Having Booked A Table,

and been reminded of the old joke from Grecian Ern, I too booked a table for Valentines Day, but it turned out that my date didn't even like snooker! boom-boom! I thought a look at the origins of Valentine's day might be in order, but it is not as clear cut as you may think, in fact in it's origins it is downright cruel, in ancient Rome, from Feb. 13 to 15, the Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia, the men sacrificed a goat and a dog, then whipped women with the hides of the animals they had just slain, they believed this would make them fertile, the brutal fete included a matchmaking lottery, in which young men drew the names of women from a jar, the couple would then be, um, coupled up for the duration of the festival – or longer, if the match was right,

the ancient Romans may also be responsible for the name of our modern day of love, Emperor Claudius II executed two men — both named Valentine — on Feb. 14 of different years in the 3rd century A.D. their martyrdom was honored by the Catholic Church with the celebration of St. Valentine's Day, later, Pope Gelasius I muddled things in the 5th century by combining St. Valentine's Day with Lupercalia to expel the pagan rituals, around the same time, the Normans celebrated Galatin's Day, Galatin meant "lover of women," that was likely confused with St. Valentine's Day at some point, in part because they sound alike,

as the years went on, the holiday grew sweeter, Chaucer and Shakespeare romanticized it in their work, and it gained popularity throughout Britain and the rest of Europe, eventually, the tradition made its way to the New World and it is what we know it today, love and kindness.