St Valentines Day

Some of our year 7 pupils have been looking at the origins of St Valentines Day and the traditions which go with it. This page shows some of their work. The work was carried out as part of their English lessons. One of the reasons for doing this work is as part of a continuing project looking at local, national and international traditions, feast days and holidays. The project also involves partner schools in Sweden and Finland and is partly funded by a Comenius grant from the EU.

The background graphic, if your browser lets you see it, was designed by Amy Ridding.
Other graphics were created by pupils in year 7 and are credited where they appear.

Each piece of work between the horizontal rulers is the work of a different pupil. Some of the pupils have includes their names.

ST VALENTINES DAY

St Valentine‘s day is every year on February the 14th and is dedicated to lovers. People send each other cards and presents to say that they love each other.

It was first started by the Romans and was named after two of them both called St Valentine.

People make up poems and rhymes to send in cards to the people they love.

Chocolate and flowers are also a popular gift to be sent on Valentines day. A typical poem might be-

Rose‘s are red

violets are Blue

sugar is sweet

and so are you

ST VALENTINES DAY

BY AMY RIDDING

the story of Valentines Day

Valentines Day probably derives its origins from the ancient roman feast of Luperialia. In the early days of Rome, fierce wolves roamed the woods nearby. The romans called upon one of their gods, Lupercus, to keep the wolves away. A festival held in honour of Lupercus was celebrated on February the 15th. The festival was celebrated as a spring festival. Their calender was different at that time, with February falling in early springtime.

One of the customs of the young people was name - drawing. On the eve of the festival of Lupercus the names of roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man drew a slip. The girl whose name was chosen was to be his sweetheart for the year.

Legend has it that the holiday became Valentines day after a priest named Valentine.

Valentine was a priest in Rome at the time Christianity was a new religion. The emperor at that time, Claudius II, ordered the roman soldiers not to marry or become engaged. Claudius believed that as married men his soldiers would want stay at home with their families rather than fight his wars.

Valentine defied the emperors decree and secretly married the young couples. He was eventually arrested, imprisoned, and put to death.

Valentine was beheaded on February 14th, the eve of the roman holiday Lupercalia. After his death, Valentine was made a saint and as Rome became more Christian, the priests moved the spring holiday from the 15th of February to the 14th, Valentines day. Now the holiday honoured Saint Valentine instead of Lupercus.

by Douglas Pickup.

Valentines Day

Saint Valentines day is a holiday honouring lovers. It is celebrated on February 14th by the custom of sending greeting cards or gifts to express affection. The cards, known as valentines, are often designed with hearts to symbolize love.

The holiday came from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalis (15th Feb). The festival gradually became associated with the feast day (14th Feb) of two Roman martyrs, both named St Valentine, who lived in the 3rd century. St Valentine has traditionally been regarded as the patron saint of lovers. Anonymous cards were sent to people who they fancied, inside the cards there are often poems and funny rhymes such as:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Sugar is sweet
But not as sweet
as you.
I stood at the window
and watched you undress
a pair of pyjamas
and a little white vest
but all of a sudden
you were unkind
you came to the window
and pulled down the blind.
CHRIS BELL

by Christian Daley

ST VALENTINE`S DAY

BY KATE DAND

St Valentine - who he was

St Valentine was an obscure priest that was beheaded on that day(14th of February in the year 270).st Valentine was named the patron saint of lovers.

St Valentine`s day is a holiday for lovers and is celebrated on the day St Valentine died. The custom is to send cards or gifts for affection and they are usually decorated with hearts that show love.

St Valentine`s day-where it comes from

The holiday probably comes from the ancient roman feast of Lupercalis (February 15th.) The holiday became associated with the feast day(February 14th) of two romans, both were called St Valentine,who lived in the third century.

cupids- what they are

cupids(latin cupido,•desire•) are usually decorated on Valentine cards because in roman mythology he is the son of venus, goddess of love. He is well known as a good looking young god who fell in love with a beautiful maiden called Psyche. This story is called the golden ass, by the roman writer Lucius Apuleius. In other stories he is a mischievous boy who wounds gods and humans with his arrows, which makes them fall deeply in love. Cupid is best known in art as a infant with wings, often blindfolded, carrying a bow and a package of arrows.

Valentines day

Valentines day first started hundreds of years ago on 14th February. Valentines day is about giving gifts to people you love. You would give gifts like cards, chocolates, flowers and hearts. In some cards you can get poems like this one.

Roses are red violets are blue

Sugar is sweet and so are you.

by Simon Holliday

Valentines Day

Through the ages, many cultures have paused to celebrate love and romance in mid-February. According to one legend, Valentinus ignored a decree from emperor Claudius 11 that forbade all marriages and betrothals. Caught in the act, Valentinus was imprisoned and sentenced to death for secretly conducting several wedding ceremonies.

Did you know that the current popularity of St Valentines day owes much to the modern postal services? The cost of posting was very expensive the 1800s, even worse, the postal service demanded payment from the recipient not from the sender of the letter.

We may owe our observance of Valentines day to the romans. St Valentines day greeting‘s card are still very popular but red roses and chocolates now often accompany the card. The card itself has changed quite a lot some cards include music that plays when opened or scratch and sniff cards.

by Kate Rumbles

Valentines day

Some people believe that on Valentines day a little boy dressed in a nappy with a bow and arrows flies around and shoots an arrow, one at a boy and one at a girl to make them fall in love with each other, this boy is known as Cupid.

St.Valentine

It is said that Valentines day was named after the roman priest Valentinus, who was martyred on February the 14th and that is how it began . Every year we celebrate valentines day by giving our loved one a gift

Traditions

There are many different traditions for Valentines day one of the most popular traditions is to send a card without your name on so the person you had given the card to would be wondering who had sent them a card but if you were married you would put your name on .

Another tradition is giving gifts like chocolates or flowers.

Roses are red

violets are blue

sugar is sweet and so are you.

by Kayleigh McVey

graphic and text by Douglas Pickup.

ST Valentines Day

ST Valentines Day is a holiday celebrating lovers. St Valentines Day is on 14th of Febuary. It is a custom of giving flowers, cards, chocolates and lot‘s more to your boy/girlfriend or wife/husband. Most Valentines cards or letters are unnamed. The holiday probably derives from the Ancient Roman feast of Lupercalis (February 15th). Originally a festival for shepherds, it was celebrated in honour of Faunus. Its primary purpose was to secure fertility for the fields, the flocks, and the shepherds themselves. The festival gradually became associated with the feast day (Febuary 14th) of two Roman martyrs, both named St Valentine, who lived in the 3rd century, but about whom nothing specific is known. St Valentines has traditionally been regarded as the patron saint of lovers.

By Douglas Pickup

St Valentine Day

St Valentines day is celebrated on the 14th of February every year. People normally send each other boxes of chocolates, anonymous messages and cards with pictures of hearts and birds on. One of the most popular traditions is sending flowers with poems on them.

Most of the poems start with:

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Sugar is sweet,

And so are you.

The end part is only one of many different endings for those two lines.

A Valentine myth is about an angel called Cupid who fires love arrows at a couple who would then fall in love with each other.

Angels are still pictured on Valentine cards today.

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