ONE of the greatest rural festivals, which was still celebrated within living memory, used to be held on the feast of St Martin of Tours.

Perhaps we know it better as Martinmas or Martinmas Day, for it was the time rents were paid, accounts settled and new tenancy agreements drawn up. The occasion was marked with the famous Martinmas Fairs.

St Martin's feast day is November 11, which arrives on Sunday, and among the various activities were the famous Hirings. They were held throughout the country during the fairs on Martinmas Day, although in some areas they featured earlier, on Michaelmas Day, September 29. The main date, however, was Martinmas, so the fairs became known as the Martinmas Fairs or sometimes merely as Martlemas.

For rural workers, both male and female, this presented an opportunity to seek new employment, but it also provided the means for employers to hire new workers and perhaps to get rid of those whose efforts did not match expectations.

Hopefuls would "stand the hirings"

at the fair, when prospective employers would interview them, and even test them for strength and skill, especially if they were male. Girls were tested on their domestic or specialist knowledge.

If they were hired, the term was for one whole year, except for the week during which the hiring fairs were held. That was considered their annual holiday.

The fairs lasted for a whole week and, in addition to the hirings, included entertainment, stalls, music, singing and dancing. There was always plenty to eat and drink and the opportunity to meet new friends. Once the week was over, workers went to their new place of employment, or returned to their previous one, and were committed to a further year's work.

The agreement was sealed between worker and boss by the employer handing over a festning penny or fastening penny. In some areas, it was called God's Penny. If either party wished to terminate the agreement, the festning penny was returned, and this marked the legal end of the contract. The worker was free to seek employment elsewhere, just as the employer was free to hire another person. In more recent times, that penny was actually half a crown (2s 6d, or 12p in modern currency).

St Martin was born about AD 316, his parents being heathen and his father holding the rank of military tribune in the Roman army. The young Martin had no wish to become a soldier, his early interests being the Church but, in keeping with the law of the time, he was compelled to join the heathen Roman army at the age of 15. He became a cavalry officer.

He was considered a good horseman and officer, but he always put some of his wages aside to give to AUTUMN COLOUR: a stag enjoys the sunshine in the deer park at Studley Royal, near Ripon the poor and, when he later adopted the Christian faith, he resigned from the army to join a monastery. After a somewhat turbulent early career, he was appointed Bishop of Tours, a city in the west of central France.

He served in that post for 50 years.

Upon his death, 2,000 monks escorted his body to a new chapel at Tours. Many years later, a new church was built on the site, with Martin's relics being buried beneath the high altar on July 4, AD 470. However, in the 16th century, the church was vandalised by the French Protestants and the relics of St Martin were almost entirely destroyed. A few tiny pieces remained and they are now within a new church at Tours.

In some parts of England, Martinmas is celebrated on November 23, but this is due to stubbornness on the part of the English establishment after Pope Gregory's calendar changes of 1752. Many rural folk continued to hold their Martinmas fairs on what should, in their view, have been November 11! That stubbornness persisted well into my own childhood.

There is a saying that, if the geese stand on ice at Martinmas, they will walk in mud at Christmas, and another piece of lore says that, if Martinmas is fair, dry and cold, the chill of winter will not last.

In our modern times, November 11 is known as Remembrance Day, when we remember the dead of our wartime activities. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the Armistice was signed to end the First World War. Since that time, the dead of two world wars, along with those from other conflicts, have been commemorated on November 11.

Memorial services are now held on the second Sunday in November instead of the actual day, but this year, November 11 manages to arrive on that Sunday. We claim many heroes and we shall remember them.

Ihave received an interesting news release from an organisation representing Streetcar, a company which rents out small cars (Volkswagen Golfs) by the hour from as little as £3.95. This is no ordinary car hire firm, however, and it now operates in London and five other UK cities.

The company has formed a club with 20,000 members, who can choose from 600 cars spread across 400 locations. This is an alternative to purchasing a car, for the club's vehicles are available to all members. A member can book a car as little as half a minute before it is required, and uses an activated smartcard to unlock the vehicle and drive it away. At the end of the journey, the car is returned to a dedicated Streetcar parking space and a travel log is automatically sent to the company's headquarters.

In simple terms, a car is available when it is needed and it is claimed that one of these cars replaces an average of 20 privately-owned cars on the road. Each car has an average of 40 users, of whom 50 per cent choose not to buy a car to replace their existing one. It is claimed this system has already taken at least 10,000 private cars off the streets, this figure being set to rise to 75,000 by 2012.

I think many of us will agree that our cars spend a lot of time off the road, either in the garage or parked on the drive, and there is little doubt that such idleness represents a massive waste of time and money. Maybe Streetcar has found an answer to our ever-increasing traffic problems?

Among my correspondence this week is a letter from a reader in Durham who adds her comments to the discussion (D&S Times, August 24) about whether we should use will' or shall' in the relevant parts of our speech or writing.

Having been educated at a London grammar school in the 1950s, she recalls that the future tense required will' for everyone except the first person singular and plural, when the correct use is shall'.

She quotes: "You will have my reply tomorrow" (future tense), but "You shall go to the ball" (determination).

In quoting further examples, she adds that it is not surprising we skirt around the issue by using abbreviations such as I'll, you'll or he'll, which might cover a multitude of grammatical sins or errors.

And, of course, there are similar questions about would and should.

Like me, my correspondent owns various guides to English usage and adds that Fowler's The King's English devotes 20 pages to the use of shall' and will'. It was the renowned H W Fowler who claimed the Celts decided there was a difference between shall' and will'.

My correspondent concludes by saying all that is really necessary is that we fully understand each other.

And finally. The Ryedale Hen Watching Society is watching, with great interest, an experiment in which hens are treated to classical music in the belief it will encourage them to lay more eggs as they become increasingly relaxed. Time will surely tell.