_Chap-Books
and
Folk-Lore Tracts._
_Edited by
G. L. Gomme, F.S.A.
and
H. B. Wheatley, F.S.A._
_First Series._
=V.=
THE HISTORY
OF
SIR RICHARD WHITTINGTON.
BY T. H.
EDITED, WITH AN INTRODUCTION,
BY
HENRY B. WHEATLEY, F.S.A.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR THE VILLON SOCIETY.
1885.
Introduction.
The popular story of Whittington and his Cat is one in which a
version of a wide-spread folk-tale has been grafted upon the history
of the life of an historical character, and in the later versions
the historical incidents have been more and more eliminated. The
three chief points in the chap-book story are, 1, the poor parentage
of the hero; 2, his change of mind at Highgate Hill by reason of
hearing Bow Bells; and, 3, his good fortune arising from the sale
of his cat. Now these are all equally untrue as referring to the
historical Whittington, and the second is apparently an invention
of the eighteenth century. When the Rev. Canon Lysons wrote his
interesting and valuable work entitled _The Model Merchant_ he showed
the incorrectness of the first point by tracing out Whittington’s
distinguished pedigree, but he was loath to dispute the other two. It
is rather strange that neither Mr. Lysons nor Messrs. Besant and Rice
appear to have seen the work which I now present to my readers, which
is the earliest form of the life of Whittington known to exist. This
is printed from the copy in the Pepysian Library, a later edition
of which, with a few typographical alterations, will be found in the
British Museum library. This _History_ will be found to differ very
considerably from the later and better-known story, which appears to
have been written early in the eighteenth century. A comparison between
the latter which I print at the end of this Preface (p. xxix.) with
T. H.’s earlier text will not, I think, be found unprofitable. _The
Famous and Remarkable History_ here reprinted is undated, but was
probably published about 1670; the later edition in the British Museum
is dated 1678. One passage on page 7--“The merchant went then to the
Exchange, which was then in Lumber-street, about his affairs”--seems
to show that it was originally written quite early in the century, and
it is just possible that T. H. stands for the voluminous playwright
and pamphleteer Thomas Heywood. The Exchange was removed to its
present site in 1568, and therefore our tract could not have been
written before that date, but must have appeared when the memory of
the old meeting-place was still fresh in public memory. On page 11 it
will be seen that Whittington, when discontented with his position in
Fitzwarren’s house, set out before day-break on All Hallows-day with
his clothes in a bundle, in order to seek his fortune elsewhere. He
had only got as far as Bunhill when he heard Bow bells ring out what
appeared to be--
“Turn again, Whittington, Lord Mayor of London,
Turn again, Whittington, Lord Mayor of London.”
These words took complete possession of him, and he returned before
it was known that he had run away. In the more modern chap-book
Whittington is made to reach Holloway, where it would be less easy
to hear Bow bells, and from which place he would have found it more
difficult to return before the cook had risen. As far as I can find
there is no allusion to Holloway or Highgate hill in any early version,
and it is evident that this localization is quite modern. Mr. Lysons
is certainly wrong when he says that at Highgate “a stone continued
to mark the spot for many centuries.” It is not known when the stone
was first erected there, but it was probably put up when the name of
the place was first foisted into the tale. One stone was taken away
in 1795, but others have succeeded it, and now there is a Whittington
Stone Tavern; and the situation of Whittington College, which was
removed to Highgate in 1808, has helped to favour the supposition that
Whittington himself was in some way connected with that place.
The form of invitation which the bells rung out varies very much in the
different versions.
In Richard Johnson’s ballad (1612) we find--
“Whittington, back return.”
which is then amplified into--
“Turn againe, Whittington,
For thou in time shall grow
Lord Maior of London.”
In T. H.’s _History_ (see p. 11) we have--
“Turn again, Whittington, Lord Mayor of London.”
In the later chap-book version this is altered into--
“Turn again, Whittington,
Lord Mayor of great London.”
It will be seen that the special reference to the fact that Whittington
was three times Lord Mayor is not to be found in either the ballads or
the chap-books.
In the _Life_, by the author of _George Barnwell_ (1811), however we
read--
“Return again, Whittington,
Thrise Lord Mayor of London.”
And in _The Life and Times of Whittington_ (1841)--
“Turn again, turn again, Whittington,
Three times Lord Mayor of London.”
In the early version of the _History_ by T. H. the fanciful portions
are only allowed to occupy a small portion of the whole, and a long
account is given of Whittington’s real actions, but, in the later
chap-book versions, the historical incidents are ruthlessly cut down,
and the fictitious ones amplified. This will be seen by comparing the
two printed here. Thus T. H. merely says (p. 6) that Whittington was
obscurely born, and that being almost starved in the country he came up
to London. In the later chap-book the journey to London is more fully
enlarged upon (p. xxxiii.), and among those at Whittington’s marriage
with Alice Fitzwarren the name of the Company of Stationers not then
in existence is foisted in (pp. xlii.) It does not appear in T. H.’s
_History_.
In many other particulars the later chap-book which contains the story
as known to modern readers is amplified, and thus shows signs of a very
late origin.
