Of course, it's good to know that romance is alive and well, but why do we celebrate Valentine's Day and who was this cupid-like character? Little is known about Valentine - the patron saint of lovers - as his origins are shrouded in myth and many legends have sprung up around him.

As far as we can tell, he was a Roman priest and physician who lived in the Third Century and became Bishop of Terni, a village 60 miles from Rome. It is known that he fell foul of Emperor Claudius II Gothicus and was martyred by beheading outside the gates of Rome, according to legend, on February 14, 269AD. His links with love, however, came later.

Legend has it that the Emperor had forbidden marriage, which he believed discouraged men from joining the Roman army, yet Valentine secretly invited young lovers to come to him and married them off until he was caught and executed.

Saint Valentine's Day took over from the Roman festival of Lupercalia, the return of spring and renewed fertility, which was celebrated each year on February 15. Gradually the festival evolved into what we see today - by the 16th Century people were sending anonymous cards to lovers and the practice reached a peak in Victorian times, when you could even send a 'black' Valentine card to people you didn't like!

Nowadays popping the question is popular on Valentine's Day, although a leap year also provides traditionalist women with an opportunity to take the lead just two weeks after on Leap Day, February 29.

Alternatively, you could put your message on the side of a bus - as long as you don't mind everyone in the town seeing it. You can even have a message displayed at the cinema or at the roadside on a 20ft by 10ft hoarding!

You could skip over the border to Gretna Green, or visit the Wiltshire village of Lover, which receives cards from all over the world to be franked with Lover's postmark.

Valentine's day seems to attract odd behaviour. Israeli couple Dror Orpaz and Carmit Tzubara won a kissing competition in Tel Aviv by snogging for 30 hours and 45 minutes. Meanwhile, Alfred Wolfram of New Brighton, Minnesota, holds the record for kissing the most people - 8001 in eight hours.

TOP TEN VALENTINE'S TRIVIA

* Fifteen per cent of women send themselves flowers on Valentine's Day.

* Roses, the traditional flower of love, are one of the oldest flowers. Fossils dating back several million years have been discovered.

* The highest number of kisses in a mainstream movie - 191 - were planted by the actor John Barrymore in the 1926 version of Don Jaun.

* It's never too late to fall in love. The oldest bride on record was a youthful 102 years when she tied the knot.

* Feminists in America celebrate an alternative to St Valentine's Day - the feast of Wilgefortis on July 20. Legend has it that Portugese princess Wilgefortis was the beautiful daughter of a 15th Century king who arranged her to marry the king of Sicily. Not too impressed with the arrangement, the princess grew a beard overnight to make herself repellent to men. Her horrified father had her crucified but from the cross the bearded lady declared that any woman who invoked her name would be free from men.

* Bananas, celery, ginger and leeks are all credited with increasing sex drive. The aubergine, or eggplant, is famed for its aphrodisiac qualities, and the Kama Sutra even suggests that rubbing your partner's body with aubergine juice will increase their libido for a month.

* Lovesickness is a recognised medical condition called erotopathology. Symptoms range from hallucinations to a rapid heartbeat.

* Bosnian Amdi Ljuman claimed to have had love affairs with 4,320 women by the time he reached the age of 100.

* According to researchers in Pittsburgh, USA, sauerkraut has properties likely to boost the male sexual appetite. They asked 450 jaded men to eat three plates of the German pickled cabbage every day for a month - and 90 per cent reckoned their appetites perked up no end! Sauerkraut's high content of vitamin c and lactic acid are thought to be responsible.

* Italian prisoners of war held in Britain during World War II developed an unnatural taste for Spam - because they reckoned the processed meat was a powerful aphrodisiac.

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