Montgomery County sentinel., 1942-02-12
Edited by Elsie WHITE HAINES
MONTGOMERY
Nl SIDELICHTS
By ELSIE WHITE HA1NEs

martyr, VINO was beheaded or
February IA in the third or fourth
century, probably gave the day its
name-in fact there seems to have
been several of the name-two OF
whom were beheaded in the
Springtime.
What has that in common with
our Valentines Day, with it's
tokens of lace paper, ribbons
hearts and flowers. one may well
ask. Tracing the connection has
been most interesting.
In that warmer cline Spring
comes early-for there is an old
legend that the birds began to
mate on st. Valentines Day, ano
from this notion came the custom
of young men and women choos-
ing each other as valentines for
the ensuing year by species of
iottery-later we read of them
sending love missives" on that
day-the name thus gradually be-
came applied to the missive itself.
Each century seems to have
added something to the custom
the heart as the seat of life and
the emotions, was early used to
denote love. Roses also are used
to show love-but anciently they
were symbol of secrecy, and
even today valentines are often
sent anonymously--how one en-
joys wondering "who sent this
one?"
Then we have Cupid, the god
of love, son of Aphrodite, the
goddess of Springtime-becau
he acted as "a messenger for his
mother. Cupid is pictured as an
angel, armed with a bow and a
quiver full of arrows with which
he transfixed the hearts of lovers.
We often find birds on a valen-
tine-blue birds for happiness, or
a dove-the emblem of the pure
and sweet of life, or reverting to
the old superstition-we find a
pair of birds ''billing and cooling" +"
Pansies, for thoughts, you know
they were very popular on the
valentines of fifty years ago, as
was that lovely member of the
ancient borage family, the forget
me-not whose meaning is self ex-
planatory.
Then we have the clasped
hands of friendship-lover's knots
of friendship and fidelity, sup
posed to never come united. Get
a few valentines and see what
you can read from the emblems-
there are many more, each with
a meaning all its own.
Remembering that our little
friend Mrs. Sue Burton Dwyer,
of Bleakwood, had a scrapbook
with some valentines received all
during her ninety years of life we
drove down and borrowed it for
the weekend.
The oldest one in the book had
been sent her from Pittsburgh "a
years ago-little Sue Burton lived
in Ellicott City at that time-of
white lace paper. exquisitely cut
out and embossed, with a lining
of pale green and pale yellow, it
says: "To a Cousin"
Inside the valentine in faded
brown is inscribed in a little
boys handwriting:
"To Cousin Sue Burton,
Roses red Violet blue
Sugar sweet So are you.
From Richard P. Sibley.
How thrilling to find that Sue
Burton's long dead cousin was the
writer's great grandmother's
nephew-you can figure out the
relationship-not exactly kissing
cousins" but cousins of some de-
gree.
On another page we found one
from Sister Eligius of st. Vim
cents School in Washington, sent
to Sue Burton 76 years ago, when
she was a patient in that school
where Woodward and Lothrop,
now have their garage.
One furbelowed valentine of
fifty years ago-all lace forget
me-nots and roses has this mid
victorian verse:
Darling thou canst make me
With one gentle tone,
More happy than a monarch
Upon earth's greatest throne
And then there were always the
"comics"-we did not find any in
Sue Burton's book-but we re.
member one. we received at the
age Of seven, when we were most
sensitive about some missing front
teeth and never. never will We
forget the one we received at the
age Of seventeen-entitled "Tht
old Mo;dOI