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. Clement's Day rhyme. This special service for children ends with the distribution of oranges and lemons to the boys and girls. In Hastings, East Sussex, an annual celebration of St Clement and St Katherine takes place. A small affair with more focus on the religious than the riotous. St. Clement's Day Saint Clement's Day was traditionally, and in some places still is, celebrated on the 23 November, a welcome festival between Halloween and Christmas. Pope Clement I is the patron saint of metalworkers and blacksmiths, and so these workers traditionally enjoyed a holiday on his feast day. "Old Clem’s Night" started literally