Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-02-14
Valentines nay.
nMuse, bid the morn awake,
Sad winter now declines;
Each bird doth choose a mate
This dsr'a St- Valeufina,a 6;

to the present day, and is still observed in
various parts Of the world. The sports
were originally known as the Lupercalia,
and were celebrated in honor of Pan and
Juno, about the middle of February, in each
year. On the occurrence of this festival,
the names ofyoung women were put into a
box from which they were drawn as chance
directed. Among the Pagan customs which
the early christians found most difficult 10
eradicate, this was one. They finally COM
promised the matter, and chriStianized it
by calling the festival after St. Valentine,
who was martyred on the 18th of February,
in the third century. The saint had been
priest of Rome, and suffered most cruel
death, having been beaten with clubs first
and then beheaded. There seems to
have been no connection whatever
between him and the popular festival
which has been honored by the name. He
is not represented in any biographical sketch
Of him extant, as having been of an anna
tive disposition. On the contrary, he sub
dusd the lusts Of the flesh, and devoted
himself wholly to his monastic duties. His
exemplary piety and tragical death secured
for him canonization, and the gate of Rome
now known as the Porta del Popola, was
for several centuries called Porta Valentino,
in his honor. The only explanation, there
fore, why Valentines day was chosen for
holding festival most insanity in charac-
ter, is the fact that the sports known as
Lupercalia fell on that day. As time
rolled by Christianity extended far
and wide over Europe, and among the
customs which it carried with it was that of
st. Valentines Day. The festival was
heartily welcomed by our jovial Saxon an
cestors, who speedily anglacized it.
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
it was a most popular festival, ard, accord
ing to a writer of that time, was observed
as Bellows: "On the eve of St. Valentines
Day the young folks in England and Scot
land, by very ancient custom, celebrate
the festival. A number of maids and
bachelors get together /; each writes their
true or some feigned name upon separate
billets, which they roll up and draw by
way of lots. The maids take
the mems billets, and the men the maids;
so that each of the young men lights upon
girl that he calls his valentine, and each
girl upon a young man whom she calls
hers. By these means each has two valen-
tines; but the man sticks faster to the val
entine that has fallen to him than to the
valentine to whom he is fallen. Fortune
having thus divided the company into so
many couples, the valentines give balls and
treats to their mistresses and wear their
billets for seyera4 days upon their
bosoms or sleeves, and this little sport
often ends in love-" 1t seems, how
ever, that fortune did not always
bring the right people together. In such
an event the luckless valentine paid some
tribute to his mistress to release him from
his obligation to be her valentine. \ COM
mon notion has for centuries been prevalent
among the British people that the 18th of
February is the day on which the birds Sc
lect their mates. Indeed, the belief has
been imported to America, and is still cur
rent in many States of the Union. Grow
ing out Of this belief was the notion that
the first unmarried person of the other sex
whom one met on st. Valentines morning
in walking abroad, was the destined wife
or husband The notion has gone the way
of witchcraft, pixies and fairies, till there is
hardly nook in civilized Britain and Amer
lea where it can be found to prevail.
st. Valentines Day, like many a once
popular festival, has fallen from its ehigh
CotdlC. anu 10 INV OlbClACi piDl Gu cS q
convenient occasion TO vent the pent-up
malice of the preceding twelve months,
than to indulge in kindly, innocent sports.
The Old-fashioned billet by which the ten
der-hearted swain conveyed to his sweet
heart his admiration for her charms, i'll such
verse as
,aThe rose is red, the violets blue,
HOney's sweet and so are YOU"
has given place to the hideous caricature
and execrable doggerel which make up
the modern valentine. All the good
old customs which served to smOothe the
current of true love, have fallen into desue-
tUde. Others have taken their place, and
the tickle world discards all usages white
with the rhine of age. Some conservative
souls there are that cling to the true-love
of Valentines Day, tut they
grow fewer every year. Ere long the 18th
of February, once so sacredly observed by
the vOtaries of Cupid, VIII be wholly given
over to grabbed old bachelors and sour old
maids to satirize each others failngs.
For several days past the windows of
news depots have been filled with flaming
valentines, all of which, with commendable
and necessary precaution, the publishers
have labeled with explanations of what
hey are designed to represent. All the
nfirmities of human nature, all the trades
and occupations of men and women are
The slanderer hourishes re-
long pointed tongue, the caves
lropper bends under the burden of an
enormous ear; the busy-body is portrayed
with astonishing elongatiOn of the nasal or
gan, more out of proportion to the size OF
he body, than a toucan's bill or an ele
Ohant's trunk; the hypocrite appears with
,wo faces, one mild as milk, the other sour
IS vinegar. In all these, there is a certain
appropriateness which is not to be found in
he senseless caricatures on the trades and !
professions. Notwithstanding their variety, |
hey have, in the main, the same leading |
The cOlors are bright red, |
yellow, blue and green, laid on roughly, as
f daubed with a withdrawing brush, and |
without the slightest attempt at taste. The |
head is, in every case, out of all proportion |
o the remainder of the body, and resem-
Dles a pumpkin on the end Of a forlzed pole. |
The features are generally distorted out of |
III resemblance to the human countenance,
and are totally devoid of expression. 1t is |
how such meaningless daubs ever |
ind purchasers. Yet year after |
gear, for the first fortnight in |
avery FEBRUARY they disfgure the windows
IF news shops. No attempt is made to i'm |
prove them. The same rude wOOd-cut |
which served the purpose twenty years ago,
5 displayed to-day unchanged. While i'm
proved taste has made its mark en- every
other description of printing and painting,
he valentine alone retains its pristine ugli-
ness. If the vices and failings Of men and
women are ever to be effectually caricatur-
ID, it cannot be by such wretched apologies
or prints, and the machine-made rhyme
which accompanies them.
Occasionally some genuine poetry, worthy |
f Valentine'sRlay, finds its way into print.
If such is the following which we clip from
he last number of Harper's BdzGr:
A VALENTINE.
Love, is it winter?
How can / tell,
While thou art near me,
Weaving thy spell?
lever was May-time so fOwery and sweet,