Valentine's Day is just around the corner!

St. Valentine’s Day has its roots dating back to a Roman Pagan fertility festival known as Lupercalia in the year 496 AD, between the 13^th and 15^th of February.

The first real association of St. Valentine’s Day with love and romantic displays of affection dates back to the year 1382 and a beautiful poem ‘Parlement of Foules’ (Parliament of Fowls) written by Chaucer. This celebrated the engagement of Kind Richard II to Anne of Bohemia, in which he spoke about the event occurring on St. Valentine’s Day.

The earliest surviving Valentine’s 'love' letter is from the year 1415 written by a French prisoner to his wife from his cell in the Tower of London. Charles, the Duke of Orleans wrote a poem about the love for his wife, referring to her as his ‘very sweet Valentine’.

By 1601 St. Valentine’s Day had become part of the English tradition, even mentioned by Shakespeare himself in Hamlet! ‘To-morrow is Saint Valentine’s day, All in the morning betime, And I a maid at your window, To be your Valentine’.

In 1797 a book was published to help young men who were struggling to compose their own poems and letters to their sweethearts as it had become standard practice to do so. A bit of help for when love takes over and you can’t think straight!

The Royal Mail postal service became affordable to most of the UK population in 1840 with the introduction of the Penny Post. This then really started the tradition of sending Valentine’s cards as they became mass produced by printers across the country to meet public demand.

Statistics show that on average 1 in 2 of us celebrate Valentine’s Day in the UK….will you be a part of the 50%? If so, we have some wonderful gift ideas to help you along. All with a Valentine’s theme, and unisex of course!

If they are fashion conscious and want to make a statement, then the pippet beanie is the hat for them! Shop beanie. The beanie in charcoal and red is the perfect pairing with the charcoal cable mittens. Shop mittens.

If you have a bit more to spend then why not treat the one you love to a beautiful two tone random stripe jacket. With its reverse stocking stitch this jacket really has the wow factor as well as keeping you lovely and warm! Shop now.

Our new graduated tick beanie in red and grey has a decorative feel with its beautiful scattering of grey to contrast against the soft red. Shop beanie. Match with the Pale grey cable twist wristwarmers for a complete gift. Shop wristwarmers

Something to keep their head cosy in this frosty weather? The celtic bobble in dark red is a great choice. Shop bobble. Great matched with plain deep red wristwarmers! Shop wristwarmers.   

Happy Valentine's Day!