Valentine proper noun, a martyred saint now associated with courtship

There were several St Valentines, none of them Scots, but this does
not mean the Scots language lacks romance. The earliest mention of St
Valentine in The Dictionary of the Scots Language is over 500 years
old, in Dunbar's Poem The Twa Merriit Wemen and the Wedo and, as this
is a satirical and scurrilous poem, it is not an auspicious start.
In sixteenth-century Scotland, an unwelcome valentine was a writ,
listing suspected criminals and requiring their overlord to apprehend
them. The Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland (1587) decrees that the
Justice Clerk should twice yearly 'procure the kingis maiesties clois
valentynis to be send to the maisteris, landislordis, baillies and
chiftanes of all notable lymmeris (rogues) and thevis'.
A valentine was also a paper with a person's name on it, to be drawn
by lot. The Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland (1639) states 'The
commissioneris of shyris to draw lottis and valentines yeirlie at ilk
parliament for thair places'.
Perhaps this is related to Valentine's dealing, which Jamieson's
Dictionary (1887 edition) explains is 'a custom observed on St.
Valentine's eve whereby the names of the members of a company of both
sexes are written on slips of paper and then chosen by lot by the
opposite sex, the person whose name was drawn supposedly becoming the
drawer's sweetheart for the year'. Burns exemplifies this in Tam
Glen (1787): 'Yestreen at the valentines dealing, My heart to my mou'
gied a sten; For thrice I drew ane without failing, And thrice it was
written -- Tam Glen!
Other valentine customs involve gifts. Gloves were a popular love
token. Lady Baillie's Household Book records in 1694 'To Lisi Rainald
for my Robins vallantin gloves'. Jewellery was also appropriate and
Memorials of the Montgomeries (1652) describes 'A gold chain with a
loquat gold; A gold inemald valentine'. Lucky lady!

This article was written by Chris Robinson of Scots Language Dictionaries. www.scotsdictionaries.org.uk

This word is spoken bi Dauvit, an academic that aince bade a lang time in North East Scotland, but noo in Angus.

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