t-fruits brought by Abaris the Hyperborean to Delos were wrapped;
and when commerce, or rather trade by barter, had rendered transmission
from hand to hand practicable, wheat straw was still used. With the
worship of Diana the offering of wheat straw passed over to Thrace,
where it was a recognition of that goddess as the patron of chastity. In
Judea the wheat harvest was later than that of barley, the Jews
therefore offered a sheaf of the latter grain as first-fruits; it is,
however, extraordinary that Moses orders barley-meal as the offering for
jealousy (Numbers, v 15.), though the price of barley was but half that
of wheat. It seems as if there were the same connection between this
peace-offering and that of the first-fruits with the Jews, that we see
between the offering to Diana and the first-fruits of the Hyperboreans;
both may have been derived from Egypt, in the learning of which, we are
told, Moses was skilled. The straw necklace or chaplet of Erasmus'
pilgrim might be worn to secure him from molestation in travelling, or
it may refer to the patroness of Walsingham, the Virgin Mary.

I dare say many persons have thought with me, that a poet's promise of a
"belt of straw" to his love, was not a very complimentary one; one
possible meaning never struck me till this moment: it may be a
compliment unconsciously drawn from a heathen source, and perpetuated,
like so many of our old-world customs, among a class of people the least
likely to understand the meaning.

Another corroboration of Macaulay's Young Levite may be found in _The
Tatler_, No. 255, sixty years later than Burton.

I beg to suggest a method of keeping "Notes," which I have found useful.
I have a blank book for each quarter of the world, paged alphabetically;
I enter my notes and queries according to the subject for which they are
most likely to be required; if relating to mere geography or history,
under the name of place or person. I also keep a list (with dates) of
all the books I read, with a note of any use to be made of them; I also
keep a list of all books to be read, and the reasons for reading them. I
tried various ways of keeping my notes, and found no classification so
easy for reference as the plan I have mentioned; it may not, however,
suffice to those whose reading is much more extensive than mine; I
mention it as a _working_ plan.

F.C.B.

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ANSWERS TO MINOR QUERIES

_Ancient Motto_

Si