Lord Have Mercy on Us.

[**The following takes place in early 17th century England.**] >The plague was spreading rapidly. Deaths in London and the outskirts were thirty-two for the week ending 26 May and the Lord Mayor was issuing new plague orders. The paper bills marked with the words “Lord Have Mercy on Us” that denoted infected households had proved to be too easy to deface and dispose of. They were now to be replaced by a red cross “fourteen inches in length and the like in breadth upon the wall or boards in the most open place.” >Some of those shut up were so angry that they set out deliberately to infect others. One such, Henry Ross of St. Bartholomew’s the Great, was flogged and thrown into Newgate, after he did “most lewdly presume to go to the King’s Majesty’s Court at Greenwich and there thrust himself in company amongst his Majesty’s household servants and others.” _____________________________ **Source:** Lisle, Leanda De. "The Beggars Have Come to Town" *After Elizabeth: The Rise of James of Scotland and the Struggle for the Throne of England*. New York: Ballantine, 2005. 197. Print. **Original Source Listed:** Wilson, *Plague*, pp. 60, 64.