November 11, St. Martin

October 21st, 2013Tradizioni Popolari

The summer “St. Martin” and the opening of the first barrels of wine.

The summer “St. Martin” is the name by which it is indicated the autumn period (around the first decade of November) in which , often under climatic conditions that give a clear day with temperatures usually warm. This particular “summer” also coincides with the opening of its first wine barrels .

According to legend, St. Martin during a chilly autumn day would donate half of his cloak to a poor beggar shivering and for this act of generosity, God would have made the mildest climate in those days of November.

But , in addition to many customs related to the feast of St. Martin, one should not forget the many weather proverbs connected even to work in the campaign: “If the day of St. Martin in the sun goes Bisacca , sell the bread and the cow handrails , if the instead serene sun goes down , sell the cow because it is not hay”.  That is: if at sunset 11 November there are clouds covering the sun , we can hope for a good harvest of hay and grain and bread to be sold and there will be a cash cow , but if it goes down in a nice clear sky there will not be enough hay for the animals and it would be better to sell them. In addition to its festivities we hoped for the sowing of wheat was already over so that the arrival of the cold already had the seed in the ground : “In San Martino is the best wheat in the field to the mill”.  Who, in fact, sowing after this date will have a harvest began : “For St. Martin, the seed of the poor”, he says.

And anyone who wants to have a fruitful harvest hurry even to prune and prepare the ground around the screw , “Who wants to make good wine, dig and prune in the days of St. Martin”.

In any case, the most famous proverb that repeats still recalls that ” The Indian summer lasts three days and a pochinino”.  Often, in fact , around the 11th of November back for a few days in good weather along with a little ‘ of warmth.

Giosuè Carducci , Tuscan poet , wrote a poem in honor of the saint.

” San Martino “

The fog the steep hills

Drizzling salt,

And under the mistral

Screams and whitens the sea ;

But the streets of the village

From bubbling de ‘ tini

It is the bitter odor of wines

The souls to gladden .

In collaboration with the Cultural and Educational Institution Castiglionese