William Stevenson (4)

(1530–1575), English clergyman and presumed playwright of the early English language comedy Gammer Gurton's Needle. He is believed to have written the play "Gammer Gurton’s Needle", a five-act comedy in rhyming verse. This is generally regarded as the second English comedy, Nicholas Udall’s Roister Doister being the first. The plot centres on the loss of a needle which, after a long search, is eventually found in a servant’s breeches. The poems "Jolly Good Ale and Old" and "Back and Side Go Bare" are taken from this play.