ZEBRAS AND ASSES 283 



of this beast as a domestic animal, and it is not necessary to write 

 more here. 



Before bringing this section to a close, however, a few instances 

 may be given of the legends that have been handed down to us with 

 regard to the humble and useful Donkey. A writer in The Animal 

 World says — 



"At Killeedy, Co. Limerick, close to 'St. Ita's Well,' there is a 

 stone supposed to show the print of the hoof of the favourite Donkey 

 of St. Ita — ' the Mary of Munster.' Day by day the animal brought 

 milk from St. Ita's farm, four miles to the westward, to her convent 

 close to the holy well, coming and going without a guide, though 

 the caretaker at the farm milked the cows and placed the milk in 

 two pails, which hung at either side of the animal. One day two 

 robbers made a raid on the dairy farm and found the Donkey ready 

 to start home with two pails full of new milk. Angry at having 

 found no treasure at the farm, they overturned the pails and let the 

 milk run down the hill, but God showed His anger by turning the 

 milk into blood, and the place is still called ' Turna-fulla,' or ' Plenty 

 of blood,' to this day, and the angry Donkey kicked and left the 

 print of its hoof on a stone. Another story tells how the beast once 

 stood on a strong thorn, which pierced the frog x of its foot, laming 

 it badly and causing it severe pain. St. Ida pulled out the thorn, 

 which she stuck in the ground, commanding it not to lame the 

 Donkey for ever more. It grew into a large whitethorn tree, whose 

 thorns all pointed downwards ! It is said that this tree flourished 

 till quite recently, and was an object of veneration till some one dug 

 around it, when ' St. Ida's thorn ' withered away. 



"St. Patrick is said to have once wandered wearily along the 

 road, exhausted and footsore, when he met a mule and tried to mount 

 it and ride on his way, but the stubborn animal kicked him off, and 

 would not allow him to ride, and the Saint went on sadly. Then he 

 met a little Donkey, and the kindly beast gladly permitted him to 

 mount it, and bore him on his journey, and St. Patrick cursed the 

 mule, saying : ' May you be always ill-tempered and stubborn and 

 may your race be few in the land ' ; but to the Donkey he said : ' May 

 you be as plentiful as the ferns ! ' and ever since Donkeys abound 

 in Ireland. 



"When this Saint was about to build his cathedral at Armagh 



1 A kind of tender horny substance growing in the middle of the foot, dividing 

 into two branches, which run like a fork towards the heel. 



