Martinmas

In Scotland, Martinmas is one of the Term and Quarter Days on which debts, especially quarterly rents, are payable. It falls on 28th November, although from 1886 it was on 11th November, and from 1886 until 1990 on 29th November. The other term and quarter days are: Candlemas (formerly 2nd February, now 28th February), Whitsunday (formerly 15th May, now 28th May) and Lammas (formerly 1st August, now 28th August).

As part of the Church calendar, Martinmas falls on 11th November, also called Armistice Day or Remembrance Day. It is the feast day of St Martin of Tours aka St Martin of Winter (to distinguish him from another St Martin, whose feast is celebrated in July). Martin of Tours was born in Hungary and became a Roman soldier, but this does not seem to have agreed with his nature, as after some time he went into retreat. In 374 he was elected Bishop of tours.

In many places, Martinmas, also known as Martlemass, was the time when cattle not to be kept over the Winter were slaughtered and the meat salted down for storage. This was an occasion for a feast at which fresh beef would feature prominently on the menu. In other parts of the world, goose was a popular dish at this time of year.

Celebration of Martinmas or the Feast of St Martin is almost exclusively confined to Europe, in particular areas of Belgium (especially Flanders), Netherlands, Germany and Austria, Estonia, Malta, Slovenia and Croatia, Poland and Portugal. For example, in Germany, children celebrate by making lanterns and going from door to door in a similar way to Halloween trick-or-treating. In Poland, where Martinmas falls on Independence Day, it is traditional to bake horseshoe cookies made from flour, butter, sugar and rolled oats. These are intended to be given to St Martin's horse when he "comes riding through the snow," although I expect most of them end up being eaten by the makers' children.