To Pickle Elder Buds

This old recipe was given in 1928 by Mrs. Monk, of The Yews, Burford, Oxfordshire. Mrs. Monk is the wife of the historian of Burford. Her account of cowslip gathering for making cowslip wine is delightful. She says she always dries her cowslips not only for cowslip tea but for wine, and ‘when spread out on paper on the attic floor they smell like honey.’