In Greek mythology, Aphrodite, the goddess of love and desire, rose from the sea and rode on a scallop shell pulled by six seahorses.

Primitive man ate scallops and used their shells as utensils. Nowadays we still use the concave shell as a serving dish. The majority of cleaned shells we sell are used for this purpose.

The curved scallop shell has become a religious and cultural symbol. The shrine of St. James the apostle at Compostela in Spain has adopted the scallop shell as its emblem and the scallop has been named after the saint - hence Coquilles St. Jacques.

When the 'body of St. James was being returned to Galicia, borne by boat with 'neither oars, nor sails', it passed a village called Padron, where a wedding was taking place. While frolicking on the sands with his friends, the bridegroom was suddenly dragged into the sea by his panicky horse. Much to everyone's amazement they surfaced beside the ship carrying St. James and his followers. The Christians preached the Gospel to the bridegroom, telling him it was the power of God that had saved him. He promptly converted to Christianity and was baptised. He returned to the shore, where his friends were amazed to see both him and his horse covered in scallop shells.

They all promptly became Christians and the nearby Santiago de Compostela became an important centre of pilgrimage.

The pilgrims would wear scallop-shaped badges as they followed the famous trail to Compostela.