ElizabethanDrama.org
presents the Annotated Popular Edition of |
Gammer
Gurton’s Needle |
by Mr.
S c. 1562-4? Featuring complete and
easy-to-read annotations. Annotations and notes © Copyright ElizabethanDrama.org, 2018 |
A Ryght Pithy, Pleasaunt, anp Merie Comedie, Intytuled Gammer
Gurtons Nedle: Played on Stage, not longe ago in Christes Colledge in
Cambridge. |
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God Save the Queene. |
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The Names of the Speakers in this Comedy: |
INTRODUCTION to the
PLAY |
|
Gammer Gurton. |
Gammer Gurton's Needle is
considered to be the |
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Hodge, Gammer Gurton's
Servant. |
second-earliest proper
English comedy extant. Gammer |
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Tib, Gammer Gurton's Maid. |
is also one of the
most entertainingly - or grossly - |
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Cock, Gammer Gurton's Boy. |
vulgar plays in the
canon, but this is because of its |
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earthy humour based on
bodily-functions rather than |
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Diccon,
the Bedlam. |
on sex. The characters
are low-brow, and the dialogue |
|
Doctor Rat, the Curate |
full of colourful
dialect, all of which is explained in the |
|
Master Baily, the Bailiff. |
annotations. The
action is driven by the vagabond |
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Scapethrift, Master Baily's Servant. |
Diccon, a conniving
trickster, who orchestrates all of |
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the play's confusion
and violence. |
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Dame Chat. |
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Doll, Dame Chat's Maid. |
NOTE on the PLAY'S
SOURCE |
|
Mutes |
The text of the play is taken from John
Farmer's |
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1906 edition of Gammer,
cited below at #3, with some |
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original spelling from
the earliest known edition of |
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1575 reinstated. |
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NOTES on the
ANNOTATIONS |
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Mention of Farmer, Bradley, Hazlitt,
Dodsley, |
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Gassner, Whitworth and
Brett-Smith in the annotations |
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refers to the notes
provided by each of these editors |
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in their respective
editions of this play, each cited fully |
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below. |
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Mention of Clements refers to the stage
directions |
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suggested in his
abbreviated edition of the play. |
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The most commonly cited sources are
listed in the |
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footnotes immediately
below. The complete list of |
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footnotes appears at the end of this play. |
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1. Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
online. |
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2. Crystal, David and Ben. Shakespeare's
Words. |
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London; New York:
Penguin, 2002. |
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3. Farmer, John S. Gammer Gurton's
Needle. |
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London: Gibbings and
Co., 1906. |
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4. Bradley, Henry, ed. Gammer
Gurton's Needle, |
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pp. 195-262. From Representative
English Comedies, |
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Charles Mills Gayley,
general editor. London: Mac- |
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Millan & Co.,
1916. |
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5. Hazlitt, W. Carew. A Selected
Collection of Old |
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English Plays, Vol. III (originally published by Robert |
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Dodsley). London:
Reeves and Turner, 1874. |
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6. Dodsley, Robert. The Ancient
British Drama. |
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Edinburgh: James
Ballentyne & Co., 1810. |
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7. Gassner, John. Medieval and Tudor
Drama. |
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New York: Bantam Books
Inc., 1968. |
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8. Whitworth, Charles W. Three
Sixteenth |
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Century Comedies. London: Ernest Benn Ltd., 1984. |
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11. Brett-Smith, H.F.B. Gammer
Gvrtons Needle. |
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Oxford: Basil
Blackwell, 1920. |
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12. Clements, Colin Campbell. Gammer
Gurton's |
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Needle, a Modern
Adaptation. Samuel French, 1922. |
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INTRODUCTORY NOTES. |
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A. Who Wrote Gammer
Gurton's Needle? |
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Much ink has been spent by
detective-scholars trying to determine the identity of the author of Gammer.
A starting point has been the notation in the play's title page, which tells
us that the playwright was "Mr. S., Mr. (ie. Master) of Art.", and
that Gammer was performed "not longe ago" - that is, some
unspecified time before the play's publication date of 1575 - at Christ's
College at Cambridge; the reasoning, reasonably enough, is that the shadowy
Mr. S must have been a member of Christ's College, and that his surname must
begin with the letter S. |
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We see no reason to draw any conclusions
on this score, but will simply identify who the candidates for authorship
have been over the centuries: |
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(1) the earliest nominee was John
Still, a cleric who began his career at Christ's College, and was
later promoted to the bishopric of Bath and Wales; however, the evidence
against him is strong: as Gammer editor John Farmer, who had sifted
the contemporary descriptions of Bishop Still, wrote in 1906, there is
"(no) evidence that he ever made a joke."3 |
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(2) William Stevenson, a
member of the faculty at Christ's College in the 1550's; the OED's numerous
citations from Gammer attach Stevenson's name as Gammer's
author; and |
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(3) John Bridges, of
Pembroke College at Cambridge. The supposition that Bridges is our author is
based on a 16th century letter written to him critically accusing him of
having written Gammer Gurton's Needle. |
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A good summary of the history of this
minor historical mystery can be found in the Introduction of Charles
Whitworth's Three Sixteenth Century Comedies (London: Ernest Benn
Ltd., 1984). |
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B. The Setting and
Scenery of Gammer. |
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A reading of the play makes it very
clear that Gammer takes place entirely on the street and yards in front of
two adjacent houses, the first the home of our play's heroine, Gammer Gurton,
and the other that of Dame Chat; Chat's house also doubles as a tavern, or
alehouse, run by the same lady. Characters will enter and exit the stage
either through one of the doors of the two houses, or off-stage if they are
entering or exiting the scene by means of the fronting road. |
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Many of the scenes do not end clearly
with all of the actors - no women were to play on the stage for another
century - vacating the stage; our author often begins a new scene whenever a
character or two enters the stage to join those already present. |
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The original edition of Gammer
included practically no stage directions; thus, except where noted, the stage
directions in this edition of the play are all provided by the present editor
or other early editors; a substantial number of our stage directions are
borrowed from the practical and abbreviated edition of Gammer
published by Colin Clements in 1922.12 |
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C. Gammer's
Gleeful Scatological Obsession. |
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If anyone remembers Gammer today,
it is likely for its incessant use of excrement and buttocks as a source of
humour. Thus, we have one character unexpectedly picking a piece of cat's
turd off his clothing, numerous references to arses,
and most famously, perhaps the only character in all the canon who soils
himself in the very worst way right on stage. |
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Because the play was performed at an
all-male college, - women did not attend university, nor receive any formal
education at all in this century - it is not surprising, and perhaps even
relieving, to know that young men of almost five centuries ago were as
willing to laugh at poo-poo and pee-pee jokes as they are today. |
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D. Oaths and Swears. |
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Gammer Gurton's Needle contains a
dizzying range of oaths and swears, and almost all of them are of a religious
nature, including many which will be familiar to any reader of Elizabethan
drama, invoking the Lord's soul, heart and mother;
but the observant reader will also note the presence of many unique and
colourfully odd oaths, such as those invoking God's sacrament, malt
and blest (ie. bliss). |
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As you read the play, you may observe
that the characters have no aversion to explicitly mentioning God and Jesus
in their oaths, although God is often replaced euphemistically
with Gog and Cock. Additionally, we find a by
Gis and a by Gigs, rather silly
euphemisms for by Jesus. It was only later, in the first decade
of the 17th century, that the explicit use of God's name on stage was banned
by a statute of Parliament, so that plays printed after 1606 generally
contained no such explicit expressions. |
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E. Gammer's Use of
Dialect. |
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Probably the most difficult task a
modern reader of Gammer may face is dealing with the heavy use of
dialectical and regional words and phrases which appear densely throughout
the play. |
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The most obvious instances of dialect
are those in which the pronoun 'I' is replaced by ich,
and in which common two-word combinations, such as ich have and
ich am (ie. "I have" and "I am") are
abbreviated (to chave and cham in our examples
respectively). This aspect of dialect is identified with the good people of
south-western England, but it also became the go-to means by which an
Elizabethan author would give his characters a rural flavour. |
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We also find the occasional first-letter
'f' and 'v' of words interchanged, so that father
becomes vather, but vixen becomes fixen;
additionally, the author appears to take liberties in creating his own
faux-dialectical words, such as glay for clay and
feygh for fight, there being no authority for
such modifications. |
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A unique approach to this edition of Gammer
is to restore the original spelling of a word whenever the original spelling
suggests a variation in actual pronunciation; for example, we will keep ere
written as or, and heard as hard,
wherever these words were printed this way in the original 1575 edition of
the play, even though all subsequent editions of Gammer which
modernize the play's spelling publish or and usually heard.
