Note 195 — GAMMER GURTON'S NEEDLE.

i.e., Breaking. See Note on "King Henry IV.," Part II., edit. 1778, vol. v., p. 537.—S.

From the following passage, in a letter from Mr Sterne, dated August 11, 1767, it appears that the word was then still used in the same sense among the common people in the north of England. "My postilion has set me a-ground for a week, by one of my pistols bursting in his hand, which he, taking for granted to be quite shot off, he instantly fell upon his knees, and said, 'Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,' at which, like a good Christian, he stopped, not remembering any more of it; the affair was not so bad as he at first thought, for it has only bursten two of his fingers, he says."