What were the Scottish quarter days?

Quarter days were the four days dividing the legal year, when rent and interest on loans were due, and when contracts and leases often began or ended.

In Scotland the quarter days were Candlemas (2 February); Whitsun (15 May); Lammas (1 August); and Martinmas (11 November).

The names recall saints’ days and festivals which pervaded medieval life. Candlemas was the feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, which was celebrated with the lighting of candles. Whitsunday is the seventh Sunday after Easter, but in Scotland the legal Whitsun was fixed on 15 May. Lammas was a harvest festival day, the name comes from the Old English hlafmaesse, meaning ‘loaf mass’. Martinmas was the feast of St Martin of Tours.

For a discussion of the use of saints’ days and festivals to date medieval documents see Handbook of Dates for Students of English History ed. by C.R. Cheney (Cambridge University Press, 1995). Some of the quarter days, and other feast days, were important occasions for markets, sports and popular entertainments. For more information about this see John Burnett, Riot, Revelry and Rout: sport in Scotland before 1860 (East Linton, 2000).