|
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F. Some Frequently
Appearing Vocabulary. |
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Speakers of English frequently take
recourse to a number of pause-phrases which parenthetically indicate an
individual's frame of mind - I believe, you think, don't you
know: "The governor, I think, is not so tall" (such expressions
are part of a larger category of sentence organizers called discourse
markers). |
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16th century English used some older
words in these types of phrases, and these words appear repeatedly in this
play: |
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1. trow = to believe,
suppose; examples: I trow, trowest now. |
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2. ween = to expect,
think; example: ich ween. |
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3. wot = to know;
examples: ich wot, I wot not. |
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Some other unusual words upon which our
author depends heavily include the following: |
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4. warrant = guarantee,
assure; used especially in phrases such as I warrant you, ie.
"I guarantee it", or "I assure you". |
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5. dress = used to mean
"to treat", "to beat", and once even "to dress a
wound", in addition to its modern meaning of "to attire". |
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6.
hold = to wager. |
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Finally, we point out that the word and
could be used to mean either "and" or "if". Mr. S. uses and in both senses regularly. |
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G. Gammer's
Rhyme Scheme. |
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The overwhelming majority of the play is
written in rhyming couplets. Happily for the reader,
the meter is completely irregular, or non-existent, and the number of
syllables per line varies: this is a blessing, because otherwise the play
would quickly begin to sound like a Dr. Seuss book, and the regular rhythm
and rhyme would grow rapidly tiresome, indeed exhausting. |
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As it is, the lines generally contain
anywhere from 10 to 13 syllables; and as mentioned, thanks to there being no
meter to speak of, - that is, no regular rhythm - the dialogue comes across
as a little more natural, and you probably won't even be conscious of the
rhyming. |
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An interesting feature of the
playwright's versifying is that he sometimes chose to use an obscure or rarely
used alternative spelling or form of a word in order to make a rhyme work;
for example, he uses streite instead of street in
order to rhyme with sprite, and britch for breech
to rhyme with stitch. |
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Having said all that, we recommend you
not get hung up on the rhyming as you read our play; The author used rhyming
couplets only as a frame, or skeleton, on which to build Gammer, so we
suggest that you will enjoy Gammer a great deal more if you do not
think about the rhyming at all. |
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THE PROLOGUE. |
The Prologue: WARNING:
the Prologue summarizes the complete plot of our
play, so save your reading of it for last, unless you want to ruin the
suspense for yourself! |
|
1 |
As Gammer Gurton, with many a wide stitch, |
|
2 |
Sat piecing and patching of Hodge her man's
britch, |
2: piercing
= mending.2 |
By chance or misfortune, as she her gear
tossed, |
= the sense is
"worked on her mending". |
|
4 |
In Hodge' leather breeches her needle
she lost. |
= Hodge's; Hodge is
another of Gammer's servants. |
When Diccon the Bedlam had hard
by report, |
= Diccon
is a beggar; see the note at the beginning |
|
6 |
That good Gammer Gurton was robbed in this sort, |
= manner. |
He quietly persuaded with her in
that stound |
7: persuaded
with her = ie. "persuaded Gammer"; the combination persuaded
with, meaning "used persuasion on", was common in the 16th
and 17th centuries. |
|
8 |
Dame Chat,
her dear gossip, this needle had found; |
= read as "that
Dame Chat". = female friend. |
Yet knew she no more of this matter (alas), |
9-10: "but Gammer
is as ignorant of what happened to |
|
10 |
Than knoweth Tom, our clerk, what the
priest saith at mass. |
the needle as Tom the
clerk is of what the priest is saying at Mass." |
Hereof
there ensued so fearful a fray, |
= from this.1 |
|
12 |
Mas Doctor was
sent for, these gossips to stay, |
= Master. = ie. a cleric. = comfort or support.1 |
Because he was curate, and esteemed full wise, |
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14 |
Who found that he sought not, by Diccon's device. |
14: "who found
that which he was not looking for, |
When all things were tumbled and clean out
of fashion, |
15: ie. "when the
entire matter reached its climax, |
|
16 |
Whether it were by
fortune, or some other constellation, |
= ie. fate, referring
to the position of the stars with |
Suddenly the needle Hodge found by the
pricking, |
= ie. being stuck by
it. |
|
18 |
And drew it out of his buttock, where he felt
it sticking. |
|
Their hearts then at rest with perfect
security, |
= ie. without any
further anxiety. |
|
20 |
With a pot of good nale they stroke
up their plauditè. |
20: nale
= alternate Middle English spelling for ale.1 |
ACT I. |
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SCENE I. |
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Settings of the Play: there are no settings provided in the original
edition of Gammer: we will assume the stage is furnished with the facades of
two adjacent houses, the first belonging to the elderly Gammer Gurton, and
the other to Dame Chat, who also runs a tavern out of her home. |
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Enter Diccon the
Bedlam from off-stage. |
Entering Character: Diccon is an itinerant beggar;
he is identified in the character-list as a Bedlam, which could
mean one of two things: |
|
Diccon is a nickname for Richard.
