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The Elderberry

The elderberry is one of the richest of the whole collection of berries in legendary lore, in mystical and practical charm, each part, from roots to flowers, giving out something of value as food or medicine, being possessed of indisputable medical properties, of remarkable qualities for flavouring or colouring, and as a food-in jelly, jams, etc., or wine, having unique elements of excellence. The elder, or Sambucus, belongs to the Natural Order Caprifoliaceæ, or Honeysuckle Family, and its name, Sambucus, seems a fit one throughout the centuries, since it was taken from the old Greek name for one of the ancient musical instruments and it has been much used in Scotland and England for the manufacture of certain musicgiving instruments, while boys all over the world know its inestimable value for whistles, and for pop-guns, or "pipes."

Tradition says that it was once a tree but cursed and dwarfed by the hanging of Judas upon it.

Other tradition goes further in claiming it as that of which the Cross was made, and even the mistletoe cannot lay greater claim to these storied reasons for being stunted.

The Sambucus ebulus, or Dwarf Elderberry, rather rare in the British Isles and almost unknown in America, possesses strong characteristics which make it desirable to avoid save under medical direction. In America the red-berried elder (Sambucus pubens) grows only in rocky woods of the more northern portions, but the black elderberry commonly known (S. Canadensis), with its striking, graceful clusters of flowers or fruit, is quite cosmopolitan (though, like the red-berried elder, masquerading under various nicknames, as "bourtree"), the black varieties being virtually the same.

However unbelievable may be the many traditions and charms connected with or said to be worked by the elder, one may approach understanding of the origin of these beliefs when even in these "enlightened" days it is claimed in Scotland and England that the leaves give out so strong and narcotic an odour or power that it is unsafe to sleep in their shade, and when, in America, the apparently innocent young leaf-buds are declared too much of a risk to put into the mouth. Possessed of such elements of possible danger, it might readily have once been considered its powers of evil were available for charms. The United States Dispensatory remarks (in list of Unofficial Remedies): "The juice of the berries has been used as an alterative in rheumatism, also as a laxative. The inner bark is in large doses emetic. It has been employed in dropsy, epilepsy, and various chronic diseases. The leaves are not without activity and the young leaf-buds are said to be "a violent and even unsafe purgative." The juice, also, of the root has been used in dropsy. There is so great an abundance of citric acid in the scarlet-fruited elder (Sambucus racemosa rubra), native of the south of Europe and Siberia, that M. Thibier Thibierge of Versailles proposed its use as a source of the commercial supply. Wine is made from both the flowers and berries (of the common black elder), the former rarely delicate, declared similar in bouquet and flavour to Frontignac. The juice of the berry is used to colour and adulterate other wines, and the berries supposed to improve ale, currant wine and jellies by their addition. Formerly they were made up into vinegars and sauces for meats; the flowers into ointment and elderflower water (the latter still used in perfumes and medicinal decoctions); the tiniest blooms stripped and separated to mix in with and lighten pancakes or muffins, and in France, as packing or filling for certain delicate apples, they still flavour richly and spicily and beautify a matter-of-fact present. The clustered, unopened buds of the flowers, and sometimes the unripe berries, were in olden days pickled to serve in the fashion of capers and a syrup or "rob" of the berries was considered excellent as a laxative, diuretic and cough medicine for children. Cooked, the young shoots seem to have none of the purgative qualities of the immature leaf-buds and the fruit uncooked is eaten in quantity with relish by Indians of western America although to whites its peculiar flavour makes it seem lacking until cooked with some form of spice or the acid of other fruit.