Phosphorus: Lucifer, the morning star that brings the day.
[49. PLAYS AND PAGEANTS. PART IV.]
Gammer (i.e. Old Mother) Gurton's Needle is a very rough old play about an old woman who lost her needle while mending a pair of breeches, and, after accusing everyone of stealing it, finds it after all in the garment itself. It was written some time before 1560. ('Gammer,' the French grand'-mère, grandmother, contracted into 'ganmer,' and then 'gammer.')
contortionist: one who twists himself into extraordinary attitudes to amuse the public.
octagonal: with eight sides.
prologue: the verses spoken before a play to introduce it to the audience.
Golden Lane: a street near the Barbican, turning out of Aldersgate Street.
Bankside, in Southwark, on the southern side of the Thames.