In Shakespeare's Richard III, an anonymous note insultingly referring
to the King as Dickon was submitted to the Duke of Norfolk, warning
him not to trust Richard. |
||
Act I, Scene i: the first scene comprises a brief monologue,
as Diccon addresses the audience. |
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1 |
Dic. Many a mile have I walked divers and sundry ways, |
= a common formula
meaning simply "various".1 |
2 |
And many a good man's house have I been at in
my days; |
|
Many a gossip's cup in my time have I
tasted, |
3-4: Diccon remembers
the food and drink he has |
|
4 |
And many a broach and spit have I both
turned and basted, |
received thanks to the
generosity of others |
Many a piece of bacon have I had out of their balks, |
5: Diccon refers to
the bacon he has received or more |
|
6 |
In ronning over the country with long
and weary walks; |
= unusual 16th century
alternate spelling for running. |
Yet came my foot never within those door
cheeks, |
= door-posts, the
vertical side posts on either side of |
|
8 |
To seek flesh or fish, garlick, onions,
or leeks, |
= ie. meat. |
That ever I saw a sort
in such a plight, |
9-20: Diccon describes
the uproar that he witnessed |
|
10 |
As here within this house appeareth to my
sight. |
10: Diccon casts a
glance to, or perhaps gestures |
There is howling and scowling, all cast in
a dump, |
= thrown into a state
of perplexity.1 |
|
12 |
With whewling and puling, as
though they had lost a trump. |
12: whewling
= moaning or howling.1 |
Sighing and sobbing, they weep and they wail; |
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14 |
I marvel in my mind what the devil they
ail. |
= wonder. = ie. "ails them." |
The old trot sits groaning, with
alas and alas! |
15: trot
= hag, decrepit old woman, meaning Gammer. |
|
16 |
And Tib wrings her hands, and takes
on in worse case. |
= Tib is
Gammer's maid. = exhibits great
distress.1 |
With poor Cock, their boy, they be
driven in such fits, |
= ie. servant boy. |
|
18 |
I fear me the folks be not well in their
wits. |
= of sound mind, the
opposite of "out of their wits".1 |
Ask them what they ail,
or who brought them in this stay? |
= ie. "I asked
them". = "to this condition
or situation." |
|
20 |
They answer not at all, but
"alack!" and "wellaway!" |
= "do not answer
me". = an ancient cry of lament.1 |
When I saw it booted not, out at doors
I hied me, |
21: "when I saw
how useless it was (booted not) to |
|
22 |
And caught a slip of bacon, when
I saw none spied me, |
= ie. stole. = thin strip.1 |
Which I intend not far hence, unless my purpose
fail, |
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24 |
Shall serve me for a shoeing horn to
draw on two pots of ale. |
24: shoeing horn
= older name for a shoe horn, which along with its still modern
meaning was also used to refer to an appetizer,1 but more likely
referring here to something that can "facilitate a transaction"
(OED, def. 2b), meaning that Diccon expects to trade the bacon for alcohol. |
Scene Endings in Gammer
Gurton's Needle:
the scenes of our play do not always end sharply with all the characters
exiting the stage; when one or more characters newly join those already on
stage, our author usually begins a new scene. |
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ACT I, SCENE II. |
||
[Still on Stage: Diccon, standing on the
street.] |
Still on Stage: whenever characters remain on stage from the
end of the previous scene, such will be noted in a stage direction in
brackets, all added by the editor. |
|
Enter Hodge from
off-stage. |
Entering Character: Hodge is a servant of Gammer Gurton's, and
specifically a farm or field labourer.4 Hodge is returning home
after having spent the day toiling on Gammer's lands, but he first runs into
Diccon on the street. |
|
1 |
Hodge. See, so cham arrayed with dabbling in the
dirt! |
= "see how soiled
(arrayed)5 I am (cham) from |
2 |
She that set me to ditching, ich
would she had the squirt! |
= "I (ich)
hope that she who set me to smearing myself in the mud (ditching)
gets the runs!" Hodge is referring to his mistress, Gammer Gurton. |
Was never poor soul that such a life had? |
||
4 |
Gog's bones!
this vilthy glay hase dressed me too bad! |
4: Gog's bones
= ie. "God's bones", an oath; Hodge generally, but not completely,
avoids using God's name explicitly in his oaths, typically employing the
euphemism Gog. |
Gog's soul! see how this stuff tears! |
= referring to his
clothing. |
|
6 |
Ich were better to be a bearward, and
set to keep bears! |
= ie. a bear-keeper,
one who is in charge of caring for a bear, which would be used in such public
spectacles as bear-baiting; presumably a profession in which one's clothes
run on the ragged side. |
By the mass,
here is a gash, a shameful hole indeed! |
7: Hodge points out
the large tear in the buttocks of his |
|
8 |
And one stitch tear furder, a man may
thrust in his head. |
= 16th century
alternate spelling for further, perhaps |
meant to sound dialectical.1 |
||
10 |
Dic. By my father's soul, Hodge, if I should now be sworn, |
|
I cannot choose but say thy breech is
foul betorn. |
= ie. breeches,
probably referring to a loose garment |
|
12 |
But the next remedy in such a case
and hap |
12: next
= most obvious or direct.1 |
Is to planch on a piece as broad
as thy cap. |
13: planch
= "attach".1 |
|
14 |
piece = scrap of cloth
used for mending, ie. patch.1 |
|
Hodge. Gog's soul, man, 'tis not yet two days fully ended, |
||
16 |
Since my dame Gurton (cham sure) these
breeches amended; |
= "I am
sure". = ie. mended, repaired. |
But cham made such a drudge to trudge
at every need, |
= "but I am
forced to do the most menial of tasks whenever a need arises". |
|
18 |
Chwold
rend it though it were stitched with sturdy packthread. |
18: "I would (chwold)
tear these breeches even if they |
20 |
Dic. Hodge, let thy breeches go, and speak and tell me soon, |
20: let thy
breeches go = "forget about your breeches |
What devil aileth Gammer Gurton and Tib her
maid to frown? |
= ie. "thus causing them to frown." |
|
22 |
||
Hodge. Tush, man, th'art deceived: 'tis their daily look: |
= "thou
art", ie. "you are". =
"that is how they look |
|
24 |
They cow'r so over
the coals, their eyes be bleared with smoke. |
= crouch. = ie. of the fire. |
26 |
Dic. Nay, by the mass, I perfectly perceived as I came hether, |
= clearly saw. = alternate spelling for hither
(meaning |
That either Tib and her dame hath been by
the ears together, |
= ie. her mistress,
Gammer. = ie. fighting.1 |
|
28 |
Or else as great a matter, as thou shalt
shortly see. |
= ie. something of the
same magnitude has occurred. |
30 |
Hodge. Now, ich beseech our Lord they never better agree! |
= "I". = get along. |
32 |
Dic. By Gog's soul, there they sit as still as stones in the
streite, |
32: as Hodge and Diccon
"walk" down the street, they "arrive" at Gammer's house,
where Gammer and Tib are seen sitting dejectedly outside. |
As though they had been taken with
fairies, or else with some |
33: taken with
= ie. charmed by. |
|
34 |
||
Hodge. Gog's heart! I durst have laid my cap to a crown, |
35: durst
= dared. |
|
36 |
Ch'would learn of some prancome
as soon as ich came to town. |
36: "that I would
learn about some strange occurrence |
38 |
Dic. Why, Hodge, art thou inspired? or didst thou
thereof hear? |
38: "why, Hodge, did
you get knowledge of what happened by divine inspiration (inspired)?