With regard to the three fictitious points of Whittington’s history
mentioned at the beginning of this preface, the first--his poor
parentage--is disposed of by documentary evidence; the second--his
sitting on a stone at Highgate hill--has been shown to be quite a
modern invention; and the third--the story of the cat--has been told
of so many other persons in different parts of the world that there
is every reason to believe it to be a veritable folk-tale joined to
the history of Whittington from some unexplained connection. None of
the early historians who mention Whittington allude to the incident of
the cat, and it is only to be found in popular literature, ballads,
plays, &c. The story seems to have taken its rise in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth. The reason why however the life of Whittington should have
been chosen as the stock upon which this folk-tale should be grafted is
still unexplained. Some have supposed that he obtained his money by the
employment of “cats,” or vessels for the carriage of coals; but this
suggestion does not appear to be worthy of much consideration.
It is said that at Newgate, which owed much to Whittington, there was
a statue of him with a cat, which was destroyed in the Great Fire; and
in 1862, when some alterations were made in an old house at Gloucester,
which had been occupied by the Whittington family until 1460, a stone
was said to have been dug up on which was a basso-relievo representing
the figure of a boy carrying a cat in his arms. This find, however,
appears rather suspicious.
Keightley devotes a whole chapter of his _Tales and Popular Fictions_
to the legend of Whittington and his Cat, in which he points out how
many similar stories exist. The _Facezie_, of Arlotto, printed soon
after the author’s death in 1483, contain a tale of a merchant of
Genoa, entitled “Novella delle Gatte,” and probably from this the story
came to England, although it is also found in a German chronicle of
the thirteenth century. Sir William Ouseley, in his _Travels_, 1819,
speaking of an island in the Persian Gulf, relates, on the authority
of a Persian MS., that “in the tenth century, one Keis, the son of a
poor widow in Siráf, embarked for India with a cat, his only property.
There he fortunately arrived at a time when the palace was so infested
by mice or rats that they invaded the king’s food, and persons were
employed to drive them from the royal banquet. Keis produced his
cat; the noxious animals soon disappeared, and magnificent rewards
were bestowed on the adventurer of Siráf, who returned to that city,
and afterwards, with his mother and brothers, settled on the island,
which from him has been denominated Keis, or according to the Persians
Keisch.” Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps quotes from the _Description of
Guinea_ (1665) the record of “how Alphonso, a Portuguese, being wrecked
on the coast of Guinney, and being presented by the king thereof with
his weight in gold for a cat to kill their mice; and an oyntment to
kill their flies, which he improved within five years to 6000_l._ in
the place, and, returning to Portugal after fifteen years traffick,
became the third man in the kingdom.”[A] Keightley also quotes two
similar stories from Thiele’s _Danish Popular Traditions_ and another
from the letters of Count Magalotti, a Florentine of the latter half of
the seventeenth century.
Mr. Lysons gives much information as to the great value of cats in the
Middle Ages, but the writer of the _History of Whittington_ does not
lead us to believe that they were dear in England, for he makes the
boy buy his cat for one penny. The two following titles are from the
Stationers’ Registers. The ballad is probably the one subsequently
referred to as by Richard Johnson:--
“The History of Richard Whittington, of his lowe birthe, his great
fortune, as yt was plaied by the Prynces Servants. Licensed to Thomas
Pavyer, Feb. 8, 1604-5.”
“A Ballad, called The vertuous lyfe and memorable death of Sir Richard
Whittington, mercer, sometymes Lord Maiour of the honorable Citie of
London. Licensed to John Wright, 16 July, 1605.”
The first reference that we find to the cat incident is in the play
_Eastward Hoe_ by Chapman, Ben Jonson, and Marston; for, as the
portrait which was said to have existed at Mercers’ Hall is not now
known, it can scarcely be put in evidence. This half-length portrait of
a man of about sixty years of age, dressed in a livery gown and black
cap of the time of Henry VIII. with a figure of a black and white cat
on the left, is said to have had painted in the left-hand upper corner
of the canvas the inscription, “R. Whittington, 1536.”
In _Eastward Hoe_, 1605, Touchstone assures Goulding that he hopes to
see him reckoned one of the worthies of the city of London “When the
famous fable of Whittington and his puss shall be forgotten.”
The next allusion is in Thomas Heywood’s _If you know not me, you know
nobody_, 2nd part, 1606.
_Dean Nowell._ “This Sir Richard Whittington, three times Mayor,
Sonne to a knight and prentice to a mercer,
Began the Library of Grey-Friars in London,
And his executors after him did build
Whittington Colledge, thirteene Alms-houses for poore men,
Repair’d S. Bartholomewes, in Smithfield,
Glased the Guildhall, and built Newgate.
_Hobson._ Bones of men, then I have heard lies;
For I have heard he was a scullion,
And rais’d himself by venture of a cat.
_Nowell._ They did the more wrong to the gentleman.”
Here it will be seen that, although the popular tale is mentioned, it
is treated as a mere invention unworthy of credence.
The next in point of time is the ballad by Richard Johnson, published
in the _Crowne Garland of Goulden Roses_ (1612), which probably had a
much earlier existence in a separate form. It is the earliest form of
the story of Whittington now in existence.
_A song of Sir Richard Whittington, who by strange fortunes came
to bee thrice Lord Maior of London; with his bountifull guifts and
liberallity given to this honourable Citty._
(To the tune of “_Dainty come thou to me_.”)
“Here must I tell the praise
Of worthie Whittington,
Known to be in his dayes
Thrice Maior of London.
But of poor parentage
Borne was he, as we heare,
And in his tender age
Bred up in Lancashire.
Poorely to London than
Came up this simple lad,
Where, with a marchant-man,
Soone he a dwelling had;
And in a kitchen plast,
A scullion for to be,
Whereas long time he past
In labour grudgingly.
His daily service was
Turning spits at the fire;
And to scour pots of brasse,
For a poore scullions hire.
