If you are feeling sheepish about expressing yourself to your loved one this Valentine's Day, consider this - it all started with a flock. These days it can end with your wallet feeling shorn.
Lupercalia, on the Roman equivalent of February 15, honoured Lupercus, the god of shepherds. As the Chriastian church grew stronger in Rome it took over the festival. By 496AD, Lupercalia was outlawed when Pope Gelasius I made February 14 a Christian holiday, to commemorate Saint Valentine, a priest who became known as the patron saint of love.
Other twists appeared on the path to true love as courtship has taken on many expressions across the globe, many of them related to food.
Wool was important to the Dai people in southern China, where courtship rituals revolved around the spinning of yarn and the wearing of a red blanket. Unmarried males in red quilts and playing musical instruments approach girls gathered around a bonfire and spinning yarn on wheels. If a man spots a girl he likes he serenades her and if he receives a positive response invites the girl to sit with him under the quilt and swap sweet nothings.
From yakking to yaks - these are highly valued animals in Tibet. To this day, prior to marriage, the suitor is required to shower his beloved's family with gifts that include yak butter and tea.
One romantic term obviously related to food is honeymoon. In ancient France, the tradition was to ply newlyweds with plenty of mead (a beer brewed from honey) for a month, the beverage symbolising sweetness and fertility.
On to Wales, noted not only for sheep but for lovespoons. In the 17th century lovespoons were gifts to express affection, the details of the utensil symbolising the feelings of the carver. Handmade from a single piece of wood, the suitor would carve elaborate designs on the handle, such as hearts, locks (for faithfulness and security) and vines (meaning growth).