HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 WHXTTINGTON 
 
 AND 
 
 I EDINBURGH : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY JAMES CLARKE AND CO. 
 221, HIGH STREET. 
 
 Trice One Fenny. 
 
WHITTINGTON 
 
 AND 
 
 HIS CAT. 
 
 In the reign of King Edward the Third 
 there was horn in a village in Yorkshire 
 a little hoy, called Dick Whittingtox 
 whose father and mother died when hf 
 was so very young, that he rememberd 
 nothing at all about them, and he was left 
 a helpless little fellow. 
 
 Yet he was a very sharp hoy. On Sun 
 days he never failed to get near the far 
 mers, as they sat talking on the tomb 
 stones in the church-yard, before the par 
 son was come ; and once a-week you 
 might be sure to see Dick leaning against 
 the sign-post of the villagealehouse, where 
 people stopped to drink as they came from 
 the market town; and whenever the bar- 
 ber's shop-door was open, Dick listened 
 to all the news he told his customers. 
 
 In this manner Dick heard of the great 
 city of London ; how the people who liv 
 ed there were all fine gentlemen and la- 
 dies ; that there was singing and music in 
 
3 
 
 it all day long ; and that the streets w ore 
 paved all over with gold. 
 
 One day, a carrier, with eight pack- 
 berses, all with bells at their heads, passed 
 through the village, while Dick was loung- 
 ing near his favourite sign-post. The 
 
 thought struck him, that they must be 
 going to the fine town of London ; and, 
 taking courage, he asked the carrier to let 
 him walk with him. The man, hearing 
 from poor Dick that he was an orphan, 
 told him he might go if he would ; so 
 they bet off' together. 
 
j 
 
 Dick got safe to London ; and so caJ 
 was he to see the fine streets paved J 
 over with gold, that he ran as fast as |*j 
 could through several streets, ex pectin- 1 
 every moment to come to those that we j 
 all paved with gold; and he imagined I s 
 had only to take up some little bits of tlf* 
 pavement, to have as much money as \* 
 desired. * 
 Poor Dick ran till he was tired, an s 
 at last, finding that it grew dark, and thl 
 whichever way he turned, he saw no golf 
 he sat down in a dark corner, and fell I 
 sleep. 
 
 Dick remained all night in the streets; 
 and next morning, being very hungry, hi 
 got up and walked about, asking those lit 
 met to give him something to keep him 
 from starving; but nobodv staid to an 
 swer him, so that the poor boy was soon 
 in the most miserable condition. Being 
 almost starved to death, he laid himscll 
 down at the door of Mr. Fitz warren, < 
 rich merchant. Here he was soon per 
 ceived by Cicely the cook, who was at 
 ill-tempered woman: so seeing poor Dick 
 ;shc called out, " What business have yoi 
 here, you lazy rogue V* 
 
5 
 
 Just at this time Mr. Fitzwarren hira- 
 tW came home to dinner, and seeing a 
 irty ragged boy lying 1 at the door, said to 
 iim, " Why do you lie there, my lad ? You 
 eem old enough to work. I fear you 
 nust be somewhat idle." — " No, indeed," 
 ;ays Whittington ; " I would w ork with 
 ill my heart, but I know nobody, and I 
 lm very sick for want of food." — " Poor 
 Fellow !" answered Mr. Fitzwarren ; " get 
 up and let us see what ails thee." 
 
 Dick now tried twice to rise, but fell 
 down again, being too weak to stand ; for 
 he had not eaten any thing for three days. 
 80 the kind merchant took him into his 
 house, and ordered that he should have a 
 good dinner immediately, and that he 
 should be kept to do for the cook what 
 work he was able. 
 
 Dick would have lived very happily in 
 this family, had it not been for the cook, 
 who continued to find fault and to scold 
 him from morning till night ; and when 
 the spit was out of her hands, she would 
 be at basting poor Dick with a broom, or 
 any thing else that happened to fall in her 
 way. 
 
 But Mr. Fitz warren's footman was poor 
 
I 
 
 G 
 
 Richard's friend ; and the footman y 
 very fond of reading. When few bool 
 were to be had, lie used generally in tl 
 evening to entertain his fellow- servant 
 when they had done their work, wit 
 some amusing- story. The pleasure ot 
 little hero took in hearing him, made hi 
 
 very much desire to learn to read too 
 so the good-natured footman bought hill 
 a horn book ; and with a little of his help 
 Dick soon learned his letters, and after- 
 wards to read. 
 