Meat and drinke all his pay,
Of coyne he had no store;
Therefore to run away,
In secret thought he bore.
So from this marchant-man
Whittington secretly
Towards his country ran,
To purchase liberty.
But as he went along
In a fair summer’s morne,
London bells sweetly rung,
‘Whittington, back return!’
‘Evermore sounding so,
Turn againe, Whittington;
For thou in time shall grow
Lord-Maior of London.’
Whereupon back againe
Whittington came with speed,
Aprentise to remaine,
As the Lord had decreed.
‘Still blessed be the bells’
(This was his daily song),
‘They my good fortune tells,
Most sweetly have they rung.
If God so favour me,
I will not proove unkind;
London my love shall see,
And my great bounties find.’
But see his happy chance!
This scullion had a cat,
Which did his state advance,
And by it wealth he gat.
His maister ventred forth,
To a land far unknowne,
With marchandize of worth,
And is in stories shewne.
Whittington had no more
But this poor cat as than,
Which to the ship he bore,
Like a brave marchant-man.
‘Vent’ring the same,’ quoth he,
‘I may get store of golde,
And Maior of London be,
As the bells have me told.’
Whittington’s marchandise,
Carried was to a land
Troubled with rats and mice,
As they did understand.
The king of that country there,
As he at dinner sat,
Daily remain’d in fear
Of many a mouse and rat.
Meat that in trenchers lay,
No way they could keepe safe;
But by rats borne away,
Fearing no wand or staff.
Whereupon, soone they brought
Whittington’s nimble cat;
Which by the king was bought;
Heapes of gold giv’n for that.
Home againe came these men
With their ships loaden so;
Whittington’s wealth began
By this cat thus to grow.
Scullions life he forsooke
To be a marchant good,
And soon began to looke
How well his credit stood.
After that he was chose
Shriefe of the citty heere,
And then full quickly rose
Higher as did appeare.
For to this cities praise
Sir Richard Whittington
Came to be in his dayes
Thrise Maior of London.
More his fame to advance,
Thousands he lent his king
To maintaine warres in France,
Glory from thence to bring.
And after, at a feast,
Which he the king did make,
He burnt the bonds all in jeast,
And would no money take.
Ten thousand pound he gave
To his prince willingly,
And would not one penny have.
This in kind courtesie.
God did thus make him great,
So would he daily see
Poor people fed with meat,
To shew his charity.
Prisoners poore cherish’d were,
Widdowes sweet comfort found;
Good deeds, both far and neere,
Of him do still resound.
Whittington Colledge is
One of his charities,
Records reporteth this
To lasting memories.
Newgate he builded faire,
For prisoners to live in;
Christ’s Church he did repaire,
Christian love for to win.
Many more such like deedes
Were done by Whittington;
Which joy and comfort breedes,
To such as looke thereon.
Lancashire thou hast bred
This flower of charity;
Though he be gone and dead,
Yet lives he lastingly.
Those bells that call’d him so,
‘Turne again, Whittington,’
Call you back may moe
To live so in London.”
This ballad, as it stands here with the exception of the last stanza,
was reprinted in _A Collection of Old Ballads_, 1823, vol. i. p. 130.
This ballad is the original of all the later ballads, although the
titles have been greatly varied. The Roxburghe ballad (vol. iii. p. 58)
is dated in the British Museum Catalogue 1641[?]. Its full title is as
follows:--
“London’s Glory and Whittington’s Renown, or a Looking Glass for
Citizens of London, being a remarkable story how Sir Richard
Whittington (a poor boy bred up in Lancashire) came to be three times
Lord Mayor of London in three several kings’ reigns, and how his rise
was by a cat, which he sent by a venture beyond sea. Together with his
bountiful gifts and liberality given to this honourable City, and the
vast sums of money he lent the King to maintain the wars in France;
and how at a great Feast, to which he invited the King, the Queen, and
the Nobility, he generously burnt the writings and freely forgave his
Majesty the whole Debt. Tune of ‘Dainty, come thou to me.’ London:
Printed for R. Burton, at the Horse Shoe in West Smithfield.”
The bulk of the ballad is the same as Richard Johnson’s, but the
following first stanza is added, the original first stanza becoming the
second:--
“Brave London Prentices,
Come listen to my song,
Tis for your glory all
And to you both belong.
And you poor country lads,
Though born of low degree,
See by God’s providence
What you in time may be.”
The second half of the original seventh stanza, and the eighth, ninth,
and tenth stanzas, are left out.
Immediately before the last stanza the following one is introduced:--
“Let all kynde Citizens
Who do this story read,
By his example learn
Always the poor to feed.
What is lent to the poor
The Lord will sure repay,
And blessings keep in store
Until the latter day.”
The other alterations are not many, and chiefly consist in
transpositions by which the rhymes are varied. This may be seen by
comparing with the original the Roxburghe version of the last stanza
which is as follows:--
“Lancashire, thou hast bred
This flower of charity;
Though he be dead and gone,
Yet lives his memory.
Those bells that call’d him so,
Turn again, Whittington,
Would they call may moe
Such men to fair London.”
At the end of one of the chap-books there is a version of the ballad in
which Lancashire is replaced by Somersetshire.
In the same volume of the _Roxburghe Ballads_ (p. 470) is a short
version [1710?] containing a few only of the verses taken from the
ballad. It is illustrated with some woodcuts from T. H.’s earlier
_History_.
