bells of Bow… Whittington: From the story of “Dick Whittington and his Cat.” Dick, a poor boy, despondent over the loss of a cat, leaves London but imagines that he hears in the sound of ringing Bow bells a voice calling to him, saying: “Turn again, Whittington, Lord Mayor of London.” So he returns to London, and, thanks in no small part to the agency of the missing cat, eventually does become Lord Mayor.