Last night I found myself having to explain Dick Whittington to an Aussie mate of mine. There's obviously no reason she should have known about him but it was still a faintly surreal experience as I tried to remember what the various sections of the tale were.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Whittington

I may have to update that if I can find a fuller version of the story since it fails to mention:

a) The streets of London being paved with gold

b) The cat talking

Or did I make both of those bits up?