Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-13

Yet who would i've ana i've Without lHee'
TN the reign of Emperor Claudius,
about 27O A. D.. there lived a st.
u Valentine who suffered martyrdom,
but just how this most austere saint
in the calendar became mixed up with
the mischievous little god of pagan
mythology in the name and observ-
ance of the 14th of February is not
fully known. st. Valentine suffered
martyrdom by losing his head; his de-
votees suffer martyrdom by losing
their hearts, though we must confess
that many of them lose their heads
also.
References are made to the senti-
ment of the day, way back in literature
and history, long before the time of
Shakespeare and his contemporaries,
whose writings abound in illusions to
the choosing of mates on the day con-
secrated to st. Valentine. The custom
seems to have originated in Rome. In
the fifth century we find the Roman
youths and maidens observing the
feast of Lupercal, February Is, by
joint festival of Juno and Pan, at
which time the names of young wom-
en- were cast into an urn and drawn
out by blindfolded young men. The
association resulting from this draw
ing lasted one year. The custom was
obnoxious to the priests of the time
and as they found they could not make
the young people give up the day they
substituted the names of saints for
those of maidens in the public draw
ings and set the day for February IA.
thus commemorating the death of
good Valentine.
But though "the course of true love
never does run smooth" it takes more
than good Christian bishops to stem
fS1
lovers festivals. Witness the years it
has survived and the joy of love and
life which still makes February IA
different from other days. With all the
changes and customs of time, st. Val
entine's day survives, though the lace
paper and pictures with honeyed words
within have been superseded by fanci-
full cards and modest poetry
Before valentines became a definite
article of merchandise, lovers were
obliged to make their own. There are
many interesting and curious ones to
he seen among old valentines. When
Charles of Orleans was taken prisoner
at the battle of Agincourt in 1415 he
amused himself through the twenty
five years of his imprisonment writing
valentines. He left about sixty of
them, one being the familiar lines,
wilt thou be mine? uear love, reply,
Sweet consent, or else deny
Whisper softly, none shall know,
Wilt thou be mine? Aye or no?"
At one time books by enterprising
poets were made and offered for sale
These were called New Valentine
Writer'S" and "The Bower of Cupid"
or any name which suggested the
verses running over with love and al
ready prepared for the lovers con-
venience
1t is only a little over a century ago
that the manufactured valentine took
the place of the original verse, but 1t
has grown from the simplest processes
by natural degrees to the ornate con-
coctions of lace paper, silver and gilt,
artificial flowers and scrap pictures
to box valentines and postal cards.
Sometimes the valentine takes the
form of a bunch of Violets or a box OF
sweets or some little gift; love can be
expressed in many ways.
pretty way of celebrating st. VAL
entine's day is still observed in some
parts of England it is called Valen-
timing. Children gather in a group in
the early morning and go from house
to house singing a little song, some
what like this: Good morning to you,
Valentine; curl your locks as | do
mine. Two before and three behind:
good morning to you, Valentine" The
youngsters receive pennies or candies,
and are very happy The children il
Norfolk used to try to be the first to
say "good morning to a single gen
tleman or lady. This custom was taken
up by the groWn-ups, and in time the
first eligible person met by young
lady became her mate. This custom