The pole set up before ale-houses by way of “sign.” A bush was very often fixed to its top. A tavern.
“A garland had he set upon his head
As great as it werein for an ale-stake.”
Chaucer.
“I know many an ale-stake.”
Hawkins: English Drama, i. 100.
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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
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