The morning call., 1891-02-08
CHRISTINE'S
CRYSTALS
Some Interesting Facts Relative to St
Valentines Day.
The Day on Which the Birds Mate-Folk Lore
Of Importance to Young Lovers From
Series of Quaint Essays.


ancient Romans, who, centuries before
Christ, held great feasts known as the Su-
percalia in honor of Pan and Juno during
February, Mt which tablets bearing young
women's names were drawn out of a box by
young men. Each person drawing must be
the faithful attendant of her whom he has
drawn until the next Supercalia. The close
association thus engendered often resulted
iii marriage between the parties. This
matrimonial lottery was held during the Su-
percalia festival because birds were believed
to select their mates at that time of year,
tradition Still attaching 10 ST. Valentines
day and referred TO bv Shakes eare when he
makes TheseuS in "A Midsummer Night
Dream" say:
st. Valentine is past;
Begin these wool birds but 70 couple now
The hardest task of the early Christian
fathers was to induce the Roman people to
abandon heather festivities To do this
they Invested all such observanceS of undue
Solemnity while retaining all their social
aspects and associating them with some
person or thing pertaining to the church.
They replaced the Supercaia with ST. Valen-
tines dav, thus returning the date of the an
Gent festival and connecting it with Chris
tlanlty through a great saint, VINO suffered
martyrdom in the third century. He was
first beaten with clubs and then beheaded
while priest at Rome where his remains
now rest in the church of St Praxedes.
ST. VALENTINE.
This excellent man never, either directly
or Indirectly, bore any relation whatever to
the observanees and ceremonies peculiar to
the day devoted TO him, and it seems very
strange that his name should be applied to
swee.hearts and to the written, printed and
plinted amatOry addresses which they an
nually exchange as well as TO the highly
coored, comical and satirical wood-cuts,
with a few lines of doggerel printed be-
meath, when are now so literally dis
played In the StationeTs' windows. 1t has
been stated that it was from st. Valentines
great reputation for love and charity that
there arose the custom of choosing love
partners upon his day and calling them by
his name, but this was long since exploded
1t IS now well established that the only
reason why these obServances were associ-
ated with st. Valentine is the one already
giyen-that the early fathers desired to
Shrlsuaniza the heather festival of the
SuDercalia and TO have it fall upon a sacred
day OF appropriate date.
The good churchmen found il impoSsible
10 persuade the common people to entirely
abandon any ceremony TO which they had
become deeply attached Despairing there
lore OF abolishlng the matrimonial lottery
OF thefSupeTcalia, they modified its form and
endeaYored 10 give it religious character
Dy substituting the names of saints
TO be drawn as valentines instead of
the names Of men and women. From
ms ancient usage is derived the
custom, still occasionally observed in some
Catholic countries, of selecting, on ST. Val
entlne's day for the ensuing year, patron
saint who is called a valentine But the
yOupg men and maldens finding little amuse-
ment In Or awlng out the names of dead and
gone saints, soon relapse Into their old Gus
tom OF drawing each other, and even at the
present time in many of the rural districts
In England and Scotland, il is customary on
the eve Of s.. Valentines day for the young
Ieople OF both sexes TO draw lots for valen-
tine. AS the men draw from bag contain
lag che names Of the maids, while
the latter draw from one containing the
names Of the men, it generally hap
pens that each person has two valentines,
but the young men regard themselves much
more strongly bound to the valentines they
have drawn than to the one who has drawn
them. II, as sometimes happens. a young
man aud woman should each chance to draw
the other, 1t is regarded as absolutely GER
tain that they are destined to wed, and must
not, under any circumstances, permit their
attention or affection TO center elsewhere.
MR.. PEPY's DIARY.
During the reign of Charles II. as we
learn from that most interesting and curious
record Of tie domestic life of that period
preserved Tor US in the diary of Mr.. Pepys,
married people were equally eligible with
single ones for the lottery Of St. Valentines
eve, and any one chosen as a valentine was
III honor bound to give a present to the per-
son choosing him or her. On ST. Valentines
day, 1867, Mr.. PeDys writes; This morn
ing came up to my wife's bedside Il being
up dressing myself little Win Mercer to be
her valentine, and brought her name written
upon blue paper in gold letters, done by
himself, very pretty; and We were both well
pleased with it. But | am also this year
my Wlte'S valentine, and it will cost me s.;
but that must have LAID out If we had not
been valentines" On February 10Th of the
same year-two days later-he again writes:
II ind that Mrs. Pierce's little girl is my
valentine, she having drawn me- which l
was not sorry for, it easing me of something
more that l must have given to others.
But here do first observe the
fashion of drawing notices as well as
names so that Pierce, who drew my wife,
did draw also motto, and this girl drew
another for me. What mine was l forget,
but my wlfe'S was Most courteous and
most fair which, as it may be used, or an
anagram upon each name, might be very
pretty" Again, abiding to the obligation
resting upon chosen valentine to give a
pr sent to the person choosing, he writes OF
the celebrated Miss Stuart afterward
Duchess Of Richmond: The Duke of
York, being once her valentine, did give her
jewel IF about eS00, and my Lord, Mande-
vile, her valentine this year, ring of about
600" In February, 1865, he makes the fol
loving entry: This evening my wife did
with great pleasure shew me her stock of
Jewels, increased by the ring she hath made
lately, AS my valentines gift this wear, a
Turkey-stone set with diamonds. With this
and what she had she reckoned that she hath
above $50 worth of jewels OF one kind or
other; and L am glad Of 1t, for it is fit the
wretch should have something to content
herself with" Good Mr.. Pepys here uses
tile word wretch as an endeaTing term.
VALENTINE PRESENTS.
Admirers of Sir Walter Scott will remem-
Der that he also alludes to this custom of
giving valentine presents, and Will readily
Perth in which he describes the little ST.
Valentines day gift which the mighty ar
morer, Henry Smith, had prepared for his
valentine, the good and beautiful Catherine
Glover: 1T was small ruby cut in the
form OF a heart, transfixed with golden ar
row, and was inclosed in small purse
made Of links Of the finest steel, as if de-
signed for hauberk to King. Round the
verge oil the purse were these words:
Loves darts
CleaYe hearts
Through mail shirts.
This device had cost the armorer some
thought. and he was much satisfied with his
own composition, because 1t seemed to i'm
ply tnat his skill could defend all hearts,
saving ms own. In many parts of England
and Scotland it is still customary, as it has
been for many centuries, for young men and
women TO regard as their valentine the first
person Of the opposite sex whom their eyes
behold on the morning of st. Valentines
day, and they have the right to claim the
said valentine with kiss, which lie or she
is in honor bound to accord without resist
ance or renonstrance of any kind. Scott,
in his novel of the Fair Maid of Perth"
already quoted, beautifully describes the
manner in which the peerless Catherine
Glover thus claimed the bold armorer Henry
Smith, as her valentine after he had saved
her from dishonUr by his wonderful valor
and strength on ST. Valentines eve. The
English poet GayalsG alludes to this custom
as follows:
Last Valentine the day when birds Of kind
Their paTaInUurs with mutual chrpings hud,
early rose Just at the break OF day,
before the sun had chased this stars away,
Aheld went, amid the morning dew,
10 lnllk my Kline tor so should housewives do),
!hee hrst spied and the trst swain we see
HI spite Of fortune shall our true love be.