Parkin (cake) in November had many Christian festivals, and like Celtic festivals that preceded them they were celebrated with a fire and ritual cakes. November starts with All Hallows Eve, that runs into All Saints Day (1 November), which is followed by All Souls Day (2 November). Little Lent and the forty-day fast until Christmas, started at Martinmas. (11 November). On All Souls Day soul cakes were baked. The Martinmas fair was important being the traditional day when cattle were bought and sold, and servants were hired for the following year. It was also the date that cattle were slaughtered and salted
St. Martin's Day name in Irish "Díseart Mhartain" or 'Retreat of Martin'. In Sicily, November is the winemaking season. On St. Martin's Day Sicilians eat anise biscuits washed down with Moscato, Malvasia or Passito. More precisely, the hard biscuits are dipped into the Moscato. "l'Estate di San Martino" (Saint Martin's Summer) is the traditional Sicilian reference to a period of unseasonably warm weather in early to mid November. Saint Martin's Day is celebrated in a special way in a village near Messina and at a monastery dedicated to him overlooking Palermo beyond Monreale. Mārtiņi (Martin's) is traditionally celebrated by Latvians on November 10,