It belongs to the botanical class Prunus
Spinosa, or blackthorn, and it was covered with berries at the time of
our visit. These, however, were the evidence of a second efflorescence
in the spring. The celebrity of the tree arises from the fact that
every year at Christmas time it is seen covered with flowers, and the
tradition at St. Patrice, handed down from father to son, affirms that
for fifteen hundred years this phenomenon has been repeated at the same
sacred season. It matters not how intense the cold of any particular
winter; while the ground beneath and the country around lie covered in
their white shroud, the "flowers of St. Patrice" unfold their blossoms
and bid defiance to the fierce north winds which sweep the valley of
the Loire."
The next witness is the old parish church, dedicated to St. Patrick,
which stands about thirty yards from the tree. Its old charters and
records show that it dates back from the beginning of the tenth
century. One old charter, bearing the date of 1035, contains a deed of
gift of some lands adjoining the church of St. Patrick. The church
stood on the Roman road between Anjou and Tours. "Thus," concludes
Father Bullen Morris, "ancient records and immemorial traditions
complete our story, and set St.
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