Or did someone in town already tell you about it?" |
40 |
Hodge. Nay, but ich saw such a wonder, as ich saw |
40-44: Hodge explains
that he saw a cow acting in a bizarre manner; observance of such unnatural
phenomena was generally taken to be an omen of some other undesirable event. |
Tom Tankard's cow (by Gog's bones) she set
me up her sail, |
= humorous metaphor of
the cow raising its tail as if it were the sail of a ship anticipating some
movement. |
|
42 |
And flinging about his half
acre, fisking with her tail, |
42: flinging
= violently flying about, kicking, etc.1 |
As though there had been in her arse a
swarm of bees; |
= this most English of
vulgarisms is at least 1000 years |
|
44 |
And chad not cried
"tphrowh, whore," she’ad leapt out of his |
44: "and had I
not cried out, 'tphrowh, you whore', she (the cow) would have leaped out of
Tom's pasture". |
46 |
Dic. Why, Hodge, lies the cunning in Tom Tankard's
cow's tail? |
46: Diccon humorously
wonders if the cow's tail was the key to its prophetic behaviour. |
48 |
Hodge. Well, ich chave hard some say such tokens
do not fail. |
48: ich chave =
"I have"; a grammatical "blunder" by the author, as
Brett-Smith calls it, for its redundancy, since chave alone
means "I have". |
But ca[n]st thou not tell, in faith,
Diccon, why she frowns, or |
49: tell
= the original edition prints till here; perhaps intended as
dialect, perhaps just an error. |
|
50 |
Hath no man stolen her ducks or hens,
or gelded Gib, her cat? |
50: no man
= ie. some man. |
52 |
Dic. What devil can I tell, man, I could not have one word! |
= ie. "get one
word (of explanation) out of them!" |
They gave no more heed to
my talk than thou wouldst to a lord. |
53: the point of the
line is not completely clear: Diccon |
|
54 |
||
Hodge. Ich cannot still but muse, what marvelous thing it
is: |
55: still
= refrain, ie. help.1 |
|
56 |
Chill in
and know myself what matters are amiss. |
= "I will go
in". = find out. |
58 |
Dic. Then farewell, Hodge, a while, since thou dost inward |
58: inward haste
= hurry inside. |
For I will into
the good wife Chat's, to feel how the ale doth taste. |
59: I will into
= ie. "I will go into"; note the common grammatical construction of
this clause: in the presence of a verb of intent (will), the
verb of action (go) is often omitted. |
|
60 |
||
[Diccon exits into
Chat's tavern. |
61: Diccon, taking his
stolen bacon with him, exits |
|
ACT I, SCENE III. |
||
[Still on Stage: Hodge, standing on the
street |
||
in front of Gammer's house.] |
||
1 |
Hodge. Cham aghast, by the mass, ich
wot not what to do. |
= "I am
terrified".1 = "I know". |
2 |
Chad need bless me well
before ich go them to. |
2: Hodge needs a
blessing to protect him from what- |
Perchance some felon sprit may haunt
our house indeed; |
= cruel or terrible.1 |
|
4 |
And then chwere but a noddy to
venture where cha' no need. |
4: "in which case
I would be a fool (noddy)2 to take a |
6 |
Enter Tib from
Gammer's house. |
Entering Character: Tib is Gammer Gurton's maid. |
8 |
Tib. Cham worse than mad, by
the mass, to be at this stay! |
8: Cham
= "I am". |
Cham chid, cham blamed, and beaten, all
th' hours on the day; |
= rebuked. |
|
10 |
Lamed and hunger-storved, pricked up
all in jags, |
10: storved
= obsolete spelling for "starved". |
Having no patch to hide my back, save
a few rotten rags! |
= ie. article of
clothing.1
= except for. |
|
12 |
||
Hodge. I say, Tib, if thou be Tib, as I trow sure thou be, |
= surely believe. |
|
14 |
What devil make-ado is this, between
our dame and thee? |
= uproar.1 =
mistress, ie. Gammer. |
16 |
Tib. Gog's bread, Hodge, thou had a good turn, thou wert |
= "goodness,
Hodge, you were fortunate not to have |
It had been better for some of us to have been
hence a mile; |
= "a mile away
from here". |
|
18 |
My gammer is so out of course, and
frantic all at once, |
18-19: Gammer has been
so put out by some yet |
That Cock, our boy, and
I, poor wench, have felt it on our bones. |
undisclosed
development, that she has taken to beating her two servants who had remained
at home this day, Tib and Cock. |
|
20 |
||
Hodge. What is the matter, say on, Tib, whereat she taketh |
= "for
which".1 |
|
22 |
||
Tib. She is undone, she saith, (alas!) her joy and life is gone! |
= ruined. |
|
24 |
If she hear not of
some comfort, she is, faith, but dead; |
24: comfort
= comforting word or news. |
Shall never
come within her lips one inch of meat ne bread. |
25: Shall never
= ie. "never again shall". |
|
26 |
||
Hodge. By'r lady, cham not very glad
to see her in this dump; |
27: By'r lady
= "by our Lady", an oath, referring to the |
|
28 |
Chold a noble her stool hath fallen, and she hath
broke her rump. |
28: Chold a
noble = "I bet (hold) a noble"; a noble
was a gold coin worth half a mark, or 6s 8d.1,3 |
30 |
Tib. Nay, and that were the worst, we would not greatly care, |
= if. |
For bursting of her huckle-bone,
or breaking of her chair; |
31: bursting
= breaking.5 |
|
32 |
But greater, greater, is her grief, as, Hodge,
we shall all feel! |
= ie. by receiving
further corporal punishment. |
34 |
Hodge. Gog's wounds, Tib, my gammer has never lost her |
34: one wonders if a
line was lost here; how did Hodge |
36 |
Tib. Her nee'le! |
|
38 |
Hodge. Her nee'le? |
|
40 |
Tib. Her nee'le! by Him that made me, it is true, Hodge, I |
= an oath, referring
to God. |
42 |
Hodge. Gog's sacrament! I would she had lost th' arte |
= wish. = "the heart"; arte
is an alternate, Middle |
The devil, or else his dame, they ought her, sure a shame! |
43: The devil,
or else his dame = variation of the common expression, the
devil and his dam, in which dam refers to the devil's
mother. |
|
44 |
How a murrion came this chance, say Tib, unto our dame? |
44: "tell me Tib,
how the hell did this happen to our mistress?" |
46 |
Tib. My gammer sat her down on her pes, and bad me |
46: pes
= likely a variation of pess, meaning "hassock", a
cushion stuffed with straw.3 |
And by and by, a vengeance in it,
or she had take two stitches |
47: "and right
away (by and by), a pox on it, before she had made two
stitches". |
|
48 |
To clap a clout upon thine arse,
by chance aside she leers, |
= "to patch or
mend the backside of your breeches with a patch, she happened to glance to
