The History of Sir Richard Whittington — Reading Notes

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.[2] 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.[3]

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.[4] 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 or 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.[5]

"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."[6]

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."[7]

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.