LEAFLESS WOODS 191 



wild plums, the size of marbles, are gathered 

 and put down in spirits, their valuable astrin- 

 gent properties being fully understood by the 

 woodlanders. Then there is that time-honoured 

 Christmas drink, elderberry wine, the country 

 folks' nightcap, as it is called ; this is the real 

 recipe for it ; the so-called elder wine they 

 would not look at : 



A bushel of elderberries, the same of black- 

 berries, the same of sloes, or pickets, with loaf- 

 sugar not coarse moist according to taste. 

 This when properly made, and taken hot or 

 cold I prefer it cold is, as they say, not to 

 be sneezed at. Taken at night hot, with a slip 

 or two of bread in it, when the weather is bitter 

 cold, it is really, as they say, quite as good as 

 extra blankets. 



Then the " cider beyond compare," as they 

 term it, made from the choicest fruit, and the 

 effervescent gooseberry wine that requires so 

 much careful looking after, so that the bottle 

 shall not burst. No modern thermometers are to 

 be seen in these large cottages, yet very rarely 

 do things go wrong : for a bottle to burst is a 

 rare occurrence. The sale of their surplus fruit 

 enables them to buy loaf-sugar to make their 

 wines with. The presses and tubs, also the 



