Gammer Gurton's Needle

Cover of a modern edition of Gammer Gurton's Needle. Cover of a modern edition of Gammer Gurton's Needle.

Gammer Gurton's Needle is the title of an anonymous rustic and poetic drama that was written, allegedly, in 1533, and performed at Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1566 or 1567. It is a comedy in which a lost needle plays the major part. Its full title is A Ryght Pithy, Pleasaunt and Merie Comedie: Intytuled Gammer Gurtons Nedl. It was accredited in the past to Bishop John Still, but this association has since been refuted.

Gammer Gurton is the name of an old woman who has lost her needle, which she needs in order to mend the pants of her servant, Hodge. The play is about the search for the needle.

The comedy shows the importance, and rarity at the time of needles. The needle that Gammer Gurton is looking for was her only needle.

Source: ALFORD, Lady M. (1886). Needlework as Art, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, esp. p. 195.

Digital source (retrieved 20th April 2016)

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 6th July 2016).

WV

Last modified on Wednesday, 10 May 2017 15:56
Published in Dramas and novels
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