When seeking permission to cut an elder you don't need a reply from the faeries, to ask is sufficient. Exactly the same as saying 'Good Morning Mr. Magpie' to any pica pica you come across--they don't have the human quirk of knowing what sex they are and as long as you say hello they're happy and won't screw up your day.

Metchosin, I have a gallon of wine fermenting as we speak; berries gleaned two weeks ago from a black elderberry bush in Victoria.