The buds of the lilac flowers are already showing their colour, promising elegance and beauty in a few weeks. Near them another bush, or small tree, is also pushing up flower-buds, not colourful as the lilac, but useful. This is the elder, a rather ungainly plant but one with a diverse contribution to make in spite of its often tawdry appearance. (It does now and then make a stately tree, but that is the exception, for it is often the bush of the scrapheap, the untidy corner of the yard). Its reputation is, in some cases, sinister, with connotations of witchcraft. Charles Nelson in his majestic Trees of Ireland tells us that the wood is cursed. You must never put elder wood on a fire because, if you burn it, you will see the Devil in the flame. Don't make boats or babies cradles out of it. In the latter case the fairies could easily steal the baby and leave a changeling in its place. These statements come under the heading of folklore, let it be said.
On the other hand, the elder can be useful and beneficial. From the schoolboy hollowing out the soft pith from a short length of twig to get a fine peashooter, to the cook in her kitchen, to the winemaker. It could be said that it is so useful, we take it for granted. The leaves in a room are said to keep out flies. Sometimes sprigs of it were put under the headbands of horses in the field for the same reason. The Henry Doubleday Research Station found the leaves could be used as a remedy against blackspot on roses and gooseberry and rose mildew. (Up to a pound of leaves in a quart of water, simmered, strained, cooled and then sprayed on). Also said to kill aphids. Elderflowers make a fine drink. There is a better use, some think. Dipped in batter and fried with your bacon or whatever, they add a lot to a routine meal. Flowers, of course, are kept on their stems, thus easy to handle. The berries, later, make a fine wine. And you can also have a chutney with blackberries and elderberries, according to Nelson.
We ought to be grateful for the abundance of these berries. Birds go for them voraciously, and that's why you find the bushes everywhere, sprung from the seeds in their droppings. Richard Mabey in Flora Britannica gives many examples of its uses. It was planted near dairies to keep flies away and also sited beside outside privies. Elder-flower water, he tells us has still a reputation as a skin-cleanser and he asserts that it is recognised as an eye lotion - presumably commercially produced. But it is principally for food, and he finds "the flower eaten straight off the bush is refreshing as icecream soda, but they are not to everyone's taste." Y