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 inwhich a version of a wide-spread folk-tale has been graftedupon the history of the life of an historical character, and in thelater versions the historical incidents have been more and moreeliminated. The three chief points in the chap-book story are,1, the poor parentage of the hero; 2, his change of mind atHighgate Hill by reason of hearing Bow Bells; and, 3, hisgood fortune arising from the sale of his cat. Now these areall equally untrue as referring to the historical Whittington,and the second is apparently an invention of the eighteenthcentury. When the Rev. Canon Lysons wrote his interestingand valuable work entitled The Model Merchant he showed theincorrectness of the first point by tracing out Whittington’sdistinguished pedigree, but he was loath to dispute the othertwo. It is rather strange that neither Mr. Lysons norMessrs. Besant and Rice appear to have seen the workwhich I now present to my readers, which is the earliestform of the life of Whittington known to exist. This is[ii]printed from the copy in the Pepysian Library, a later editionof which, with a few typographical alterations, will be found inthe British Museum library. This History will be found todiffer very considerably from the later and better-known story,which appears to have been written early in the eighteenthcentury. A comparison between the latter which I print atthe end of this Preface (p. xxix.) with T. H.’s earlier text willnot, I think, be found unprofitable. The Famous and RemarkableHistory here reprinted is undated, but was probably publishedabout 1670; the later edition in the British Museum is dated1678. One passage on page 7—“The merchant went then tothe Exchange, which was then in Lumber-street, about hisaffairs”—seems to show that it was originally written quiteearly in the century, and it is just possible that T. H. stands forthe voluminous playwright and pamphleteer Thomas Heywood.The Exchange was removed to its present site in 1568, andtherefore our tract could not have been written before that date,but must have appeared when the memory of the old meeting-placewas still fresh in public memory. On page 11 it will beseen that Whittington, when discontented with his position inFitzwarren’s house, set out before day-break on All Hallows-daywith his clothes in a bundle, in order to seek his fortuneelsewhere. He had only got as far as Bunhill when he heardBow bells ring out what appeared to be—