in Gammer Gurton's Needle — Stevenson, William (?)
Metadata
Play
Gammer Gurton's Needle
Author
Stevenson, William (?)
Year (catalogued)
1575
First performance
1553
Decade
1570s
Genre
Comedy
Play type
University
Theater
at University;
Speech prefix(es)
Cocke.
Words
397
Characters
1869
Typicality
0.28 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A12969
BritDrama no.
253
Cluster
Cluster 16 — Errand servants & brief parts
Important excerpts
Passages from this character's speech that contain the most distinguishing words for Cluster 16 (nat, ningle, chould, numps, terry, dery…). Matches are highlighted.
among the ashes dead Where there is not one spark, so big as a pins head, At last in a dark corner two sparks he thought he sees Which where indeed no ght else but Gyb our cats two eyes Puff quod hodg thinking thereby to have fire without doubt With that Gyb shut her two eyes, & so the fire was out And by and by them opened, even
And by and by them opened, even as they were before, With that the sparks appeared even as they had done of yore, And even as hodge blue the fire as he did think Gyb as she felt the blast Straight way began to wyncke, Till Hodge fell of swearing, as cam h st to his turn, The er was sure bewicht, and therefore would not burn:
felt the blast Straight way began to wyncke, Till Hodge fell of swearing, as cam h st to his turn, The er was sure bewicht, and therefore would not burn: At last Gyb up the slayers, among the old posts and pins, And Hodge he hied him after till broke were both his S inns: Cursing and swearing oaths, were never of his making,
the slayers, among the old posts and pins, And Hodge he hied him after till broke were both his S inns: Cursing and swearing oaths, were never of his making, That Gyb would fire the house, if that she were not taken. ¶ y my to outh gammer me thought your ne le here I saw But when my fingers touched it, I ell it was a straw. That
to go and come, all was so full of mire: And Gammer one thing I can tell, Hobfilchers naule was lost And Doctor Rat found it again, hard beside the door post, I chould a p nny can say something, your needle again to fetched.
Full speech
¶ How Gammer. ¶ That shall be done anon. ¶ Ich cannot get the Candle light here is almost no fire. ¶ Gogs cross Gammer if you will laugh look in but at the door And see how Hodg lies tumbling and tossing amids the flour Raking there some fair to find among the ashes dead Where there is not one spark, so big as a pins head, At last in a dark corner two sparks he thought he sees Which where indeed no ght else but Gyb our cats two eyes Puff quod hodg thinking thereby to have fire without doubt With that Gyb shut her two eyes, & so the fire was out And by and by them opened, even as they were before, With that the sparks appeared even as they had done of yore, And even as hodge blue the fire as he did think Gyb as she felt the blast Straight way began to wyncke, Till Hodge fell of swearing, as cam h st to his turn, The er was sure bewicht, and therefore would not burn: At last Gyb up the slayers, among the old posts and pins, And Hodge he hied him after till broke were both his S inns: Cursing and swearing oaths, were never of his making, That Gyb would fire the house, if that she were not taken. ¶ y my to outh gammer me thought your ne le here I saw But when my fingers touched it, I ell it was a straw. That re is the best ale in all the town and now is most resorted. Yea, by and by good Cock. ¶ Gammer chaue b n there as you bade, you wot well about what 'Twill not be long before he come, ich durst swear of a book He bids you see you be at home, and there for him to look. ¶ Yes, yes even at hob ilchers house, by him y to bought and sold me A cup of ale had in his hand, and a crab lay in the fire, Changed worser much a do to go and come, all was so full of mire: And Gammer one thing I can tell, Hobfilchers naule was lost And Doctor Rat found it again, hard beside the door post, I chould a p nny can say something, your needle again to fetched.
Plot summary
Plot — Gammer Gurton's Needle
Gammer Gurton loses her needle while mending Hodge’s breeches, after the cat spills a pail of milk. She takes out her distress on her servants, and Diccon of Bedlam takes advantage of the ensuing domestic chaos to steal a rasher of bacon from the house. Frantic searching fails to locate the needle, but the bacon is missed and the cat blamed, so Hodge goes hungry with only a piece of bread. Diccon makes mischief. His talk of the devil frightens Hodge so much that he defecates in his breeches. Then he sets Gammer Gurton and her neighbour Dame Chat at odds: he tells Dame Chat that she has been accused of stealing Gammer Gurton’s cocks, but suggests to Gammer Gurton that Dame Chat stole the needle. The neighbours confront one another and a fight breaks out. Gammer Gurton sends for Doctor Rat to resolve the matter. The cat chokes and it is suspected that she has swallowed the needle; Hodge proposes cutting her open to recover it. Doctor Rat arrives, and Diccon persuades him to sneak into Dame Chat’s house to catch her with the stolen needle; but he tells Dame Chat that the intruder is Hodge out to kill all her hens. The result is that Doctor Rat has his head broken. He complains to the Bailiff, who questions Dame Chat. She insists that she was defending her property against Hodge, but on examination his head turns out to be intact. The investigation then turns to the stolen needle, and the Bailiff establishes that Gurton and Chat have been at cross-purposes: Diccon is identified as the culprit. Doctor Rat wants him hanged, but the Bailiff only orders him to do penance. Diccon then hits Hodge on the rump, and he feels the needle pricking him: it was in his breeches all the time. Gammer Gurton buys everyone a drink.