the side, ie. away from her work". |
And Gib, our cat, in the
milk-pan she spied over head and ears. |
49:" and she saw
Gib the cat immersed (over head and ears) in the milk pan
(where it should not have been)." |
|
50 |
"Ah, whore! out, thief!" she
cried aloud, and swapt the |
50: Gammer screamed at
the cat. |
Up went her staff, and out leapt Gib at doors into the town. |
51: Up went her
staff = ie. she raised her walking stick to swat the cat with. |
|
52 |
And since that time, was never wight could
set their eyes |
= ie. "no one
has" |
Gog's malison, chave Cock and I bid
twenty times light on it. |
= "twenty times
have Cock and I called down God's |
|
54 |
curse (malison) on
it." |
|
Hodge. And is not then my breeches sewed up,
to-morrow |
||
56 |
||
Tib. No, in faith, Hodge, thy breeches lie for all this never
|
57: in faith
= truly. |
|
58 |
||
Hodge. Now a vengeance light on all the sort that better |
59-60: possibly an
aside: "a plague on everything and everyone who should have attended to
the needle more |
|
60 |
The cat, the house, and Tib our maid, that
better should have |
carefully, including
the cat, the house, and Tib, who should have swatted at the cat
instead!" |
See where she cometh crawling! − come on, in twenty devils' |
61: Hodge sees the
door to Gammer's house open, and Gammer crawls onto the stage, searching for
the needle. |
|
62 |
Ye have made a fair day's work, have
you not? pray you, say! |
= good,
successful. = "I ask you, tell
me!" |
ACT I, SCENE IV. |
||
[Still on Stage: Hodge and Tib in front of
Gammer's house.] |
||
Gammer Gurton has just
crawled out of the front door |
Entering Characters: we finally meet our elderly mistress, Gammer
Gurton. Gammer should generally be imagined as carrying her walking
stick with her, though the present scene may be an exception, since she is
crawling around on all fours. |
|
1 |
Gamm. Alas, Hodge, alas! I may well curse and ban |
= damn or curse.1,2 |
2 |
This day, that ever I saw it, with Gib
and the milk-pan; |
= ie. along with. |
For these and ill-luck together, as knoweth
Cock, my boy, |
= ie. servant-boy. |
|
4 |
Have stack away my dear nee'le, and
robbed me of my joy, |
= hidden; the OED
identifies stack as the past tense |
My fair long straight nee'le, that was mine
only treasure; |
||
6 |
The first day of my sorrow is, and last end of
my pleasure! |
6: "today is the
first day of my sorrow, and the end of |
8 |
Hodge. [Aside] |
8: Hazlitt suggests
lines 9-10 are spoken as an aside. |
Might ha' kept it, when ye had it; but fools
will be fools still: |
= always. |
|
10 |
Lose that is vast in your hands, ye
need not, but ye will. |
10: "it was
unnecessary to lose that which you had |
12 |
Gamm. Go hie thee, Tib, and run thou, whore, to th'
end |
12: hie thee
= "hurry yourself". |
Didst carry out dust in
thy lap? seek where thou pourest it down; |
||
14 |
And as thou sawest me roking in the
ashes where I mourned, |
14: as =
just as. |
So see in all the heap of dust thou leave no straw unturned. |
15: unusual variation
of leave no stone unturned, |
|
16 |
||
Tib. That chall, Gammer, swith and tite, and
soon be here again! |
17: chall
= "I shall". |
|
18 |
||
Gamm. Tib, stoop and look down to the ground − to it, |
19: to it =
"get to it". |
|
20 |
The dash after ground is a
logical addition by Whitworth, as the second instruction is directed at
Hodge. |
|
[Exit Tib into the
house.] |
||
22 |
||
Hodge. Here is a pretty matter, to see this gear
how it goes: |
23: pretty
= awkward, deplorable.1 |
|
24 |
By Gog's soul, I thenk you would lose
your arse, and it were |
24: thenk
= a Middle English spelling of think. |
Your nee'le lost? it is pity you should lack care
and endless |
= anxiety; the
sentence is sarcastic and ironic. |
|
26 |
Gog's death, how shall my breeches be sewed? |
|
Shall I go thus to-morrow? |
= ie. "go about
like this". Hodge presumably gestures |
|
28 |
||
Gamm. Ah, Hodge, Hodge! if that ich could find my nee'le, |
29: ich
= I. |
|
30 |
Chould
sew thy breeches, ich promise thee, with full good |
30: Chould
= "I would". |
And set a patch on either knee should last
this moneths twain. |
= "which would
last for the next two (twain) months." |
|
32 |
Now God and good Saint Sithe, I pray to
send it home again! |
32: Saint Sithe =
two, or possibly three, candidates exist for the identity of this saint: |
34 |
Hodge. Whereto served your hands and eyes, but
this your |
= ie. "for what
purpose do you have". |
What devil had you else to do? ye keep, ich
wot, no sheep! |
= "I know". |
|
36 |
Cham fain
abroad to dig and delve, in water, mire, and clay, |
36-39: Hodge expresses
a slight variation of a modern stereotypical spouse's or parent's complaint:
"I slave all day at work in the muck and mire, while all of you sit at
home all day doing nothing, and you can't even do something as simple as not
lose a needle." |
Sossing and possing in the dirt still from day to day. |
= synonyms for
"splashing".1 |
|
38 |
A hundred things that be abroad, cham set
to see them weel, |
38: ie. "I am
sent to take care of a hundred different things away from the house (abroad)". |
And four of you sit idle at home, and
cannot keep a nee'le! |
= ie. Gammer, Tib,
Cock and the cat. |
|
40 |
||
Gamm. My nee'le, alas, ich lost it, Hodge, what time ich me |
41: what time
ich me = "at the time I". |
|
42 |
To save the milk set up
for thee, which Gib, our cat, hath wasted. |
42: Gammer explains
she lost the needle while trying to |
44 |
Hodge. The devil he burst both Gib and Tib, with all the rest! |
= "may he break
or smash".2 |
Cham always sure of the worst end, whoever
have the best! |
45: Hodge always
suffers the worst of any situation, |
|
46 |
Where ha' you been fidging abroad,
since you your nee'le lost? |
= moving about
restlessly.1
= away from home. |
48 |
Gamm. Within the house, and at the door, sitting by this |
|
Where I was looking a
long hour, before these folks came here; |
= Whitworth suggests
Gammer is referring to the audience; such breaking of the "fourth
wall" was common in interludes of the early 16th century, writes
Whitworth (p. 15).8 |
|
50 |
But, wellaway, all was in vain, my
nee'le is never the near! |
= common term
expressing regret. |
52 |
Hodge.
