs. If we had any eggs.