“An old Ballad of Whittington and his Cat, who from a poor boy came to
be thrice Lord Mayor of London. Printed and sold in Aldermary Church
Yard, London.”
There is a copy of this in the Chetham Library.
The following are some of the chief references to Whittington’s story
in literature after the publication of Johnson’s ballad, arranged in
chronological order:--
“As if a new-found Whittington’s rare cat,
Come to extoll their birth-rights above that
Which nature once intended.”--
Stephens’s _Essayes and Characters_, 1615.
“Faith, how many churches do you mean to build
Before you die? Six bells in every steeple,
And let them all go to the _City tune_,
_Turn again, Whittington_, and who they say
Grew rich, and let his land out for nine lives,
’Cause all came in by a cat.”--
Shirley’s _Constant Maid_ (1640), act ii. sc. 2.
“I have heard of Whittington and his cat, and others, that have made
fortunes by strange means.”--Parson’s _Wedding_ (1664).
Pepys went on September 21, 1668, to Southwark Fair, “and there saw the
puppet show of Whittington, which was pretty to see.” He adds in his
_Diary_ “how that idle thing do work upon people that see it, and even
myself too.”
In the _Tatler_ of September 13, 1709 (No. 67), is a list of great men
to be entered in the Temple of Fame, and in the subsequent No. 78 is
printed the following letter from a Citizen:--
“Mr. Isaac Bickerstaff, Sir, Your _Tatler_ of September 13 I am now
reading, and in your list of famous men desire you not to forget
Alderman Whittington, who began the world with a cat, and died worth
three hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling, which he left to
an only daughter three years after his mayoralty. If you want any
further particulars of ditto Alderman, daughter, or cat, let me know,
and per first will advise the needful, which concludes, Your loving
Friend, LEMUEL LEGER.”
“I am credibly informed that there was once a design of casting into
an opera the story of Whittington and his Cat, and that in order to
it there had been got together a great quantity of mice; but Mr.
Rich, the proprietor of the playhouse, very prudently considered
that it would be impossible for the cat to kill them all, and that
consequently the princes of the stage might be as much infested
with mice as the prince of the island was before the cat’s arrival
upon it; for which reason he would not permit it to be acted in his
house.”--_Spectator_ (No. 5, March 6, 1711).
The Rev. Samuel Pegge brought the subject of Whittington and his Cat
before a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries in 1771, but he could
make nothing at all of the cat. There is no record of the inquiry in
the _Archaeologia_, but it is mentioned in a letter from Gough to
Tyson, 27 Dec. 1771 (Nichols’s _Literary Anecdotes_, vol. viii. p.
575). Horace Walpole was annoyed at the Society for criticising his
“Richard III.” and in his _Short Notes on his Life_ he wrote--“Foote
having brought them on the stage for sitting in council, as they had
done on Whittington and his Cat, I was not sorry to find them so
ridiculous, or to mark their being so, and upon that nonsense, and the
laughter that accompanied it, I struck my name out of their book.”
Foote brought out his comedy of _The Nabob_ at the Haymarket Theatre
in 1772. Sir Matthew Mite, the hero of the piece, is elected a
member of the Society of Antiquaries, and delivers an address on
Whittington and his Cat in which he gave the following solution of the
difficulty:--“The commerce this worthy merchant carried on was chiefly
confined to our coasts. For this purpose he constructed a vessel which
for its agility and lightness he aptly christened a cat. Nay, to this
our day, gentlemen, all our coals from Newcastle are imported in
nothing but cats. From thence it appears that it was not the whiskered
four-footed, mouse-killing cat that was the source of the magistrate’s
wealth, but the coasting, sailing, coal-carrying cat; that, gentlemen,
was Whittington’s cat.”
We may now pass from the fictitious to the real Richard Whittington,
and although this is not the place for a life of the distinguished
citizen, which may be found elsewhere, it will be convenient to set
down in order the chief incidents of his career.
Richard Whittington was the third son of Sir William Whittington,
knight, of Pauntley, Gloucestershire, and it is assumed, by some
writers, that he was born in or about the year 1360. We must, however,
place his birth at an earlier date, for his name appears in the city
_Letter Book_, H, fol. 110_a_, (as Richard Whyttingdone), in the
second year of Richard II. (A.D. 1379), as a contributor of five marks
towards a loan to the city authorities; about four-fifths of the
subscribers contributing the same, which is the lowest figure among the
contributions.[B] This is the first appearance of Whittington’s name
in the city books. William, the eldest son, succeeded to the family
property of Pauntley, but, dying without issue, the estate went to
Robert, the second son, who became high sheriff of the county in 1402,
and again in 1407. Pauntley remained in the family as late as 1546.
Nothing is known of Richard’s early life, either as to when or how
he came to London. He appears to have married Alice, daughter of
Hugh Fitzwarren, and probably he was originally apprenticed to his
father-in-law, whose name appears in all the versions of his history.
The second appearance of Whittington’s name in the city books is in
8 Richard II., when he was one of the eight common councilmen for
Coleman Street ward. In 11 Richard II. he is named as becoming surety
to the chamberlain in the sum of ten pounds towards providing money
for defence of the city. In the following year he appears to have been
no longer a member for Coleman Street ward. On the 12th of March,
1393, he is named as then chosen alderman of Broad Street ward; and on
21st September of the same year he was chosen by the mayor, William
Staundon, one of the sheriffs for the ensuing year.[C]
When Adam Bamme died in the year 1397, during his mayoralty, Richard
II. arbitrarily put Whittington in his place, and at the lord
mayor’s day of that year Whittington again filled the office, being
then regularly elected.[D] From his will we find that this king,
who was a member of the Mercers’ Company, to which Whittington was
apprenticed, was an especial patron of his. In 1400 he was excused
from attending the Scottish wars, and in 1406 he was again elected
mayor. He rebuilt his parish church, and Mr. Riley has printed in his
valuable _Memorials_ (p. 578) the grant by Whittington of land for the
re-building of the church of St. Michael, Paternoster, “in the street
called La Riole,” called after the merchants of La Riole, a town near
Bordeaux, who had established themselves there.
