Michaelmas

Michaelmas (pronounced "Micklemas") is an early English word with the same meaning as Feast of St Michael, though in the Catholic church he no longer has a feast of his own (most other churches do not make him share). This is sad, as St Michael is one of three contenders for the title of Patron Saint of Cornwall, and the other two both have days of their own.

Michaelmas which normally coincides with the Roman Catholic Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, is one of the four English quarter days when accounts were settled. The others are: Christmas (25 December), Lady Day (25 March) and Midsummer Day (24 June).

On manors and estates the reeve (whose job was to supervise lands belonging to a lord) was elected from the peasantry at Michaelmas, and the day would be celebrated with a feast of goose in England, and St Michael’s Bannock (Struan Micheil) in Scotland. On the Isle of Skye a procession was held each Michaelmas.