Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1904-02-18

HS WlAAh vi 81 NHiShdhN ANs
has never been conemsively decided,
, ny many 1t is claimed to have
originated in honor of St Valentine.
martyr at Rome under Claudius II,
hut there is nothing in the life of the
saint to bear out the statement, lie
is not known to have ever written
love verses, and instead ~ cauSmS
blindness, as is the custom of Cupid,
who is himself blind, ST. Valentino
cured the jailer'S daughter OF this
addiction when he was imprisoned b.,
cause he stood firmly for his faith
under the persecution Of Claudius
For this miracle he was first
beaten with clubs and later beheaded
ON February Il, 40 or sTl, He Is
buried in the church of ST. PraNedos
at Rene, whore the gate now called
porta del popolo was formerly called
in his honor rorta Valentine or
Valentines gate,
one explanation for Bishop Nalen.
tine being called the patron OF lovers,
is from the common confusion in
early times of the letters and =,
The Norman word galantln. lover of
the fair. or in the less polite term Il
"masher," was often written and
pronounced Nalantau or ralentin,
While this seems possible Il does not
prove the point.
We may ask. What Is IN u name
Still the name has led to two other
saints called Valentine receiving a
share in the day One was the
to cure epilepsy, and the other, an
apostle of Rhaetia, was Vonerated as
the first bishop of passura who
hourishcd in the first half of the tiftN
, century
Hut whatever the origin may he
II is Interesting To follow the growth
, Of the Valentine down To cur own
time Some claim II is only a
Christtanized form of the classic
lupercalta, feasts held IN honor OF
Pan and Juno at Rome during the
month of February. At these fcasts
! one of the customs was to write the
/ names of young women on slips of
/ paper and put them In n box from
! which the young men drew. The
Christian clergy tried to make tho
1 custom more religious by AnhRtitut.
ing the names of patron saints for
those of the women, hoping each per
! son would initiate the saint whose
name was on the slip of paper he had
| drawn, AT least ~ early as the nth
century the PAGAN custom was again
adopted, the names of women hetn8
used instead OF those of the saints,
! The churchmen made another effort
TO reestablIsh the use of saints names
in the latter part of the 10th century
| but in spite of their attempts the
young people won,
! In France the name of both young
men and young ladies were written
drawn. The partner thus secured was
/ kept throughout the year; their rela
! ton TO each other being similar tu
| the Cavalier and the Lady of Beauty
the knight being bound to the honor
and defense OF the lady, who re-
warded him with Smiles Of favor and
! silk tokens when possible.
| In Scotland the first young man a
young lady and. visa versa. met on ST
| Valentines day was her valentine,
In England AZ early as 1898 we find
! that on st, Valentines eve an equal
/ number of young men and young
ladies' met together, and writing
| either .heir own or an assumed name
, on slip Of paper, rolled them NJ
i and each drew from tho other IN
this way each received two valentines
but young man gave special fayot
to- the valentine he himself drew
These mock betrpthals often develop
ed into realities.
! The exchange Of valentines seems
| to have become common In Shake
j peare's time as Ophelia In Hamlet
says
/ Tomorrow Is Saint Valentines day.
All in the morning betime.
And a maid AT your window,
/ TO be your valentine.
| The challenge was merely, Good
morrow. It's Saint Valentines day
J and he or she who said II first on
meeting a person Of the opposite sex
received gift. Later II was the gen
tleman only who gave the present
but he did not unless the lady had
succeeded In addressing him first. II
was not long before choice began Il
come In. and the eyes were sometimes
kept closed until the one desired aF
valentine appeared.
The trst record Of an illustration
appropriate to the day Is mentioned
In Pepys Diary February IA, 1907
This morning came up to my wife's
bedside little VIII Mercer 10 he hei
valentine, and brought her name wr.l
on blue paper In gold letters. done
by himself very pretty. and we both
were well pleased with IT,
Another step In the growth Of tbs
valentine III given on the same date:
a. - 4 .ti