Whittington was knighted by Henry V., and in 1419 he was elected mayor
for the fourth time. It was in this year that John Carpenter commenced
the compilation of his famous _Liber Albus_. We see how highly this
distinguished citizen was appreciated from the writings of such men as
Grafton and Stow. Richard Grafton writes in his _Chronicle_ (1569, p.
433)--
“This yere (1406) a worthie citizen of London, named Rychard
Whittyngton, mercer and alderman, was elected maior of the sayde
citie, and bare that office three tymes. This worshipfull man so
bestowed his goodes and substaunce to the honor of God, to the
reliefe of the pore, and to the benefite of the comon weale, that he
hath right well deserved to be regestered in the boke of fame. First,
he erected one house or church in London to be a house of prayer, and
he named the same after his awne name Whittyngtons College, and so
it remayneth to this day. And in the same church, besydes certeine
priestes and clerkes, he placed a number of poore aged men and women
and buylded for them houses and lodgyngs, and allowed unto them wood,
cole, cloth, and weekly money to their great reliefe and comfort....
He also buylded for the ease of the maior of London and his brethren,
and of the worshipfull citizens at the solempne dayes of their
assemblye, a chapell adioining to the Guyldhall, to the entent they
should euer before they entered into any of theyr affayrs first to go
into the chappel, and by prayer to call upon God for assistaunce....
He also buylded a great part of the east ende of the Guildhall,
besyde many other good workes that I knowe not. But among all other
I will shewe unto you one very notable, which I receyved credibly by
a writyng of his awne hande, which also he willed to be fixed as a
schedule to his last will and testament, the contentes whereof was
that he willed and commaunded his executors as they would aunswere
before God at the day of the resurrection of all fleshe, that if they
found any debtor of his that ought to him any money, that if he were
not in their consciences well worth three tymes as much, and also
out of the debt of other men, and well able to pay, that then they
shoulde never demaund it, for he cleerely forgave it, and that they
should put no man in sute for any debt due to him. Looke upon thys,
ye aldermen, for it is a glorious glasse.”
Stow writes as follows in his _Survey of London_ on some of
Whittington’s good works:--
“Richard Whittington, mercer, three times mayor, in the year 1421
began the library of the grey friars in London, to the charge of
four hundred pounds: his executors with his goods founded and built
Whittington College, with almshouses for thirteen poor men, and
divinity lectures to be read there for ever. They repaired St.
Bartholomew’s hospital in Smithfield; they bare half the charges of
building the library there, and they built the west gate of London,
of old time called Newgate,” &c.[E]
“The 1st year of Henry VI. John Coventrie and John Carpenter,
executors to Richard Whitington, gave towards the paving of this
great hall twenty pounds, and the next year fifteen pounds more, to
the said pavement, with hard stone of Purbeck; they also glazed some
windows thereof, and of the mayor’s court; on every which windows the
arms of Richard Whitington are placed.”[F]
Respecting the library at Guildhall, Stow, after relating how the Duke
of Somerset, Lord Protector, borrowed the books and never returned
them, writes:--“This library was built by the executors of Richard
Whittington and by William Burie; the arms of Whittington are placed on
the one side in the stone work, and two letters, to wit W and B, for
William Burie, on the other side; it is now lofted through, and made a
storehouse for clothes.”[G]
Whittington appears to have died childless, and in the interesting
picture of his deathbed, copied by Mr. Lysons from an illumination in
the ordinances of his college, his executors are seen around his bed.
His will was proved in 1423 by John Coventry, John White, William Grove
and John Carpenter. The College of St. Spirit and St. Mary consisted of
a master, four fellows (masters of arts), clerks, conducts, chorists,
&c. It was dissolved by Edward VI.; but the memory of it remains in the
name College Hill, Upper Thames Street. God’s House or Hospital for
thirteen poor men was moved to Highgate in 1808.
By his will Whittington directed that the inmates of his college
should pray for the souls of himself and his wife Alice, of Sir William
Whittington, and his wife Dame Joan, of Hugh Fitzwarren and his wife
Dame Malde, as well as for the souls of Richard II. and Thomas of
Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, “special lords and promoters of the said
Whittington.”
Whittington’s epitaph is preserved by Stow and is in Latin; yet
the author of a _Life of Whittington_ (1811) makes the following
misstatement:--
“Record, however, has handed down to us the original epitaph, as it
was cut on the monument of Sir Richard, by order of his executors;
and, exclusive of its connection with the subject of these pages,
it may be subjoined as a curious specimen of the poetry of an age
which was comparatively with the present so entirely involved in the
darkness of superstition and ignorance.
“Beneath this stone lies Whittington,
Sir Richard rightly named;
Who three times Lord Mayor served in London,
In which he ne’er was blamed.
He rose from indigence to wealth
By industry and that;
For lo! he scorned to gain by stealth
What he got by a cat.
Let none who reads this verse despair
Of providences ways;
Who trust in him he’ll make his care,
And prosper all their days.
