Another excerpt from my as-yet-unpublished book for younger readers
The story of Dick Whittington’s cat has its basis in fact – but only just. There was a Richard Whittington who was actually Lord Mayor of London four times (1397-98 and re-elected the following year, 1406-7 and 1419-20), but he was not from a poor background and, as far as historians can tell, he never owned a cat.
The tale, first told in an early 17th Century play and popularized in a 19th Century children’s book by Raphael “Father” Tuck, is entertaining nevertheless.
As it goes, Dick is a poor farm boy from Gloucestershire who decides to chance his luck in the big city. When he arrives in London, he works for a merchant named Fitzwarren and falls in love with his boss’s daughter Alice.
One day, Fitzwarren is gathering money for a speculative venture. Dick has no money, but gives the ship’s captain his cat. Months later, with no word from the ship, Dick sees no future for himself in London and decides to return home to Gloucestershire.
As he leaves he hears the church bells ringing, and they seem to be telling him: “Turn back, Dick Whittington, thrice Lord Mayor of London”.
He returns to the Fitzwarren house, where he learns that his cat has been sold for an enormous sum to the king of a foreign land whose court was overrun by rats. Overjoyed, Dick marries Alice and becomes a respected citizen who is eventually elected mayor three times.
