666, 667. _gerland._ A _garland_ for an ale-stake was distinct from a
_bush_. The latter was made of ivy-leaves; and every tavern had an ivy-bush
hanging in front as its sign; hence the phrase, 'Good wine needs no bush,'
&c. But the _garland_, often used in addition to the _bush_, was made of
three equal hoops, at right angles to each other, and decorated with
ribands. It was also called a _hoop_. The sompnour wore only a _single_
hoop or circlet, adorned with large flowers (apparently roses), according
to his picture in the Ellesmere MS. Emelye, in the Knightes Tale, is
described as gathering white and red flowers to make 'a sotil gerland' for
her head; A. 1054. 'Garlands of flowers were often worn on festivals,
especially in ecclesiastical processions'; Rock, Church of our Fathers, ii.
72. Some garlands, worn on the head, were made of metal; see Riley,
Memorials of London, p. 133.
667. _ale-stake_, a support for a garland in front of an ale-house. For a
picture of an ale-stake with a garland, see Hotten's Book of Signboards.
The position of it was such that it did not stand upright, but projected
_horizontally_ from the side of a tavern at some height from the ground, as
shewn in Larwood and Hotten's Book of Signboards. Hence the enactments
made, that it should never extend above the roadway for more than seven
feet; see Liber Albus, ed. H. T. Riley, 1861, pp. 292, 389. Speght wrongly
explained _ale-stake_ as 'a Maypole,' and has misled many others, including
Chatterton, who thus was led to write the absurd line--'_Around_ the
ale-stake minstrels sing the song'; Ælla, st. 30. '_At_ the ale-stake' is
correct; see C. 321.