“Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberry!” Was the “Your French soldier’s famous taunt in Monty Python and the Holy Grail meant as a slur on Englishness?
Elderberry wine does seem such an English thing. It’s even said that the English summer starts when the elder flowers and finishes when the elderberries ripen.
Actually, a number of elder species grow all over Europe, the US, Asia, Australasia and parts of South America, but the European Sambucus nigra and the North American S. canadensis are the species whose flowers and berries are commonly used for drinks, cordials, wines and condiments as well as medicinal purposes.
