scrannel

scrannel

(ˈskrænəl)
adj
1. thin
2. harsh
[C17: probably from Norwegian skran lean. Compare scrawny]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
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They are sped; And when they list, their lean and flashy songs Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw; The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed, But, swoln with wind, and the rank mist they draw, Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread; Besides what the grim wolf with privy paw Daily devours apace, and nothing said.
I was looking for lines like Milton's wonderful: their lean and flashy songs grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw.
Their scrannel pipes are carefully attended to and often gently found wanting, as Alpers is both his own benign Corydon and his own judicial Meliboeus.