Ham.
It will, I fear, be difficult to discover a satisfactory answer to LORD
BRAYBROOKE'S questions on these two points. They cannot certainly be
traceable to a Pagan origin, for Cupid is always pourtrayed barefooted; and
there is not, I believe, a single statue to be found of a sandaled Venus. I
can certainly direct his Lordship to one author, a Christian author, St.
Gregory of Tours, who refers to a curious practice, and seemingly one well
recognised, of lovers presenting _shoes_, as they now do _bouquets_, to the
objects of their affection:
"Cumqu, ut ætate huic convenit, amori se puellari præstaret affabiblem,
et cum poculis frequentibus etiam _calceamenta_ deferret."--Gregor.
Turon. _Ex Vitis Patrum_, vol. ii. p. 449.: see also same page, note 3.