Not very much is known about St. Valentine. Indeed, there were several
saints of that name who were set down in the calendar for loving
remembrance on the Fourteenth day of February. One of them was a martyr,
and died for the Christian faith at Rome. But these saints have no
connection with the ceremonies of St. Valentine's Day except that the
priests of the early Christian Church set that particular day apart for
a special feast. This feast was meant to take the place of certain
ceremonies practised by the common people of the old world in their
worship of the Roman gods. But the people did not easily forget their
old customs, and some of these were, until recent times, practised on
St. Valentine's Day in a new form.
One of these customs was for young men and maidens to cast lots in the
choice of partners. Upon the eve of St. Valentine's Day, in England, it
was usual for young people to meet together, each one writing his or
her name upon a piece of paper. When this was done the papers were
rolled up tightly and put into two bowls. Then each young man drew the
name of a girl and she was his _Valentine_, and each girl drew the name
of a young man and he was her _Valentine_. It was little more than a
merry mode of choosing partners for the festival of St. Valentine; but
sometimes the young folks took this choice by lot quite seriously, and
the partnership ended in marriage.
With the English poets St. Valentine's Day has always been a favourite.
You will find it mentioned by Chaucer, Shakspere, and many another of
lesser note. At one time it was not uncommon for a young man to send a
set of verses to his _Valentine_ on the morning of the 14th of February.
Most of these were very poor verses, but sometimes a true poet sent a
greeting to his Valentine. As when Drayton sent these happy lines:
Muse, bid the Morn awake,
Sad winter now declines,
Each bird doth choose a mate;
This day's St. Valentines
For that good Bishop's sake
Get up and let us see
What beauty it shall be
That fortune us assigns.
Nowadays St. Valentine's Day has lost nearly all its popularity;
certainly, it has lost all its merry charm. The time is not so
distant--your fathers and mothers may remember it--when the postman's
bag was laden with valentines upon St. Valentine's Day. Some of them
were in large embossed envelopes and the valentines themselves were
glittering things. There was nearly always a little gilt Cupid with his
bow and arrows, and the mottoes and verses were always very very
sentimental. Some of the valentines, also, were strange and ugly as they
came from the postman's bag. These were what is called "mock"
valentines, and the people who received them were sometimes very angry.
Now the sending of valentines has fallen into disfavour, especially the
pretty ones. As for the others, the ugly mock valentines, they are very
ill-natured and foolish. Have nothing to do with them; they are not
worthy of happy St. Valentine's Day.