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Valentine - We Are Ragged And You Are Fine



Good Morrow, Valentine,
Change your luck and I'll change mine.
We are ragged and you are fine,
So pray give us a Valentine

So ran a traditional East Anglian Valentine rhyme.  The earliest written mention of the English Valentine tradition is by Geoffrey Chaucer in the late Fourteenth century, who mentions the popular belief that birds choose their mates upon the feast of Valentine (patron saint of birds), which was on February 14th. By this time the mating flights of corvids (rooks, crows and ravens) have begun, whilst, as we heard a few days back, the birds are in song.

The sap is rising, and the buds are forming. It is time for Love. HUZZAH!


~ Esotericus ~

[Source: Hutton, Ronald (1996), The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain. Oxford University Press]
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  1. Many Coats14 February 2011 at 10:55

    A fine post Esotericus, although we must not forget it is a time for children as well. A time of hot pennies and for Jack Valentine to wend his way from house to house...

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  2. The Ragged Society of Antiquarian Ramblers14 February 2011 at 20:00

    I think that Our Reader would like to hear about Jack Valentine Mr. Many Coats...

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  3. Many Coats14 February 2011 at 23:51

    A good idea my friend. Perhaps tomorrow Jack can come knocking...

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  4. lasramblas15 February 2011 at 00:35

    Sunday, February 14, 1999 Published at 19:18 GMT
    UK
    St Valentine remembered
    The remains of St Valentine?

    If St Valentine's day proves nothing else it is that love can thrive in the unlikeliest of places.
    Nuala Napier reports: "Relics on display"
    And it does not come much more unlikely than a monastery in one of Scotland's most deprived inner city areas.
    But friars at the church of Blessed St John Duns Scotus in Glasgow's Gorbals area have held a special Valentine's service on Sunday, putting on display what are thought to be the martyr's bones.
    And they are hoping the relics could help make Glasgow Europe's city of love.

    aaahhh Glasgow the home of Romance

    if it's on BBC NEWS it must be so

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  5. The Ragged Society of Antiquarian Ramblers15 February 2011 at 00:49

    Dear bdhark,

    Now there's a thought to confound all stereotypes! However, having recently read 'Alex and Bob's Blue Sky Scotland' blog post about the Glasgow of his childhood (http://blueskyscotland.blogspot.com/2011/01/heart-of-darknesspart-two.html), I think that roses do indeed grow among thorns in Glasgow.

    Thanks for sharing this with us here.

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