[Getting down on his hands and knees] |
52: Hodge begins his
own search for the needle. |
Set me a candle, let me seek, and grope wherever it be. |
= "light a candle
for me"; it is evening, the sky darken- |
|
54 |
Gog's heart, ye be foolish (ich think), you know
it not when |
= "you don't even
recognize it". |
56 |
Gamm. Come hether, Cock: what, Cock, I say! |
56, 60: a couple of
unrhymed lines; any rhyme between |
58 |
Enter Cock from
Gammer's house. |
Entering Character: Cock is Gammer's young boy- |
60 |
Cock. How, Gammer? |
= "what is
it". |
62 |
Gamm. Go, hie thee soon, and grope behind the
old brass pan, |
= ie. "move
quickly". = reach. |
Which thing when thou hast done, |
||
64 |
There shalt thou find an old shoe, wherein, if
thou look well, |
|
Thou shalt find lying an inch of a white tallow
candle; |
= candle made from
animal fat.1 |
|
66 |
Light it, and bring it tite away. |
= ie. right away. |
68 |
Cock. That shall be done anon. |
= straightaway. |
70 |
Cock exits into the
house. |
|
72 |
Gamm. Nay, tarry, Hodge, till thou hast light, and then we'll |
72: tarry
= wait. |
74 |
Hodge. [Calling into the house] |
|
Come away,
ye whoreson boy, are ye asleep? ye must have |
75: Come away
= "hurry up!"1 |
|
76 |
||
Cock. [From within] |
||
78 |
Ich cannot get the candle light: here is
almost no fire. |
78: Cock has been
trying and failing to get the candle |
80 |
Hodge. [Rising] |
|
Chill hold thee a
penny, chill make thee come, if that ich may |
81: "I will (chill)
bet (hold) you a penny, I will get you |
|
82 |
Art deaf, thou whoreson
boy? Cock, I say; why, canst not hear? |
|
84 |
Gamm. Beat him not, Hodge, but help the boy, and come |
84: responding to
Gammer's entreaty, Hodge enters the house, where he will take the candle from
the boy and work to try to light it from the ashes. |
86 |
[Exit Hodge into
the house.] |
|
ACT I, SCENE V. |
||
[Still on Stage: Gammer in front of her
house.] |
||
Enter Tib from the
house. |
Entering Character: Tib returns from her search for |
|
1 |
Gamm. How now, Tib? quick, let's hear what news thou |
= alternate spelling
for hither, used to rhyme with together, the last
word of the previous scene; a clear indication of how many of the scenes
seamlessly meld together on the stage. |
2 |
||
Tib. Chave
tossed and tumbled yonder heap over and over again, |
3: Tib has finished
pouring through the dust pile, |
|
4 |
And winnowed it through my fingers, as men
would winnow |
|
Not so much as a hen's turd, but in
pieces I tare it; |
5: turd
= an ancient word, first appearing in English |
|
6 |
Or whatsoever clod or clay I found, I did not
spare it, |
|
Looking within and eke without, to find
your nee'le, alas! |
= also. |
|
8 |
But all in vain and without help, your nee'le is
where it was. |
= remains wherever it
has been. |
10 |
Gamm. Alas, my nee'le, we shall never meet! adieu, adieu, |
10: for aye
= forever. |
12 |
Tib. Not so, Gammer, we might it find, if we knew where it
lay. |
12: possibly the least
helpful comment ever. |
14 |
Cock enters from the
house. |
|
16 |
Cock. Gog's cross, Gammer, if ye will laugh, look in but at |
16: ie. "want
to" |
And see how Hodge lieth
tumbling and tossing amids the flour, |
= "in the middle
of the floor"; flour was a dialectical |
|
18 |
Raking there some fire to find among the ashes dead, |
form of floor.1 |
Where there is not one spark so big as a pin's
head: |
||
20 |
At last in a dark corner two sparks he thought
he sees, |
|
Which were indeed nought else but Gib
our cat's two eyes. |
= nothing. |
|
22 |
"Puff!" quod
Hodge, thinking thereby to have fire without doubt; |
= quoth, said. |
With that Gib shut her two eyes, and so the
fire was out; |
||
24 |
And by and by them opened, even as they were before; |
= ie. "and then
immediately or again". |
With that the sparks appeared even as they had
done of yore; |
= an expression
normally meaning "in ancient times" |
|
26 |
And even as Hodge blew the fire (as he did
think), |
26: Hodge was blowing
on the cat, when he thought |
Gib, as she felt the blast, straightway began
to wink; |
= blink. |
|
28 |
Till Hodge fell of swearing, as came
best to his turn, |
= ie. fell to. = as best suited him, his purpose, or his |
The fire was sure bewitched, and therefore
would not burn: |
29: Cock is
paraphrasing Hodge's cries in this line. |
|
30 |
At last Gib up the stairs, among the
old posts and pins, |
= ie. raced up. |
And Hodge he hied him after, till broke
were both his shins: |
= chased. = he had hurt his shins, ie. his legs.1 |
|
32 |
Cursing and swearing oaths were never of
his making, |
32: the sense is,
"which he could not possibly have |
That Gib would fire the house, if that
she were not taken. |
= ie. set the house on
fire. = caught. |
|
34 |
||
Gamm. See, here is all the thought that the foolish urchin |
= ie. Cock. |
|
36 |
And Tib, me-think, at his elbow almost as
merry maketh. |
|
This is all the wit ye have, when
others make their moan: − |
= intelligence. = ie. are lamenting. |
|
38 |
Come down, Hodge, where art thou? and let the
cat alone. |
|
40 |
Hodge. [Appears above.] |
40: I have adopted
Clements' suggestion that Hodge |
Gog's heart, help and come up! Gib in her tail
hath fire, |
||
42 |
And is like to burn all, if she get a little higher! |
= likely. |
"Come down," quoth you? nay,
then you might count me a |
43: quoth you?
