[Sca-cooks] Brown Ale -

[Stefan li Rous]

<<< The nut-brown ale, the nut-brown ale,
    Puts down all drink when it is stale!
    The toast, the nutmeg, and the ginger
    Will make a sighing man a singer.
    Ale gives a buffet in the head,
    But ginger under-props the brain;
    When ale would strike a strong man dead
    Then nutmeg tempers it again.
    The nut-brown ale, the nut-brown ale,
    Puts down all drink when it is stale!

John Marston (1575?-1634)

My read on the line "puts down all drink when it is stale" means, even
when it's gone bad, it's still better than anything else around.

Selene >>>

"stale" in this case has nothing to do with it being bad. I believe it  
means still. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find my evidence for this  
definition in the Florilegium from when we discussed it before.

Can someone look this up in the OED?

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****