West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1903-02-12

simplicity of style:
wilt thou be mine, dear lover Reply
Sweetly consent or else deny:
Whisper softly: none shall know
wilt thou be mine. lover Aye, or nor
Spite OF fortune. we may be
Happy by one word from thee;
Life flies swiftly: ere It 20.
Wilt thou be mine, lover Aye or nor
st. Valentines day is alluded to
by Shakespeare in Hamlet" where
poor OphelIa sings:
Tomorrow Is St. Valentines day
All in the morning betime.
And a maid at your window.
To be your valentine.
OF old st. Valentines day was
supposed to be the day on which
the birds chose their mates. This
is referred TO in ga Midsummer
Nights Dreams" when Theseus, ON
discovering the sleeping lovers in
the woods, exclaims:
Good ,morrow, friends. St. Valentine is
past;
Begin these woodsblrds but to couple now.
ST. Valentine was a Christian
martyr of the reign of the Roman
emperor Claudius III. On Feb. IA,
A. d. 77o,. the saint was beaten
with clubs and then beheaded.
Despite the fact that the custom Of
sending valentines bears his name,
the saint had nothing whatever to
do with originating it. The custom
had Its origin in heather practice
connected with the worship of Pan
and June on or about Feb. III.
The names of young women were
written on scrolls and then dropped
in box from which they were later
drawn by the beaus of the time,
each beau devoting himself for a
year to the young woman whose
name he drew.
On Feb. "A, z7S, Pope Julius /.
honored ST. Valentines memory by
building church called St. Praxedes
in which the saints remains and
relics are still venerated.
During the reign of Charles II.
any one chosen as valentine was
in honor bound to give a present to
the person choosing him or her.
Married people were equally eligible
with single ones for the LOTTERY of
St. Valentine.
Presents of great value were at
times given. According to Pepys,
Miss Stuart, afterward Duchess of
Richmond, having chosenGthe Duke
of York as her valentine, was re-
warded with jewel valued at s4,-
900. The next year she chose Lord
Vaudeville and received a ring
win P1J9OO.
In the "Fair Maid of Perth" Sir
Walter Scott has the mighty
armorer give Catharine Glover
ruby heart and steel purse bearing
these words:
Loves darts
Cleave hearts
Through mail shirts.
One Of the funniest valentine Incl
dents in fiction is the scene that
follows the discovery Of the elder
Weller that Sam Weller is writing a
valentine" Lovely oreetur !"
writes Sam, al feel myself ashamed
and completely circumscribed 10 a
dressing of you, for you are a nice
gal and nothing but it. Afore / sec
you thought all women was alike
$50 they arew observes the elder
Weller], but now--now find what
a regular soft headed, ink-red-lous
turnip ] must have been, for there
amt nobody like you, though like
you better than nothing at ali. So
take the privilege Of the day,
Mary my dear as the genTm'n in
difficulties did, ven he walked out Of
a Sunday tell you that the FIRST
and only time J see you, your like
ness was took on my mart in much
quicker time and brighter colors
than ever a likeness was took by
the protect mscheen (wich p'raps
you may have heard on, Mary, my
dear), sltho il does finish a portrait
and put the frame and glass on
complete, with a hook at the end to
hang II up by, and all in two minutes
and a quarter Except Of me, Mary,
my dear, as your valentine and
think over what I've said. Ny dear
Mary, ] will nov conclude"
This valentine" made a great
hit with the cIdcr wall. $500.