From the diary of Samuel Pepys (1663-1703)
Thence, it being the hottest day that ever I felt in my life, and it is confessed so by all other people the hottest they ever knew in England in the beginning of June ... This day, much against my Will, I did in Drury lane see two or three houses marked with a red cross upon the doors, and "Lord have mercy upon us" write there---which was a sad sight to me, being the first of that kind that to my remembrance I ever saw. It put me into an ill conception of myself and my smell, so that I was forced to buy some roll tobacco to smell to and chaw---which took away the apprehension. -- Pepys' Diary, 7 Jun. 1665