Valentine's Day

Next: Sunday 14 February 2027

14 February, the feast of St Valentine, kept as a day for sweethearts since the Middle Ages; in Norfolk, Jack Valentine leaves gifts on the doorstep.

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Saturday 23 January

Sat 23 Jan from 14:00
Custom

Aberystwyth Santes Dwynwen Parade

Sets off from Town Clock, Great Darkgate Street, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion
- Procession
- Valentine's Day

Folklore from the old calendars

Bay Leaves and a Salted Egg Lore and belief EnglandA girl writing in the Connoisseur in the 1750s describes her Valentine's Eve.
Catching valentines before sunrise No longer kept NorfolkIn Norfolk children tried to catch one another for valentines on St Valentine's morning, and took special care to catch any elderly people in the family who were likely to be generous.
Drawing Valentines No longer kept England, ScotlandThe old ceremony of St Valentine's Day was a lottery.
Drawing valentines at Fordyce No longer kept BanffshireThe young people of Fordyce drew valentines in February and read their future married lives from them.
Every good goose lays by St Valentine’s Day Lore and belief MontgomeryshireAn old woman of Llandrinio who kept geese by the Severn told Owen that every good goose would lay before St Valentine's Day, and by St Chad's Day, 2 March, every goose good or bad.
Good Morrow, Valentine No longer kept HertfordshireIn many parts of Hertfordshire the poorer children gathered on Valentine's morning and went together to the house of the chief person of the place, who threw wreaths and true lovers' knots to them from a window.
Good Morrow, Valentine at Weston Favell No longer kept NorthamptonshireReviewing John Cole's little history of Weston Favell, near Northampton, in 1827, Hone noted the village's round of customs.
Lynn Mart Still kept NorfolkKing's Lynn's great annual mart was granted by Henry VIII to begin the day after Candlemas, and after the change of calendar in 1752 it was proclaimed on Valentine's Day.
Owling on Valentine’s morning No longer kept West CountryBefore daylight on St Valentine's Day three single young men went out with a clap-net to catch an old owl and two sparrows in a neighbouring barn.
Paying the valentine in Hereford No longer kept HerefordshireMrs Joyce Jefferies of Hereford took care each Valentine's Day to give money to the first man of her acquaintance she met, who counted as her valentine.
Pope Valentine’s lottery of patrons Lore and belief EnglandDrawing valentines was said to have begun as a lottery among poor clergy for patrons for the coming year.
Rings, gloves and ribbons for valentines No longer kept EnglandValentines greeted each other with presents of rings, gloves and ribbons, and sealed the match with kisses.
Sweeping the girls No longer kept DerbyshireIn Derbyshire a girl who had not been kissed by Valentine's morning was said to be dusty, and had to be swept with a broom.
The crocus at the shrine of St Valentine Lore and belief EnglandThe yellow spring crocus was the flower of St Valentine, coming into bloom about his feast.
The first two single people to meet on Valentine’s morning Lore and belief EnglandOn the eve of St Valentine's Day, ordinary people believed that the first two unmarried people to meet on the morning of the feast might well become a pair.
The Valentine Letter-shower Still kept EnglandBy the 1860s the drawing of valentines had given way to sending anonymous letters.
Valentine buns at Peterborough No longer kept NorthamptonshireIn Peterborough and the villages of north Northamptonshire, sweet plum buns called Valentine buns were baked for St Valentine's Day.
Valentine pence in Oxfordshire No longer kept OxfordshireIn Oxfordshire the children went about on Valentine's Day collecting pence and singing a short rhyme asking each householder for a valentine.
Valentine’s Eve in Norfolk Still kept NorfolkIn Norfolk St Valentine's Eve was the night for giving presents.
Valentines drawn on the eve No longer kept EnglandOn 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.
Valentines on hat and sleeve No longer kept EnglandPaired valentines wore each other's names or favours, he on her hat and she on her sleeve.
When the Birds Choose Their Mates Lore and belief EnglandAmong the common people it was believed that St Valentine's Day was the day on which the birds chose their mates, and that something of the same influence lay on young men and women, so that a partner chosen by lot or chance that day was in some degree binding.

Saturday 23 January

Aberystwyth Santes Dwynwen Parade

Folklore from the old calendars

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