The History of Sir Richard Whittington Part 2

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 G.o.d, 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 a.s.semblye, 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 G.o.d for a.s.sistaunce.... 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 G.o.d 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 gla.s.se."

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. G.o.d'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 superst.i.tion 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 t.i.tle 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. x.x.x. 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. x.x.xii.) 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 ill.u.s.trated by Bewick:--

The History of Whittington and his Cat; how from a poor country boy dest.i.tute 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 doc.u.ments; and containing many important particulars respecting that ill.u.s.trious 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 d.i.c.k Whittington: an Historical Romance. London: Hugh Cuningham, St. Martin's Place. 1841. 8vo.

This is a novel written in imitation of Ainsworth, ill.u.s.trated with plates in imitation of Cruikshank.

[1845.] Woodc.o.c.k's "Lives of Ill.u.s.trious 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 ill.u.s.trated by Carr. London: Longmans, Green and Co. 1871. Folio.

A new Ballad prettily ill.u.s.trated, 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 Inst.i.tute, Albany, N.Y. Weed, Parsons, and Company. 1881.

8vo.

A valuable paper, which contains a great ma.s.s of information on both the true and----the fict.i.tious 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 ill.u.s.trations on the page.