Whittington, Dick, was an English folk hero. The character was based on Richard Whittington (mid-1300’s-1423), an English merchant and mayor of London. The real Whittington was born into a prominent family, probably in Gloucestershire. He grew rich in London as a cloth merchant and was Lord Mayor three times.
Legends about Whittington appeared after 1600. They portrayed him as a poor country orphan. A kind London merchant hires him to wash pots in his kitchen, where the cook mistreats the boy. To earn money, Dick sends his cat to be sold by the merchant on a trading voyage. By luck, the cat is sold for a huge sum to a king of Barbary, who is plagued by mice and rats. Meanwhile, Dick runs away to escape the cook. Outside London, he hears church bells that seem to say “Turn again, Whittington, Lord Mayor of London.” Dick returns, collects his fortune from the sale of the cat, marries the merchant’s daughter, and becomes a merchant and mayor.
