Be it ever so humble, there is...

[Tom]

Hi

Could you please shed some light on the bold part? Is it old English?

"Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home."

Tom

[Alan]

Hi Tom,

This be it ever so humble is an example of the subjunctive and means: It doesn't matter how modest it is. You could check on my piece on the subjunctive at:

ESL Lesson: Subjunctive
http://www.english-test.net/lessons/15/index.html

The line comes from an old song but I don't know the origin.

Alan
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