The image in the Gloucestershire church window may have nothing to do with the origin of the phrase, as the post by Jim Dixon shows. bare credits consideration without provenance. I will post a photograph when I am in Fairford next.

The stained glass windows, if predating Cromwell, establish the concept as far back as those days. One can speculate it reflect common parlance of the day, when people could not read but could associate with the reference. And the notion of it being related to the Plague is very tempting.

I have said this many times: one reason single for a phrase's existence (especially in lyrics) is not a given. The Folk process that makes it survive is often that it chimes on several levels and over many centuries.

Let the debate continue, until we are all: taken to hell in a .............