98 CAPRIFOLIACE^ 



"Laurel for a garland, Elder for a disgrace," says this old writer ; and 

 in an elegiac verse of Spenser we find it included with the cypress as an 

 emblem of woe : — 



"Now bringen bitter Elder branches sere." 

 Piers Ploughman had, before this, said in his " Vision " — 



" Impe on an Elderne, and if thy apple be swete, 

 Muchel marvaile me thynketh :" 



" Imp " being the old word for graft. 



The Elder-tree is often said, especially when in blossom, to exhale impure 

 air. Its scent is certainly unpleasant, yet we doubt its unwholesomeness, 

 having spent many a day beneath its shadow. Pliny says that the leaves 

 when boiled are as good as other potherbs ; but we cannot recommend them, 

 though they may prove of much use Avhen laid among mole-hills, as they 

 appear to drive moles from their haunts in garden or park. Country 

 people also gather branches of Elder, and strike with them their flowering 

 shrubs or fruit-trees, and say that no insects will afterwards touch them. 

 For the same purpose they pour an infusion of the leaves over the plant. 



There is a cultivated variety of the Elder with variegated leaves in 

 shrubberies, and others Avith yellow, green, or white berries. Like our 

 common Elder, they grow with singular rapidity, but never arrive at any great 

 size. In the northern part of Scotland the berries seldom ripen, though the 

 tree thrives well in other respects. The name of Elder seems to be derived 

 from the Dutch Holder. The Germans call the plant Hohlunder, and it is 

 also known in Holland as the Vlierhoom. The Italians call the tree Samhuco ; 

 the French, Sureau ; the Spaniards, Saiico ; and the Russians, Biisina. 



It was a fancy in former times that Judas hanged himself upon an Elder- 

 tree, and not only Gerarde and other herbalists, but several poets, as Ben 

 Jonson, refer to the idea then prevalent. The well-known purplish-brown 

 fungus which grows in clusters on the bark of this tree, the HirneoJa auricula- 

 judie, is shaped very much like an ear, and is to this day called Jew's-ear, but 

 from the incidental mention of the plant in connection with the traitorous 

 disciple, it is probable that the modern name is a corruption of Judas' Ear. 

 Coles, in his work on the " Knowledge of Plants," says of this fungus, 

 " Jewes Eare is called in Latin Fungus Samhucinus, and Auricula Judce." He 

 adds, that these mushrooms are said to have grown on the tree ever since the 

 catastrophe referred to. This plant was supposed to have wondrous virtues, 

 and we find an old remedy for a cough in the following lines : — 



' ' For a cough take Judas' Eare 

 With the paring of a peare : 

 And drinke tliis without feare 

 If you will have reniedie." 



One of the old names for the Elder was Elian — still extant in this country 

 — or Ellhorn. Arnkiel says : " Our forefathers also held the Ellhorn holy, 

 wherefore, whosoever need to hew it down (or cut its branches) has first to 

 make request, ' Lady Ellhorn, give me some of thy wood, and I will give thee 

 some of mine when it grows in the forest '—the which with partly bended 

 knees, bare head and folded arms was ordinarily done, as I myself have often 