 Besides the ill humour of the cook 
 
phich, now, however, was somewhat abat- 
 ed, Whittington had another hardship to 
 ^et over : this was, that his bed was in a 
 /arret, where there were so many holes 
 in the floor and walls, that he never went 
 to bed without being* awaked by great 
 numbers of rats and mice, which ran over 
 his face, and made such a noise, that he 
 sometimes thought the walls were tumb- 
 ling down about him. 
 
 One day, a gentleman who paid a visit 
 to Mr. Fitz warren, happened to request 
 that his shoes might be cleaned. Dick 
 took great pains to make them shine, and 
 the gentleman gave him a penny. This 
 he resolved to lay out in buying a cat ; 
 and the next day, seeing a little girl with 
 ia cat under her arm, he went up to her, 
 and asked if she would let him have it for 
 a penny ; to which the girl replied, she 
 would, for her mother had more cats than 
 she could keep. 
 
 This cat Whittington concealed in the 
 garret, always taking care to carry her a 
 part of his dinner ; and in a short time, 
 he had no further disturbance from the 
 rats and mice, and slept as soundly as he 
 could desire. 
 
feoon alter this. Mr. Fitzwarren, , v l 
 ".'V 1 8h lP .ready to sail, richly a 
 h.nking it but j Ust that all hisserv 
 should have some chance for good luc 
 well as h.mself, called them before hb 
 
 sLttsr what commodities n 
 
 All mentioned something they were 
 wiHing to venture; but poor Whittinsto 
 having no money nor goods, could send 
 
 en™ ' " g at -^' [ or w hich reason he did no 
 come in with the rest ; but Mrs. Alice or 
 dered h,m to be called and offered £ 
 
 would n^ . f* hemerch ant observed, 
 his own n mUSt bG 80methin S of 
 
 Upon this poor Dick said he had no- 1 
 thing but a cat, which he bought fo? a 
 Penny that was given him. " ' 
 *etch thy cat, boy," savs Mr Fitz- 
 w ™, " and let her go." 
 
 liver ( Jl tt h!! g ? , \ b I r0U » ht P° or Poland de- 
 is eve, f . 6 ^Pt^i". with tears in 
 ailing °r he f a ' d ' " He 8hooI d ^w 
 S mLe." ept ^ "'"^ ^ the rats 
 
 Mistress Alice, who felt the greatest 
 
I 9 
 
 i ™, rr ivo him some mo- 
 pity for the poor boy, gave 
 
 „ev to bur another «*. ^ f kind . 
 
 This, and f^^^AUce, made the 
 nftas shown by M >f.^ of ' the favours 
 ill-tempered cook so jea o« s to 
 
 nnnr boy received, that sue » D 
 thimmofecmelly than ever. 
 
 At last the unhappy 1 tile 
 unable to bear this treatment any Ion , 
 
 determined to run away J'°™ to 
 
 packed up the ^^g^SSS^ 
 him, and resolved to letu row 
 He travelled as far as HoUoway, and W 
 sat sown on a stone, winch to tins uay, 
 
10 
 
 called Whillington's Stone, and began, 
 consider whether he should revisit hist | 
 tive village, * 
 
 While he was thus thinking, Bow Lei 
 of which there were then only six, beg; 
 to ring ; and it seemed to him that the 
 sounds addressed him in this manner: 
 
 " Turn again, Whittington, 
 Thrice Mayor of London." 
 
 i( Thrice Mayor of London !" says bei 
 himself. " Why, to be sure, I would be 
 any thing to be Lord Mayor of Londoi 
 and ride in a fine coach ! Well, I will j 
 back, and think nothing of all the cuffin 
 and scolding of old Cicely, if I am at las 
 to be even once Lord Mayor of London, 
 
 So back went Dick, and luckily got in 
 to the house, and set about his business 
 before Cicely- came down stairs. 
 
 The ship, with the cat on board, was 
 long beaten about at sea, and was at last 
 driven by contrary winds on the coast ol 
 Barbary, inhabited by Moors. 
 
