ompany had the right of regulating prices. Thus
the Fishmongers sold their fish at a price ordered by the Warden or
Master of the Company. It is easy to understand that this might lead to
murmurs against the high price of fish or of anything else. This, in
fact, really happened. It was a time of great questioning and doubt; the
rising of Wat Tyler shows that this spirit was abroad. The craftsmen of
London, those who made things, grumbled loudly at the price of
provisions. They asked why the City should not take over the trade in
food of all kinds and sell it to the people at lower prices. John of
Northampton being Mayor, took the popular view. He did not exactly make
over the provisioning of the City to the Corporation, but he first
obtained an Act of Parliament throwing open the calling of fishmonger to
all comers; and then another which practically abolished the trade of
grocers, pepperers, fruiterers, butchers, and bakers. Imagine the rage
with which such an Act would now be received by London tradesmen!

The next Mayor, however, obtained the rescinding of these Acts. In
consequence, fish went up in price and there was a popular tumult, upon
which one man was hanged and John of Northampton was sent to the Castle
of Tintagel on the Cornish Coast, where he remained for the rest of his
life.

32. WHITTINGTON.

PART III.

In the year 1384, being then about twenty-six years of age, Whittington
was elected a member of the Common Council. In the year 1389 he was
assessed at the same sum as the richest citizen. So that these ten years
of his life were evidently very prosperous. In the year 1393 he was made
Alderman for Broad Street Ward. In the same year he was made Sheriff. In
the year 1396, the Mayor, Adam Bamme, dying in office, Whittington
succeeded him. The following year he was elected Mayor.

In the year 1401, water was brought from Tyburn (now the N.E. corner of
Hyde Park) to Cornhill in pipes, a great and important boon to the City.

In the year 1406 he was again elected Mayor. The manner of his election
is described in the contemporary records. After service in the chapel
of the Guildhall, the outgoing Mayor, with all the Aldermen and as many
as possible of the wealthier and more substantial Commoners of the City,
met in the Guildhall and chose two of their number, viz., Richard
Whittington and Drew Barentyn. Then the Mayor receiving this nomination
retired into a closed chamber with the Aldermen and