- 1st. From the ancient and generally received tradition;
- 2nd. From the scarcity and value of domestic cats at that period;
- 3rd. From its not being a solitary instance of a fortune made by such means;
- 4th. From the ancient portraits and statues of Whittington in connection with a cat, some of which may be reasonably traced up to the times and orders of his own executors.
The reader may decide which of the three theories he prefers.
THE
HISTORY
OF
WAT TYLER
AND
JACK STRAW.
Printed and Sold in Aldermary Church Yard.
This Chap-book gives a very fair account of the domestic troubles of Richard II.'s reign, especially of the poll-tax rising of 1381; but it stigmatizes as "scum," "rake shames," and "rake hells" those poor men who then rose against oppression.