Scottish Customs and Holidays - November Festivals

SCOTTISH CUSTOMS AND HOLIDAYS

November Festivals

MARTINMAS

The feast of St. Martin was held on November the eleventh, one of the Scottish quarter days. It is usually referred to as Martinmas but pronounced Martimas. It was the same day as Hallowe'en in the old calendar. In the traditional ballad the 'Wife of Usher's Well', her sons return from the dead.

It fell about the Martinmas,
When nights are lang and mirh,
The carlin's wife's three sons came hame,
And their hats were made o' the birk.
It neither grew in syhe nor ditch,
Nor yet in ony sheugh,
But at the gates o' Paradise,
The birk grew fair eneugh.
Traditional

At cock crow the spirits would return to their graves. The crowing of a cockerel, especially a black one, was also thought to frighten away evil spirits.

Mart
Fodder was scarce in the days before the Agricultural Revolution of the mid-seventeenth century and in the eighteenth the approach to crop husbandry changed. Oxen were killed and butchered and salted to preserve the meat which was the winter as food. These were called marts.

Haggis
This was always a popular dish at Martinmas. The entrails of the animals which were slaughtered were mixed with oatmeal and stuffed into a sheep's bladder to be boiled. Spices were added to help to preserve them. Another favourite which used up the blood was black puddings. White mealy puddings were also popular. ANERMAS

St Andrew
St Andrew was adopted as the patron saint of Scotland after a famous Pictish Victory in 747 A.D. in the reign of Aengus. A huge saltire was seen in the sky which they believed turned the tide in their favour. His relics were believed to be housed at St Andrews. It is a day more celebrated abroad by ex-patriots than in Scotland.

King James IV celebrated it by a Saint Andrew's Dinner

And ilka year for his patron's saik,
Ane banquet royall wald he maik,
With wild fowle, venisoun and wyne.
Squire Meldrum, David Lyndsay, 1879

Sanct Andra-ing
Traps were set for rabbits and squirrels and the farmworkers set off to the woods on what was known as 'going Sanct Andra-ing'. They brought these home to be cooked and feasting and drinking.

Observance
There was also a kind of volunteer effort in certain classes to get up an observance of the day consecrated to the national saint, November 30th, 1662, a Sunday. Many of our nobles, barons, gentry and others of the Kingdom put on ane livery or favour os revenue therof. This being a novelty I thought good to record it because it was never of use herto fore since the Reformation, Domestic Annals of Scotland, Vol 2, From the Revolution to the Rebellion 1745,
Robert Chambers 1874

International
There are St Andrew's societies in many parts of the world which hold dinners on the night of November the thirtieth. They wear tartan, the kilt, sing Scots songs and dance Scottish reels and strathspeys.

The scattered clans are ane this nicht,
Nae mair we war wi' ane anither,
Auld Scotland Yet!' for Scotland's richt
We'll bide the warld's fueds the-gither.
Sanct Andrew's Nicht, George Leith, n.c.

The Saltire
The saltire of St Andrew, a white diagonal cross on a blue background, is the national flag of Scotland and is flown from all public buildings. It was incorporated into the Union Flag after the Act of Union of Parliaments in Scotland and England in 1707.

*Source is "Scottish Festivals" by Sheila Livingstone which can be found here.

More Customs articles can be found in the archive section.

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