= "you say?" |
|
44 |
The house cometh down on
your heads, if it take once the thatch. |
= ie. the fire
catches. |
46 |
Gamm. It is the cat's eyes, fool, that shineth in the dark. |
|
48 |
Hodge. Hath the cat, do you think, in every eye a spark? |
|
50 |
Gamm. No, but they shine as like fire as ever man see. |
|
52 |
Hodge. By the mass, and she burn all, you sh' bear the |
52: and she burn
all = "if she burns everything down". |
54 |
Gamm. Come down and help to seek here our nee'le, |
54: that it were = so that it can be. |
Down, Tib, on thy knees, I say! Down, Cock, to
the ground! |
||
56 |
||
Hodge enters from the
house. |
||
58 |
||
To God I make a vow, and so to good Saint
Anne, |
= Anne
was the mother of the Virgin Mary. |
|
60 |
A candle shall they have a-piece, get
it where I can, |
60-61: Gammer promises
to light dedicatory candles |
If I may my nee'le find in one place or in
other. |
if only God and Saint Anne will help her
find her |
|
62 |
needle; the early editors note that this
is a Roman |
|
Hodge. Now a vengeance on Gib light, on Gib and Gib's |
||
64 |
And all the generation of cats both far
and near! − |
= Whitworth suggests
"race".8 |
Look on the ground, whoreson, thinks thou the
nee'le is here? |
65: Hodge addresses
Cock; Whitworth believes the dialogue from here to line 70 suggests that Cock
and Tib are picking pieces of filth, including the mystery clod referred to
by Tib in line 70, off of Hodge's dirty clothes |
|
66 |
||
Cock. By my troth,
Gammer, me-thought your nee'le here I saw, |
= truly. |
|
68 |
But when my fingers touched it, I felt it was
a straw. |
|
70 |
Tib. See, Hodge, what's this? may it not be within it? |
70: Tib points to
something suspicious she sees stuck |
to Hodge's clothing. |
||
72 |
Hodge. Break it, fool, with thy hand, and see and thou canst |
|
74 |
Tib. Nay, break it you, Hodge, according to your word. |
= the sense seems to
be, "since you are the one who |
suggested it;"
Tib doesn't want to touch the unknown material, so Hodge picks it off
instead, to his immediate regret. |
||
76 |
Hodge. Gog's sides, fie! it stinks! it is a cat's turd! |
|
It were well done to make thee eat it, by the mass! |
= it would be a good
deed. |
|
78 |
||
Gamm. This matter amendeth not;
my nee'le is still where it |
= ie. "this
situation has not fixed or resolved itself." |
|
80 |
Our candle is at an end, let us all in
quite |
= ie. go in. |
And come another time, when we have more
light. |
81: Clements notes
that it has been getting darker in |
|
82 |
||
[Exeunt all into
Gammer's house.] |
End of Act I: the only time the stage is completely vacated
is at the end of each act; we may assume a bit of music was performed between
acts: such a musical interlude between acts became the norm of the era's
plays. |
|
END OF ACT I. |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ACT II. |
||
First a Song. |
The Song: the original edition of Gammer introduces the
second Act by printing the following words, on the same line, in the same
large font: |
|
The ii Acte. Fyrste a Songe. |
||
The play's director may decide who the
singer or singers shall be, as no instructions are provided in the 1575
edition. |
||
1 |
Back
and side go bare, go bare, |
1-2: the singer begins
by describing how threadbare |
2 |
Both foot and hand go cold: |
his clothing is. |
But,
belly, God send thee good ale enough, |
||
4 |
Whether it be new or old. |
|
6 |
I cannot eat but little meat, |
= food. |
My
stomach is not good; |
||
8 |
But sure I think that
I can drink |
|
With
him that wears a hood. |
9: ie. "as much
as any friar";11 a satirical description |
|
10 |
Though I go bare, take ye no care, |
= "don't you
worry about it". |
I am
nothing a-cold; |
||
12 |
I stuff my skin so full within |
|
Of jolly good ale
and old. |
||
14 |
||
Back
and side go bare, go bare, |
||
16 |
Both foot and hand go cold: |
|
But,
belly, God send thee good ale enough, |
||
18 |
Whether it be new or old. |
|
20 |
I love no roast but a nut-brown toast, |
20-21: the lines
describe a traditional drink of spiced |
And a
crab laid in the fire. |
ale or wine containing roasted
crab-apples (crab) |
|
22 |
A little bread shall do me stead: |
= "satisfy or be
enough for me."1 |
Much
bread I not desire. |
||
24 |
No frost nor snow, no wind, I trow, |
= believe or know. |
Can
hurt me if I would; |
||
26 |
I am so wrapt, and throughly lapt |
26: wrapt
= the OED suggests "dressed" or "wrapped |
Of
jolly good ale and old. |
in a cloth"; but
"rapt", ie. enraptured, is also a possible |
|
28 |
interpretation.1
|
|
Back
and side go bare, go bare, |
||
30 |
Both foot and hand go cold: |
|
But,
belly, God send thee good ale enough, |
||
32 |
Whether it be new or old. |
|
34 |
And Tib my wife, that as her life |
34-35: "my wife
Tib, who loves good ale as much as |
Loveth well good ale to seek, |
she loves her life". This is not
the Tib of our play. |
|
36 |
Full oft drinks she, till ye may see |
= quite often. |
The
tears run down her cheek: |
||
38 |
Then doth she trowl to me the bowl, |
38: the phrase troll
(here written trowl) the bowl |
Even
as a malt-worm should; |
= heavy drinker.2 |
|
40 |
And saith, sweet heart, I took my part |
|
Of
this jolly good ale and old. |
||
42 |
||
Back
and side go bare, go bare, |
||
44 |
Both foot and hand go cold: |
|
But,
belly, God send thee good ale enough, |
||
46 |
Whether it be new or old. |
|
48 |
Now let them drink, till they nod and wink, |
= ie. "fall
asleep" or "doze off"; to wink was to close |
Even
as good fellows should do; |
one's eyes. |
|
50 |
They shall not miss to have the bliss |
|
Good
ale doth bring men to; |
||
52 |
And all poor souls that have scoured bowls, |
= cleaned out their
drinking vessels, ie. finished their drinks; one is tempted to wonder if
there is also a pun here, as scoured bowls would sound awfully
like scoured bowels, a reference to one's digestive tract being
purged with an emetic. |
Or
have them lustly trolled, |
= cheerfully passed
around.1 |
|
54 |
God save the lives of them and their wives, |
|
Whether they be young or old. |
||
56 |
||
Back
and side go bare, go bare, |
||
58 |
Both foot and hand go cold: |
|
But,
belly, God send thee good ale enough, |
||
60 |
Whether it be new or old. |
|
ACT II, SCENE I. |
||
Diccon enters from
Chat's tavern. |
||
1 |
Dic. Well done, by Gog's malt! well sung and well said!
