Lee: Birds are but one of many traditional Valentine symbols

Published: Sunday, February 10, 2008

There's no shortage of accounts about exactly how Valentine's Day started. Some think the holiday is named after Saint Valentine who lived long ago. Other legends say that someone named Valentine sent a girl a note to thank her for bringing him food and signed his note, "Your Valentine."

Some believe Valentine's Day began as an ancient Roman festival, when women wrote their names on slips of paper and put them into a bowl. The men then picked out a name and the woman whose name he drew would be his partner for the festival.

Some historians trace the custom of sending romantic verses on Valentine's Day to Frenchman Charles, Duke of Orleans, who was captured by the English during a battle in 1415. Taken to England and put in prison, he sent his wife in France a love poem from his cell in the Tower of London. This card is now preserved in the British Museum. However, it wasn't until much later that this tradition of sending cards and romantic verses flourished.

Regardless of how it came about, February 14 is celebrated as Valentine's Day, a day for those in love. The epitome of Valentine's Day, the heart shape, has symbolized love since ancient times, when the heart was thought to be the source of all emotions. Red roses were the favorite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love, and the color red is often associated with strong feelings.

Birds, particularly lovebirds and doves, also became popular Valentine's Day symbols. Many believe birds chose their mate for the year on February 14. English poet Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) wrote in The Parliament of Fowls, "For this was on St. Valentine's Day/ When every fowl cometh there to choose his mate." Shakespeare also made reference to Valentine's Day.

Lovebirds are frequently depicted on Valentine cards and gifts because they sit together in pairs. Doves and pigeons are also portrayed symbolizing peace, love and fidelity, and because they mate for life and share the care of their offspring.

Whatever the origins, people have connected Valentine's Day with friendship and love for hundreds of years. The first commercial valentine appeared around 1800, and between 1830 and 1840, they contained clever and imaginative messages. By then they were made with high-quality paper and decorated with satin, ribbon or lace and demanded high prices. Some valentines had pictures of turtle doves, gold or silver lovers' knots or cupid with a bow and arrow.

In America and England some believe a young girl could tell what kind of man she would marry by the first bird she saw on this day, since each bird had an association with a particular type of character. Seeing a goldfinch or any yellow bird perched or in flight meant you would find a rich man; a blackbird indicated a clergyman. Seeing a robin meant you'd meet a sailor; a sparrow meant a farmer, a bluebird equaled a happy man, the dove, a kindhearted man and the crossbill meant a quarrelsome man. Unfortunately, if the first bird you saw was an owl or a woodpecker, it meant no husband at all.

Supposedly, if you saw a hen and young rooster together on Valentine's Day, it meant you would marry the following year, and the number of animals you saw at the same time indicated how many months would pass before the event happened.

Today there are interesting statistics about this holiday on the Internet:

• 73 per cent of people who buy flowers for Valentine's Day are men, while 27 percent are women;

• About 3 percent of pet owners give Valentine's Day gifts to their pets; and

• About 1 billion Valentine's Day cards are exchanged each year, the largest card-sending occasion of the year after Christmas.

This week, as people buy flowers and candy, send cards, write sonnets or plan a romantic get-together, everyone must decide for himself whether the 14th of February is "for the birds" or not. One thing is certain: Valentine's Day is enjoyed equally by children and adults, and February 14 is always a date to be anticipated during the chilly days of winter.

You can send a Valentine e-card from the eNature website by visiting http://www.enature.com/ecard/ecard_list.asp?sectionID=26
