The History of Sir Richard Whittington | Page 7

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.
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. xxx. 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. xxxii.) 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
illustrated by Bewick:--
The History of Whittington and his Cat; how from a poor country boy
destitute 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