Then sing a requiem to departed merit,
And rest in peace till death demands his spirit.”--
_Life of Sir R. Whittington_, by the author of _Memoirs of George
Barnwell_, 1811, p. 106.
LIST OF VERSIONS, EDITIONS, &c.
1604-5, Feb. 8. Play licensed, see _ante_, p. vii.
1605, July 16. Ballad licensed, see _ante_, p. vii.
1612. Johnson’s Ballad published in _Crowne Garland of Goulden
Roses_, see _ante_, p. ix.
1641? Roxburghe Ballad (“London’s Glory”), see _ante_, p. xiv.
1670? Famous and Remarkable History by T. H., reprinted in this
volume (see p. 1).
1678. Another edition with the same title as the above (see p. 1),
but with the following imprint:
“London: Printed by A. P. and T. H. for T. Vere and J. Wright, and
are to be sold at their shops at the Angel without Newgate and at the
Crown on Ludgate Hill. 1678.”
There are a few alterations in spelling, &c. but otherwise it is the
same as the earlier edition.
1730. The History of Sir Richard Whittington, thrice Lord Mayor of
London. Durham: Printed and sold by I. Lane.
This is the earliest version of the common chap-book tale in the
British Museum. It is divided into chapters, and the headings of
these chapters are given at p. xxx. of the present preface. All
the other chap-books that I have seen are more or less versions of
this story, but one of the most complete is that printed in this
Introduction (p. xxxii.) The book was printed in most of the chief
towns, as Newcastle, Edinburgh, &c. but one of the most interesting
editions is that printed at York and illustrated by Bewick:--
The History of Whittington and his Cat; how from a poor country boy
destitute of parents or relatives he attained great riches and was
promoted to the high and honorable dignity of Lord Mayor of London.
York: Printed by J. Kendrew, Colliergate.
The frontispiece represents the stiff figure of a man in wig and gown
of the time of Charles II., underneath which is printed--
“Sir Richard Whittington behold
In mayor’s robes and chain of gold.”
1808. In the _Antiquarian Repertory_ (vol. ii. pp. 343-346) there is
a good account of Whittington.
1811. The Life of Sir Richard Whittington, Knight, and four times
Lord Mayor of London, in the reigns of Edward III. Richard II. and
Henry V. Compiled from authentic documents; and containing many
important particulars respecting that illustrious man never before
published: intended to amuse, instruct, and stimulate the rising
generation. By the Author of “Memoirs of George Barnwell.” Harlow:
Printed by B. Flower for M. Jones, No. 5, Newgate Street, London.
1811. Small 8vo.
1828. The Life of Sir Richard Whittington, Knight, four times Lord
Mayor of London. London: Published by Thomas North, 64, Paternoster
Row. 1828. (Lysons.)
1841. The Life and Times of Dick Whittington: an Historical Romance.
London: Hugh Cuningham, St. Martin’s Place. 1841. 8vo.
This is a novel written in imitation of Ainsworth, illustrated with
plates in imitation of Cruikshank.
[1845.] Woodcock’s “Lives of Illustrious Lords Mayors and Aldermen
of London, with a Brief History of the City of London”. London. 8vo.
Pp. 28-46, Life of Whittington; but it contains no information of any
value.
1860. The Model Merchant of the Middle Ages, exemplified in the
Story of Whittington and his Cat: being an attempt to rescue that
interesting story from the region of fable, and to place it in its
proper position in the legitimate history of this country. By the
Rev. Samuel Lysons, M.A. London: Hamilton, Adams & Co. 1860. 8vo.
1871. The Story of Sir Richard Whittington, Lord Mayor of London in
the years 1397, 1406-7, and 1419 A.D. Written and illustrated by
Carr. London: Longmans, Green and Co. 1871. Folio.
A new Ballad prettily illustrated, in which Canon Lysons’s researches
are taken into account, and the boy is made of good parentage, but
the rest of the legend is retained.
1881. Sir Richard Whittington, Lord Mayor of London. By Walter Besant
and James Rice. London: Marcus Ward and Co. 1881. Sm. 8vo.
Whittington and his Cat. By Ernest J. Miller. Published by the Albany
Institute, Albany, N.Y. Weed, Parsons, and Company. 1881. 8vo.
A valuable paper, which contains a great mass of information on both
the true and----the fictitious Whittington.
Whittington and his Cat, an Entertainment for Young People, by Miss
Corner.
The Remarkable History of Richard Whittington and his Cat. Aunt Busy
Bee’s New Series. Dean and Son. Coloured illustrations on the page.
The following title is taken from Mr. Lysons’s book, and I presume it
is merely an edition of the ordinary chap-book.
History of Sir Richard Whittington. Printed at Sympson’s in
Stonecutter Street, Fleet Market.
* * * * *
The following extract from Granger’s _History of England_ is curious
as showing that the public would not have a portrait of Whittington
without a representation of his famous cat:--
“The true portraicture of Richard Whitington, thrise Lord Maior of
London; a vertuous and godly man, full of good works, and those
famous. He builded the gate of London called Newegate, which before
was a miserable doungeon. He builded Whitington College, and made it
an almose-house for poore people. Also he builded a great parte of
the hospitall of St. Bartholomew’s, in West Smithfield, in London.