 The natives of this country came in 
 great numbers to see the people on board, 
 who were of so different a colour from 
 themselves, and showed great eagerness to 
 
,urehase the fine things with which the 
 ,hi}> was laden. 
 
 The captain, seeing this, sent patterns 
 of the choicest articles he had to t he king 
 of the country, who was so much pleased 
 with them, that he sent for the captain 
 and his chief mate to the palace. Here 
 they were placed on rich carpets, flowered 
 with gold and silver; and the king and 
 queen being" seated at the upper end of the 
 room, dinner was brought in, which con- 
 sisted of the greatest rarities. 
 
 No sooner, however, were the dishes 
 set before the company, than an amazing 
 number of rats and mice rushed in, and 
 devoured every dish, scattering pieces of 
 flesh all about the palace. 
 
 The captain, extremely astonished, ask- 
 ed if these vermin were not very offensive. 
 The king answered, that he would give 
 half his treasure to be free of them ; for 
 they not only destroyed his dinner, but 
 they disturbed him even in his chamber, 
 so that he was obliged to be watched while 
 he slept. 
 
 The captain jumped for joy, remember- 
 ing poor Whittington's hard case, and the 
 cat he had intrusted to his care, and told 
 
12 
 
 the king he had a creature on board \ 
 ship, that would destroy the vermin, aj 
 save the kingdom. 
 
 The king- was overjoyed, " Bring \\\ 
 creature to me," says he ; " and if she cai 
 really perform what you say, I will loac 
 your ship with gold dust and ivory in ex 
 change for her." 
 
 Away ran the captain to the ship, while 
 another dinner was providing, and taking 
 puss under his arm, returned to the palace, 
 in time to see the second dinner meet with 
 the same fate as the first. 
 
 The cat? at sight of them, did not wait 
 
13 
 
 for bidding ; but sprang- from the captain's 
 arm, and in a few moments laid the great- 
 est part of the rats and mice dead at her 
 feel, while the rest, in the greatest fright 
 imaginable, scampered away to their hid- 
 ing-places. 
 
 The king having seen and considered 
 of the wonderful exploits of the Cat, and 
 being informed that she would soon pro- 
 duce a progeny scarcely less than that of 
 the rats, which might in time destroy all 
 the rats and mice in the country, bargained 
 with the captain for his whole ship's cargo, 
 and afterwards agreed to give a prodigious 
 quantity of gold dust, of still greater value, 
 for the cat, with which, after taking leave 
 of their majesties, and other great African 
 personages, he, with all his ship's company, 
 set sail for England, and, alter a happy 
 voyage, arrived in the port of London. 
 
 One morning, Mr. Fitz warren had just 
 entered the counting-house, when, who 
 should arrive but the captain and mate of 
 the merchant-ship the Unicorn, just arm- 
 ed from the coast of Bar bary, and follow 
 ed by several men, bringing with them a 
 prodigious quantity of gold, that had been 
 paid by the kirn* of Earbarv. in exchange 
 
14 I 
 
 for the merchandise, and also m eXcla 
 for puss. Mr. Fitz warren, the instant 11 
 heard the news, ordered Whittingto» B 
 he called, and thus adressing him, sa! 
 41 Richard, most heartily do I rejoice 
 the news our skipper has brought vol 
 for he has sold your cat to the^kirur , 
 Barbary, and brought you in return nV 
 riches than I possess in the whole worl 
 and may you long enjoy them !" 
 
 Dick could scarcely contain himself f, 
 .M>y; he begged his master to take wl! 
 part of it he pleased, since to his kindiW 
 he was indebted for the whole, " No,« 
 this wealth is all yonr own, and justl 
 so, answered Mr. Fitzwarren. 
 
 Whittington, however, was too kiul 
 hearted to keep all himself; and, accorl 
 ingly, made a handsome present to till 
 captain, the mate, and every one of til 
 ship's company, and afterwards to his ex. 
 ^ Nent fnend the footman, and the rest el 
 Mr. Fitzwarren's servants, not even ex. 
 ceptmg the cook, old Oieelv. 
 
 After this, Mr. Fitzwarren advised biw 
 to get himself dressed as might become 
 gentleman. 
 
 When Dick Whittington was dressei