IN the XIVth section of the "Vita Quinta" Probus narrates St. Patrick's
arrival in Brotgalum, then his journey to Trajectus, from whence he
hastened to Marmoutier to join St. Martin, Bishop of Tours, with whom
he remained for four years. Colgan, in his annotations (14), identifies
Brotgalum as Burdigalum, or Bordeaux. So, too, does Professor Bury, who
tells us that Brodgal was the Irish for Bordeaux, and that "Bordeaux
was a regular port for travellers from Ireland to South Gaul" ("Life of
St. Patrick," Appendix, p. 341).
Trajectus, according to the old maps, was situated on the river
Dordogne, about sixty miles from Tours. From Trajectus St. Patrick had
to walk a distance of about two hundred miles through a desert before
reaching Tours.
"A glance at the map of ancient Gaul," writes Father Bullen Morris,
"will show that in St. Patrick's time a great part of the country
between Trajectus and Tours well deserved the name of a desert. The
network of rivers, tributaries of the Loire, and now known as La
Vienne, La Claire, La Gartempe, &c., must have exposed the country to
periodical inundations in those days. So from Tours in the north to
Limonum, Alerea, and Legora in the south, east and west, we find some
5,000 square miles, which, as far as the ancient map is concerned, give
no signs of possession by man. Travellers entangled amidst these rivers
and morasses must have advanced very slowly, and thus it appears that
both places and time fit in with St. Patrick's narrative. Nature has
changed her face along the line of St. Patrick's journey, and there is
little now to remind us of its primeval desolation, save that the
rivers still preserve some of their old habits, and now and then
combine with the inundations of the giant Loire in setting man at
defiance.
"Time, however, with its alternative gifts and ravages, has left
untouched the traditions regarding St. Patrick's journey. There is
something more than antiquarian interest in the feelings of the
Christian traveller who visits the spot on the banks of the Loire,
where immemorial tradition and an ancient monument mark the place at
which the Saint crossed the river on his way to Marmoutier. At about
twenty miles from Tours the railway between that city and Angers stops
at the station of St. Patrice; the commune is also named after the
Saint, and, as we shall see, there is historical evidence that it has
been thus designated for at least nine hundred years."
"The first witness whose evidence we shall take on the subject of the
Saint's arrival at St. Patrice is one which many believe to have
survived since his time, but on this point the reader must form his own
opinion. Above the station, on the side of the hill which rises from
the banks of the Loire, we find the famous tree which bears 'the
flowers of St. Patrice.' For ages past it has been an object of
religious veneration with the people of Touraine, and now in our time
it is particularly interesting to find that this devotion was shared by
that eminent servant of God, Leon Dupont, the Thaumaturgus of Tours.
Monsignor C. Chevalier, President of the Archaeological Society, has
published a very full account of the tree and of the traditions
connected with it, the subtance of which we subjoin, together with the
result of personal investigations made on the spot in August, 1881. At
this season the tree was covered with foliage so luxuriant, from the
ground upwards, that it was impossible to distinguish the stem, and in
every respect it presented the appearance of a tree in its prime,
without a sign of decay. 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. Patrick on the high road to St. Martin
at Marmoutier" ("Ireland and St. Patrick," pp. 35--40).