= Martin mass, or St. Martin's feast day (Nov. 11, I believe -- it's not a red letter day in the U.S

Thanks, despite having a Catholic heritage on my mother's side, and a certain fondness for the name Martin, I did know that there was a Martinmas. November 11 is still something of a day here, as it Armistice day, commemorating the signing of the Armistice that ended WWI. The phrase, "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" has always had nice ring to it, making Armistice Day easy to remember. I suspect that losing so many of its men in someone else's war played a large part in WWI's important role in forging a disctinct sense of self for NZ.