Next: 11 Nov 2026
Martinmas
St Martin's Day, the old turn of the farming year in northern Europe, when the cattle went into their winter quarters.
Cattle at Martinmas
The feast of St Martin of Tours on 11 November was long one of the great dates of the farming year in northern Europe. It closed the grazing season: cattle came in from the fields, farm workers were paid and hired again at Martinmas fairs, and rents fell due. It was also the traditional time to kill cattle that could not be fed through the winter, so that their meat could be salted; in Scotland an animal fattened for this was called a mart. Today the day is known best for lantern processions of children, goose dinners and the opening of the carnival season in the Rhineland.
The breeds
Also part of it, and being written: Highland cattle (The hill breed of the old Scottish mart.).
Written by the EveryCow desk with AI assistance. Background: "St. Martin's Day" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Galloway: GerardM, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shorthorn: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0, source