GAMMER GURTON'S NEEDLE

Domain	Definition
Literature	Gammer Gurton's Needle The earliest comedy but one in the English language. It was "Made by Mr. S., Master of Arts." The author is said to have been Bishop Still of Bath and Wells (1543-1607). Source: Brewer's Dictionary.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Specialty Definition: Gammer Gurton's Needle

Gammer Gurton's Needle is one of the earliest comedies written in the English language. It is thought to have been produced in 1533.

The author was identified in the manuscript only as "Mr S. Mr. of Art". This is believed to have been William Stevenson, who is listed as a Master of Arts (M.A.) of Christ's College, Cambridge in 1553 and is known to have produced plays there. The same manuscript states that the comedy was first performed at Cambridge.

Unlike its contemporary, Ralph Roister Doister, this play shows no evidence of having been influenced by Latin comedy, but is uniquely English in tone. The plot centres on the loss of a needle belonging to Gammer Gurton. It is eventually found when her servant, Hodge, sits down and discovers it in the seat of his pants.

Commercial Usage: GAMMER GURTON'S NEEDLE

Domain	Title
Books	Three Sixteenth-Century: Gammer Gurton's Needle, Roister Doister, the Old Wife's Tale (New Mermaid Series) (reference) Gammer Gurton's Needle (The Tudor Facsimile Texts.) (reference) The Ridiculous Story of Gammer Gurton's Needle (reference) (more book examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Alternative Orthography: GAMMER GURTON'S NEEDLE

Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

47 41 4D 4D 45 52 47 55 52 54 4F 4E 27 53 4E 45 45 44 4C 45

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)

01000111 01000001 01001101 01001101 01000101 01010010 00100000 01000111 01010101 01010010 01010100 01001111 01001110 00100111 01010011 00100000 01001110 01000101 01000101 01000100 01001100 01000101

HTML Code (1990) (references)

&#71 &#65 &#77 &#77 &#69 &#82 &#32 &#71 &#85 &#82 &#84 &#79 &#78 &#39 &#83 &#32 &#78 &#69 &#69 &#68 &#76 &#69

ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)

0047 0041 004D 004D 0045 0052 0047 0055 0052 0054 004F 004E 0027 0053 004E 0045 0045 0044 004C 0045

Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)

GAMMER GURTON'S NEEDLE

Specialty Definition: GAMMER GURTON'S NEEDLE

Literature