Everyone Knows the Story About the Donkey

At the fruit tree care and maintenance lecture I attended last year, Jean-Pierre Couturier said at one point: 'Of course, everyone knows the story of Saint Martin's donkey, but in fact the Romans pruned'.

St Martin's donkey, munching on a grape leaf, is depicted on the left of these medieval carvings on the church at Cande Saint Martin.

And it's true, everyone in the Touraine does know the story of how Saint Martin's donkey nibbled on the vines it could reach when tethered at Marmoutier, just outside of Tours. The monks noticed that the vines the donkey munched did better than the vines that were left to grow naturally, so they started clipping all the vines. Thus pruning was born.

Donkey in a field.

However I'll bet not many of our international readers know the story and would have been mystified if they'd been at the lecture. 

A herd of Poitou Asses, a local breed of donkey, with vines in the background.

But then, I guess not many French people know the story of Simpson and his donkey, whereas all our Australian readers will be familiar with that story.

Statue of Simpson and his donkey at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

Simpson is an Australian hero of Gallipoli in the First World War. As medic, he went out again and again with his donkey to retrieve wounded soldiers from the battlefield.

Today is both Saint Martin's Day and Armistice Day, which commemorates the end of the First World War. It is a public holiday in France.