58 IRISH DONKEYS FOR SOUTH AFRICA 



never c bred for points/ have sunk to a dead and dull 

 uniformity of colour, size, shape and even of demeanour.* 

 How different from the gay thirteen-hand ' station ' 

 donkey whom your English host puts at your disposal 

 at Ramleh. He meets you at the station, starts off at 

 full gallop, rushes in at the home-gate, and pulls up 

 unasked at the mounting-block by the house. Next 

 day he meets you there, gallops off to the station, and 

 pulls up at a mounting-block of the same kind under 

 the veranda. Authority states the reign of Elizabeth 

 as the period at which the use of donkeys first became 

 general in England. The fact was observed then, but 

 their introduction was, we imagine, due to the connec- 

 tion with Spain, established in the reign of Queen 

 Mary. The Spanish ladies and Spanish priests who 

 visited the Court brought with them their fine donkeys 

 and mules, the proper animals for ladies and ecclesiastics 

 to ride or drive. When the social ascendancy of 

 Spanish fashions ended with the accession of Elizabeth, 

 the rigid social lines drawn between the life of men, 

 ladies and ecclesiastics in Spain, and temporarily intro- 

 duced here, were broken down. One side-feature of 

 this social revolution, and the elimination of what was 



* In Norfolk, where some attention is paid to breeding donkeys, 

 it is noticeable that their colour varies considerably, and an average 

 Norfolk donkey stands quite a hand higher than most of those seen 

 in London. 



