Alder in History and Folklore

One of the sacred woods of the druids, Alder was symbolic of secrecy and places of refuge.
It was also sacred to the ancient Celtic god Bran.
In the Welsh Triads the ‘crimson stained heroes’, who were sacred kings connected to Bran’s Alder cult stained their faces red with the dye from the Alder tree. The dye obtained from the Alder may explain why the Alder was held so sacred to our ancient ancestors, when Alder is felled the wood first appears white and then begins to bleed crimson, as though it were a man.
The green dye obtained from the flowers also has connections to British folklore. This is where fairies are supposed to obtain the dye for their clothes – as did mediaeval foresters and outlaws such as Robin Hood.
In ancient times the cost of cutting down a sacred Alder in the in the country districts of Ireland was to be visited with the burning down of ones house.
The Alder was used in ancient Ireland for making milking pales and other dairy vessels. The poetical name given to them in The Book of Ballymote was Comet lachta, which means guarding the milk. Alder was used not only because it was considered protective against ill wishing but also because Alder is more resistant to water than many other tree species, in fact it was used as the piles for many of the ancient waterside structures, including crannogs.