The Washington herald., 1908-02-09
By RUDOLPH DE zAPP.

By RUDOLPH DE ZApP.
st. Valentines Day is only a few days
OF. as is only TOO plainly shown by the
appearance in shop windows Of the per-
ennial valentine. But what is the
origin Of the custom and who Is st.
Valentine?
In 1914 John Donue, a poet and also
dean of 81. Paurs. London. apostro-
phized Bishop Valentine thus:
Han, Bishop Valentine whose dag this is!
All the air is thy diocese;
And all the chIpng choristers
And other birds are thy parishioneTs
Valentine was beheaded in Rome
during the third century, and, being
soon after canonized, became. by a
strange mingling Of pagan and Chris
tian rites, the patron saint OF lovers.
whose red-letter day falls on next
Friday.
The Lupercalia-feasts in honor OF
Faunus, or Lupercus-were heather
celebrations, and 1t is believed that
early Christian teachers. in their en-
dcavors 10 eradicate the heather super
sutions, substituted the names Of par
ticuler saints for the especial festival
DAYS Of more ancient pagan observance.
As the feasts of Lupercalia were cele-
brated in the middle of February. the
18th Of February was selected as the
day of honor for ST. Valentine on
these saints days the outlines of some
Of the pagan ceremonies were pre-
served. which. in a modified form. were
adopted by the Christian world for cen
turtles.
Famous for His Love.
An old writer says.
st. Valentine was a man Of most
admirable parts, and so famous for his
love and charity that the valentine fes-
tival took its rise from that"
Nilsson, who in 169S published "Trav-
els in England" wrote:
on the eve Of St Valentines Day
the young folks in England and Scot
land, By very ancient custom, cele-
brate a little festival.
An equal number or maids and bach
olors write their true or feint name
upon separate biIlets. which they roll
up and draw by way of lots. the maids
taking the mems billets and the men
tAe maids: so that each OF the young
men lights upon a young girl that he
Young girls upon a young man that she
r. calls hers BY this means each has two
valentines; but the man clings 20 the
valentine that has fallen 10 his lot
rather than the one who calls him hers
Fortune having thus divided the com
p3ny into 50 many couples the vaIeu-
tines give balls and treats, wear their
blllets several days upon their sleeves.
, ana this little sport often ends in
love-
Remained True TO Her.
To cast lots for a valentine. as de-
scribed. was "A practice followed until the
eighteenth century by the gentry Of Eng
land it became obligatory upon the man
10 remain the devoted attendant Of his
enslaver through the ensuing year and
"a present was 10 be given at once to the
choosing party As this necessity Of de-
votion and gift-making was often oner-
Gus, particularly if one or both Of the
parties were married, it became the Gus
tom to bestow a handsome gift. which re-
leased the valentine from obligatory at
tentons. In Pepys Diary. the following
account concerning the subject may be
found:
Valentines Day, I657-This morning
came up to my wifes bedside little VIII
Mercer TO be her valentine. and brought
her name written in gold letters upon
blue paper, done By himself: very pretty
and We were both well pleased with IT,
But ] am also my wife's valentine, and it
viii cost me e5; but that I must have
laid out If We had not been valentines"
Is Little Girls Valentine.
On the 18th he writes: Il find that Mrs
Pierce's little girl is my valentine. she
having drawn me; which I was not sorry
for, it easing nae Of something more that
! must have given to others. Il is also
the fashion 10 draw notices as well as
names. 60 that Pierce, who drew my wife.
did draw also a motto, and the little girl
drew one for me. What mine was ! for
got but my wife's was Most courteous
and most fair"
At later date he wrote of a famous
Miss Stuart. who became the Duchess of
Richmond: 'The Duke Of York, being
once her valentine, did give her a jewel
Of about 500 pounds; and my Lord Mande-
vile, her valentine this year, a ring Of
about 300 pounds"
Pepys neglects to mention his present
10 Mrs. Pierce's little girl. though he
enaTges upon the gift his wife received.
This evening my wife did with great
pleasure show me her stock Of Jewels. in
creased by the ring she hath made lately
as my valentines gift this year, a Turkish
stone set with diamonds With this and
what she had. she reci1ons thar she hath
above $50 pounds worth of Jewels of
one kind or another; and I am glad of II
for 1t is nj the wretch should have some
thing to content herself with" The
word wretch as used here, does moi
imply that Mrs. Pepys was wretched
woman, but was rather 2 term of endear-
ment.
Shakespeare Mentions Day.
Shakespeare, as well as Chaucer
Dome Drayton. Lydgate. and other poets
OF the sixteenth and seventeenth centu-
ries. allude to this festal day in one Of
Gray's poems he mentions the fact Of
the current belief that the first unmar-
ried person OF the other sex whom one
met on 81. Valentines Day under any
circumstances, but particularly when
walking out, was destined to be a wife
or a husband. Gray makes a country
dame say
Thee first I spied. and the first swain We see.
Ia spite Of fortune. shah our tr5e love be,
Among the great variety, of occult de-
vices pTacticed on the eve Of st. Valen-
tines Day was one which was sufficiently
heroic 10 deserve a favorable response
The anxious maiden must secure FIVE
bay leaves, pin one to each corner of the
pillow. and the nth In the middle. and
then the man Of whom she dreamed