He also builded the beautiful library at the Grey Friars in London,
called Christe’s Hospitall. He also builded the Guildehalle chappell,
and increased a great parte of the east ende of the said halle,
beside many other good workes.”--_R. Elstracke sc. Collar of SS.; his
right hand on a cat._
Granger says of this:
“The cat has been inserted as the common people did not care to buy
the print without it. There was none originally in the plate, but a
skull in the place of the cat. I have seen only two proofs of this
portrait in its first state, and these were fine impressions.”--1775,
vol. i. p. 62.
The following is a copy of the headings of the chapters in an early
form of the chap-book version of Whittington’s life:
THE
HISTORY
OF
SIR RICHARD WHITTINGTON,
THRICE LORD MAYOR OF LONDON.
_Durham: Printed and sold by I. Lane._ [1730.]
THE LIFE OF SIR RICHARD WHITTINGTON.
CHAP. I.
How, Whittington, being born of unknown parents, was left to a
desperate fortune, and rambled the country till necessity and fear
made him come to London.
CHAP. II.
How, at the instance of Mrs. Alice, the Merchant’s daughter, he
became a servant in the family under the cook maid, who used him
cruelly, and how Mrs. Alice took pity on him, and interpos’d her
authority.
CHAP. III.
How, lying in a garret, he was ready to be devoured by rats and
mice, and to prevent it purchased a cat with a penny given him
for cleaning shoes; and how, with the servants, he adventured
the cat, being all his stock.
CHAP. IV.
How the bitter jade of a cook maid encreasing her cruelty
towards him he grew weary of his service, and was running away
on All-Hallow’s day; but upon hearing the ringing of Bow bells
came back again. Also how the merchant abroad disposed of his
cat.
CHAP. V.
Of the great riches received for Whittington’s cat more than for
all the goods in the ship; on the arrival of which his master sent
for him upstairs by the title of Mr. Whittington, and the excuses
he made, and how he distributed part of his wealth to his
fellow-servants giving the ill-natur’d cook maid 100_l_.
CHAP. VI.
How Mr. Whittington, being genteely dress’d, became, to all
appearance, a very comely, proper person; how Mrs. Alice, his
master’s daughter, fell in love with him, and, by her father’s
consent, married him; and also how he was chosen sheriff of London.
CHAP. VII.
How he was thrice elected Lord Mayor of London; how he
entertain’d King Henry V. in his return from the conquest of
France: with an account of his buildings for pious and charitable
uses, great liberality to the poor, his death, burial, and epitaph.
EPITAPH.
Here lies Sir Richard Whittington, thrice mayor,
And his dear wife, a virtuous, loving pair;
Him fortune rais’d to be belov’d and great,
By the adventure only of a cat.
Let none who read of God’s great love despair,
Who trusts in Him of him He will take care;
But growing rich chuse humbleness, not pride,
Let these dead persons’ virtues be your guide.
The following reprint of a later version of the chap-book is almost
identical with a large number of editions:
THE
ADVENTURES
OF
SIR RICHARD WHITTINGTON,
WHO WAS
THREE TIMES
LORD MAYOR OF LONDON.
_And the Surprising History of his_
CAT,
TO WHICH IS ADDED
THE CALEDONIAN, A POEM.
_Banbury:
Printed and sold by J. Cheney, in the High Street._
THE
HISTORY
OF
WHITTINGTON.
Dick Whittington was a very little boy when his father and mother died;
little indeed, that he never knew them, nor the place where he was
born. He strolled about the country as ragged as a colt, till he met
with a waggoner who was going to London, and who gave him leave to walk
all the way by the side of his waggon without paying anything for his
passage, which pleased little Whittington very much, as he wanted to
see London sadly, for he had heard that the streets were paved with
gold, and he was willing to get a bushel of it; but how great was
his disappointment, poor boy! when he saw the streets covered with
dirt instead of gold, and found himself in a strange place, without a
friend, without food, and without money.
Though the waggoner was so charitable as to let him walk up by the side
of the waggon for nothing, he took care not to know him when he came
to town, and the poor boy was, in a little time, so cold and so hungry
that he wished himself in a good kitchen and by a warm fire in the
country.
In this distress he asked charity of several people, and one of
them bid him “Go to work for an idle rogue.” “That I will,” says
Whittington, “with all my heart; I will work for you if you will let
me.”
The man, who thought this favoured of wit and impertinence (tho’ the
poor lad intended only to show his readiness to work), gave him a blow
with a stick which broke his head so that the blood ran down. In this
situation, and fainting for want of food, he laid himself down at the
door of one Mr. Fitzwarren, a merchant, where the cook saw him, and,
being an ill-natured hussey, ordered him to go about his business
or she would scald him. At this time Mr. Fitzwarren came from the
Exchange, and began also to scold at the poor boy, bidding him to go to
work.
Whittington answered that he should be glad to work if any body would
employ him, and that he should be able if he could get some victuals to
eat, for he had had nothing for three days, and he was a poor country
boy, and knew nobody, and nobody would employ him.
He then endeavoured to get up, but he was so very weak that he fell
down again, which excited so much compassion in the merchant that he
ordered the servants to take him in and give him some meat and drink,
and let him help the cook to do any dirty work that she had to set
him about. People are too apt to reproach those who beg with being
idle, but give themselves no concern to put them in the way of getting
business to do, or considering whether they are able to do it, which is
not charity.
“Think of this ye affluent,
And when the overplus of your fortunes disturb
Your minds, think how little stops the lash of penury,
And makes the wretched happy!”
I remember a circumstance of this sort, which Sir William Thompson told
my father with tears in his eyes, and it is so affecting that I shall
never forget it:
STORY OF SIR WILLIAM THOMPSON.
