Valentines drawn on the eve

On the eve of St Valentine’s Day the names of a chosen number of one sex were put into a vessel and drawn by an equal number of the other, and each person’s draw became their valentine. Bourne said ordinary people never failed to keep it, and that the draw was taken as a good omen that the pair would one day be man and wife. He believed it came from the rural saying that every bird chooses its mate that day, and warned that it often led to scandal and unease in families.