Did Jack Valentine visit your house?
February 18, 2012
It was a good excuse to do a little something for valentines, the girls crafted, and I made heart shaped bangers and mash for tea!
In Norfolk there is a tradition of having Jack Valentine ( or Old Mother Valentine / Old Father Valentine or even Jack Snatch) leave gifts for the children at the door after knocking and running, it seems that no one is entirely sure where it originated from, and I know more people that don’t do it than those that do, but Norfolk must be a county of romantics as giving a gift just because “someone loves you” still continues. You never know what’s going to be left, and sometimes brooms get lent or the door to fall on you as you open it, (perhaps you havent been such a good Valentine’s that year!) or gifts are pulled away on strings off the doorstep, or ‘snatched’.
Hubby fulfilled the role for a friend this year, and was informed he didn’t run fast enough, as apparently someone caught sight of him! Though judging by the amount of oil and muck he was covered in when he returned home I don’t think that his identity has been revealed!
