XXXI. DICK WHITTINGTON.
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Source.—I have cobbled this up out of three chap-book versions; (1) that contained in Mr. Hartland's English Folk-tales; (2) that edited by Mr. H. B. Wheatley for the Villon Society; (3) that appended to Messrs. Besant and Rice's monograph.
Parallels.—Whittington's cat has made the fortune of his master in all parts of the Old World, as Mr. W. A. Clouston, among others, has shown, Popular Tales and Fictions, ii. 65-78 (cf. Köhler on Gonzenbach, ii. 251).
Remarks.—If Bow Bells had pealed in the exact and accurate nineteenth century, they doubtless would have chimed
Turn again, Whittington, Thrice and a half Lord Mayor of London.
For besides his three mayoralties of 1397, 1406, and 1419, he served as Lord Mayor in place of Adam Bamme, deceased, in the latter half of the mayoralty of 1396. It will be noticed that the chap-book puts the introduction of potatoes rather far back.