− |
1: Diccon compliments
the musicians and the singers. |
2 |
Come on, mother Chat, as thou art [a] true
maid, |
2-4: standing outside
of the tavern run by Dame Chat, |
One fresh pot of ale let's see, to make an end |
3-4: to
make…defend = Diccon wants alcohol to dull |
|
4 |
Against this cold weather my naked arms to
defend: |
4: Brett-Smith
observes that a bedlam such as Diccon |
This gear it warms the soul: now, wind,
blow on thy worst, |
5: Diccon's ale
arrives as he speaks this line. |
|
6 |
And let us drink and swill till that our
bellies burst! |
|
Now were he a wise man by cunning could define |
7-8: "now he
would be a wise man who could, through |
|
8 |
Which way my journey lieth, or where Diccon
will dine: |
his skill or intelligence, tell me where
I am going |
But one good turn I have: be it by
night or day, |
= circumstance.1 |
|
10 |
South, east, north or west, I am never out
of my way. |
= ie. heading in the
wrong direction. |
12 |
Enter Hodge from
Gammer's house, |
|
carrying a piece of
bread. |
||
14 |
||
Hodge. Chym goodly rewarded, cham
I not, do you think? |
15-18: Hodge bemoans
his failure to get any dinner this |
|
16 |
Chad a goodly dinner for
all my sweat and swink. |
= "I
had". = labour, drudgery.3 |
Neither butter, cheese, milk, onions, flesh,
nor fish, |
= meat. |
|
18 |
Save this poor piece of barley-bread:
'tis a pleasant costly dish! |
= except for. = typical coarse fare of the lower classes. |
20 |
Dic. Hail, fellow Hodge, and well to fare with thy meat, |
20: "greetings,
friend Hodge, I wish you a pleasant |
But by thy words, as I
them smelled, thy daintrels be not many. |
21: "but based on
what you said, as I understand |
|
22 |
||
Hodge. Daintrels, Diccon? Gog's soul, man, save this piece |
23: save
= except for. |
|
24 |
Cha bit no bit this livelong day, no crumb come in my head: |
24: Cha bit no
bit = "I have bitten not a bite". |
My guts they yawl, crawl, and
all my belly rumbleth, |
= cry out.1 =
rumble.1 |
|
26 |
The puddings
cannot lie still, each one over other tumbleth. |
= ie. "my bowels
(ie. entrails or intestines)".1 |
By Gog's heart, cham so vexed, and in
my belly penned, |
27: cham so
vexed = "I am so troubled or afflicted". |
|
28 |
Chould
one piece were at the spital-house, another at the |
28: no author has
tried to interpret this obscure line; perhaps Hodge means he wishes parts of
his digestive tract were located elsewhere, where they would stand a better
chance of being fed. |
30 |
Dic. Why, Hodge, was there none at home thy dinner for to
set? |
30: "to fix you
dinner?" |
32 |
Hodge. Gog's bread, Diccon, ich came too late, was nothing |
32: Hodge arrived home
too late, there was no food |
Gib (a foul fiend might on her light!) licked
the milk-pan so |
33-34: humorous: Gib
had so thoroughly licked the |
|
34 |
See, Diccon, 'twas not so well washed this
seven year, as |
not been cleaned so well for seven
years. |
A pestilence light on all ill-luck! chad
thought, yet for all this, |
35-36: "damn all
bad luck! Yet despite this, I had |
|
36 |
Of a morsel of bacon
behind the door at worst should not miss: |
remembered the slab of bacon that was
hanging |
But when ich sought a slip to cut, as ich
was wont to do, |
= strip or slice. = "I was accustomed". |
|
38 |
Gog's soul, Diccon, Gib, our cat, had eat the
bacon too! |
|
40 |
[Which bacon Diccon
stole, as is declared before.] |
40: this reminder for
the reader actually appeared in the |
42 |
Dic. "Ill-luck," quod he!
− marry, swear it, Hodge this day, |
42: "Ill-luck,"
quod he! = "'bad luck', he says!"; as Diccon speaks this
likely aside, he no doubt chuckles as he recalls that he himself was the
bacon-thief! |
Thou rose not on thy right side, or else blessed thee not well. |
= early version of the
expression, "to get up on |
|
44 |
Thy milk slopped up! thy bacon filched!
that was too bad |
44: slopped up
= lapped.1 |
46 |
Hodge. Nay, nay, there was a fouler fault, my Gammer |
46: fault
= deficiency or error, ie. problem.1 |
Seest not how cham rent and torn, my heels, my
knees, |
47: Hodge gestures
towards his shredded clothing, |
|
48 |
Chad thought, as ich sat
by the fire, help here and there a stitch; |
48: Hodge had expected
that, if nothing else, at least his |
But there ich was pooped indeed. |
= cheated or deceived.1,3 |
|
50 |
||
Dic. Why, Hodge? |
||
52 |
||
Hodge.
Boots not, man, to tell. |
53: "it is
useless to talk about it." |
|
54 |
Cham so dressed amongst a
sort of fools, chad better be in hell. |
54: "I am (so
poorly) treated (dressed) amongst this |
My Gammer (cham ashamed to say) by God, served
me not |
55: weele
= well. |
|
56 |
||
Dic. How so, Hodge? |
||
58 |
||
Hodge. Hase she not gone, trowest
now, and lost her nee'le? |
= has. = ie. "can you believe it".1 |
|
60 |
||
Dic. Her eel, Hodge? who fished of late? that was a
dainty |
61: we may presume
that Diccon has deliberately |
|
62 |
||
Hodge. Tush, tush, her nee'le, her nee'le, her nee'le, man! |
63: flesh
= meat. |
|
64 |
A little thing with an
hole in the end, as bright as any siller, |
= silver, an obsolete
spelling. |
Small, long, sharp at the point, and straight as
any pillar. |
||
66 |
||
Dic. I know not what a devil thou meanest, thou bring'st me |
67: doubt
= uncertainty (as to what Hodge is talking |
|
68 |
||
Hodge. Knowest not with what Tom-tailor's man sits |
69: man
= employee or journeyman, one who has |
|
70 |