The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-02-14
Little Birds Are Supposed to Mate
and Lovers Plight Their
Troth.
Interesting Facts Relative to the
Day and the Way 1t Ii
Observed.
Folk Ls=e G! Importance to Young Low
ers from . Series Of Very
Quaint Essays.

festival once held in very high repute, but
nov rather lightly regarded, writes Geof-
frey Willeston Christine in the San Fran
cisco Call. Its observance. like those OF
Christmas, Easter and other holidays. may
be traced to the ancient Romans. who. CEN
turies before Christ, held great feasts
known as tho Supercalia in honor OF Pan
and Juno during February, at which lab
lets bearing young .omen's names were
drawn out Of a box by young men. Each
person drawing must be the faithful attend
ant Of her whom he has drawn until the
next Supeycalia. Tit close association
thus engendsred often resulted in n mar
riage between the parties. This mstrimon-
ial lottery was held during the Supsrcalia
festival because the birds were believed to
select their mates at that time OF ycar. q
tradition still attaching to 1T. Valentines
day and referred to by Shakespeare when
he makes Theseus, in "A Midsummer
Nights Dream" say:
St. Valentino is past.
Begin these wood birds but to couple now.
The hardest task Of the early Christian
fathers vas to induce the Roman people 20
abandon heather festivities. To do this
they Invested all such Observance OF undue
AOlGHlUtLV WulU0 IGb0l4lbAH ~ S4S ~
aspects and associatjng thorn with some
person or thing pertaining. 70 tho church.
They replaced the Supercalis with st. Val
cntine's day, thus retaining the date OF the
ancient festival aud connecting it with
Christianity through . great saint. who SUI
was frst beaten with clubs and then be-
headed while a priest at Rome, where his
remains now rest in the church of st.
Praxedes.
This excellent man never, either directly
or indirectly, bore any relation whatever to
the Observance ceremonies peculiar 70
the day devoted to him, and it seems very
strange that his name should be applied to
swesthesrts, and to the written, printed and
painted smatory addresses which they an
nually exchange, as well ~ to the hlghly
colOred, comical and satIrIcaI Wood-cuts,
with a few lines of doggerel printed be-
meath, which are now so Literally displayed
in the s~tationers' 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.
II il now we'll established that the only
reason why these observancss were agsoci-
ated with It. Valentine IL the n already
ciyep-that the early fathers desired to
Christisnizs the heather festival OF the
6upercalis and to have it fall upon q sacred
day Of appropriate date.
The good churchmen DUE 1t impossible
to persuade the common people to entirely
abandon my ceremony to which they had
become deeply attached. Despairing there
foro Of aboiishing the matrimonial lottery
Of the Supercalia, they modified its form
and eudsayored to give 1t a religious char
acter by substituting the names OF saint
10 be drawn as valentines. instead OF tine
names of men and women. From this
ancient usage 10 derived the custom, Still
occasionally observed in some Catholic
countries. of selecting on st. Valentines
day for the ensuing year, q patron saint
who 10 called a valentine. But the young
mon and maidens, finding little amusement
In drawing ont the names of dead and gone
saints, BOOB relapse into their old custom
of drawing each other, and even at the
present time in many OF tbs rural districts
in England and Scotland, 1t is customary
on the eve Of st. Valentines day for the
young people Of both sexes to draw lots for
q valentine. As the men draw from a bag
containing the names Of the maids, while
the latter draw from one containing the
names Of the men, 1t generally happens
that each person has two valentines, but
the young men regard themselves much
more strongly bound to the valentines they
have drawn them TO the ono who has drawn
them. II. as sometimes happens, = young
man and woman should each chance to
draw the other, it 10 regarded as absolutely
certain that they are destined to wed, and
must not, under any circumstances, permit
their attention or affection 70 center Else
where.
Admirers of Sir Walter Scott will rsmem-
Der that he also alludes to this custom of
giving valentine presents. and will readily
recall the passage in 1.-The Fair Maid of
Perth in which he describes the little st.
Valentines day gift which the mighty arm
orer. Henry Smith, had prepared for his
--1 (yAI
Glover: ut was \ small ruty cut in the
form of . heart. transfixed with a golden
arrow, and was inclosed in a small purse
made of links of the finest steel, as if de-
signed for a haubetk to a king. Hound the
verge of tine purse were these words:
Loves darts
Cleave hearts
Through mail shirts.
This device had cost the more some
thought, and he was much satisfied with
his own composition, because it seemed to
imply that his skill could defend all hearts.
saving his own. In many parts Of England
and Scotland il il still customary, IS it has
been for many centuries. for young men
and women to regard rs their valentine the
fret person of the opposite sex whom their
eyes behold On the morning of st. Valen-
tines day, and they have o right to claim
the said valentine with a kiss. which he or
abe is in honor bound TO accord without re-
sis.ance OF demonstrated 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 dishonor by his wonderful
valor and strength on st. Valentines eve.
The English poet GaysIso aIludes to this
custom as follows:
Last Valentine. the day when birds Of Kind
Their with mutual cbirpings hnd,
early rose just at the break Of day.
Before the sun had chased the stars away,
Afeld | went amid the morning dew.
10 milk my kline for 20 .huud housewives dol,
Thee first ] spied, and the f3ist swain We see
In aEifo - fortn Uc cE&-l ALL TINA LILA