ST. VALENTINE IN NORWICH--COOK-EELS, &c. &c.
The day appropriated to St. Valentine is kept with some peculiarity in
the city of Norwich. Although "Valentines," as generally understood,
that is to say billets sent by means of the post, are as numerously
employed here as in other places, yet the _custom_ consists not in the
transmission of a missive overflowing with hearts and darts, or poetical
posies, but in something far more substantial, elegant and costly--to
wit, a goodly present of value unrestricted in use or expense. Though
this custom is openly adopted among relatives and others whose
friendship is reciprocated, yet the secret mode of placing a friend in
possession of an offering is followed largely,--and this it is curious
to remark, not on the _day_ of the saint, when it might be supposed that
the appropriateness of the gift would be duly ratified, the virtue of
the season being in full vigour, but on the _eve_ of St. Valentine, when
it is fair to presume his charms are not properly matured. The mode
adopted among all classes is that of placing the presents on the
door-sill of the house of the favoured person, and intimating what is
done by a run-a-way knock or ring as the giver pleases.
So universal is this custom in this ancient city, that it may be stated
with truth some thousands of pounds are annually expended in the
purchase of Valentine presents. At the time of writing (February 2.) the
shops almost generally exhibit displays of articles calculated for the
approaching period, unexampled in brilliancy, taste and costliness, and
including nearly every item suitable to the drawing room, the parlour,
or the boudoir. The local papers contain numerous advertising
announcements of "Valentines;" the walls are occupied with printed
placards of a similar character, and the city crier, by means of a loud
bell and an equally sonorous voice, proclaims the particular advantages
in the Valentine department of rival emporiums. All these preparations
increase as the avator of St. Valentine approaches. At length the saint
and his eve arrives--passes--and the custom, apparently expanding with
age, is placed in abeyance until the next year. I am inclined to believe
that this mode of keeping St. Valentine is confined to this city and the
county of Norfolk.
As regards priority of occurrence this year, I should have first
mentioned, that on Shrove Tuesday a custom commences of eating a small
bun called cocque'els--cook-eels--coquilles--(the name being spelt
indifferently) which is continued through the season of Lent. Forby, in
his _Vocabulary of East Anglia_, calls this production "a sort of cross
bun," but no cross is placed upon it, though its composition is not
dissimilar. My inquiries, and, I may add, my reading, have not led me to
the origin of either of the customs now detailed (with the exception of
a few unsatisfactory words given by Forby on cook-eels), and I should be
glad to find these brief notices leading by your means to more extended
information on both subjects, not only as regards this part of the
country, but others also.