“When Sir William Thompson was in the plantation abroad, one of his
friends told him he had an indentured servant whom he had just bought,
that was his countryman and a lusty man; ‘but he is so idle,’ says he,
‘that I cannot get him to work.’ ‘Aye,’ says Sir William, ‘let me see
him.’ Accordingly they walked out together and found the man sitting
on a heap of stones. Upon this Sir William, after enquiring about his
country, asked why he did not go out to work. ‘I am not able,’ answered
the man. ‘Not able?’ says Sir William, ‘I am sure you look very well;
give him a few stripes.’ Upon this the planter struck him several
times, but the poor man still kept his seat.
“Then they left him to look over the plantation, exclaiming against
his obstinacy all the way they went; but how surprised were they, on
their return, to find the poor man fallen from off the place where he
had been sitting, and dead! ‘The cruelty,’ says Sir William, ‘of my
ordering the poor man to be beaten while in the agonies of death lies
always next my heart. It is what I shall never forget, and will for
ever prevent my judging rashly of people who appear in distress. How
do we know what our children may come to? The Lord have mercy upon
the poor, and defend them from the proud, the inconsiderate, and the
avaricious.’”
But we return to Whittington: who would have lived happy in this worthy
family had he not been bumped about by the cross cook, who must be
always roasting or basting, and when the spit was still employed her
hands upon poor Whittington! ’till Miss Alice, his master’s daughter,
was informed of it, and then she took compassion on the poor boy, and
made the servants treat him kindly.
Besides the crossness of the cook, Whittington had another difficulty
to get over before he could be happy. He had, by order of his master,
a flock-bed placed for him in a garret, where there were such a number
of rats and mice that often ran over the poor boy’s nose and disturbed
him in his sleep. After some time, however, a gentleman, who came to
his master’s house, gave Whittington a penny for brushing his shoes.
This he put into his pocket, being determined to lay it out to the best
advantage; and the next day, seeing a woman in the street with a cat
under her arm, he ran up to know the price of it. The woman (as the cat
was a good mouser) asked a deal of money for it, but on Whittington’s
telling her he had but a penny in the world, and that he wanted a cat
sadly, she let him have it.
This cat Whittington concealed in the garret, for fear she should be
beat about by his mortal enemy the cook, and here she soon killed or
frightened away the rats and mice, so that the poor boy could now sleep
as sound as a top.
Soon after this the merchant, who had a ship ready to sail, called
for his servants, as his custom was, in order that each of them might
venture something to try their luck; and whatever they sent was to pay
neither freight nor custom, for he thought justly that God Almighty
would bless him the more for his readiness to let the poor partake of
his fortune. “He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord, who will
return it seventy-fold.”
All the servants appeared but poor Whittington, who, having neither
money nor goods, could not think of sending anything to try his luck;
but his good friend Miss Alice, thinking his poverty kept him away,
ordered him to be called.
She then offered to lay down something for him, but the merchant told
his daughter that would not do, it must be something of his own.
Upon which poor Whittington said he had nothing but a cat which he
bought for a penny that was given him. “Fetch thy cat, boy,” said the
merchant, “and send her.” Whittington brought poor puss and delivered
her to the captain, with tears in his eyes, for he said he should now
be disturbed by the rats and mice as much as ever. All the company
laughed at the adventure but Miss Alice, who pitied the poor boy, and
gave him something to buy another cat.
While puss was beating the billows at sea, poor Whittington was
severely beaten at home by his tyrannical mistress the cook, who used
him so cruelly, and made such game of him for sending his cat to sea,
that at last the poor boy determined to run away from his place, and,
having packed up the few things he had, he set out very early in the
morning on All-Hallows day. He travelled as far as Holloway, and there
sat down on a stone to consider what course he should take; but while
he was thus ruminating, Bow bells, of which there were only six, began
to ring; and he thought their sounds addressed him in this manner:
“Turn again, Whittington,
Lord Mayor of great London.”
“Lord Mayor of London!” said he to himself; “what would not one endure
to be Lord Mayor of London, and ride in such a fine coach? Well, I’ll
go back again, and bear all the pummelling and ill-usage of Cicely
rather than miss the opportunity of being Lord Mayor!” So home he went,
and happily got into the house and about his business before Mrs.
Cicely made her appearance.
We must now follow Miss Puss to the coast of Africa, to that coast
where Dido expired for loss of Ænus (_sic_). How perilous are voyages
at sea, how uncertain the winds and the waves, and how many accidents
attend a naval life!
The ship, which had the cat on board, was long beaten at sea, and at
last, by contrary winds, driven on a part of the coast of Barbary which
was inhabited by Moors, unknown to the English. These people received
our countrymen with civility, and therefore the captain, in order
to trade with them, shewed them the patterns of the goods he had on
board, and sent some of them to the king of the country, who was so
well pleased that he sent for the captain and the factor to his palace,
which was about a mile from the sea. Here they were placed, according
to the custom of the country, on rich carpets, flowered with gold and
silver; and the king and queen being seated at the upper end of the
room, dinner was brought in, which consisted of many dishes; but no
sooner were the dishes put down but an amazing number of rats and mice
came from all quarters, and devoured all the meat in an instant. The
factor, in surprise, turned round to the nobles and asked “If these
vermin were not offensive?” “O yes,” said they, “very offensive; and
the king would give half his treasure to be freed of them, for they
not only destroy his dinner, as you see, but they assault him in his
chamber, and even in bed, so that he is obliged to be watched while he
is sleeping for fear of them.”