Martinmas Eve
Born about 315, Martin became a patron of beggars and one of the first universally popular saints. A common British expression, "All my eye and Betty Martin," meaning nonsense, owes its existence to St. Martin, according to Albert Haymson's Dictionary of English Phrases (1922). Hyamson explained that it was "supposed to be a corruption of [Latin] ah mihi, beate Martine--woe to me, Blessed Martin--the invocation of Italian beggars to their saint. It is said that a sailor wandered into an Italian church and, when asked by his companions what was transpiring therein, replied, 'All my eye and Betty martin.' In all probablility the phrase has some kinship with 'to have in one's eye,' to have in the mind, the suggestion being that not only is it in the mind but it will remain there and never materialize." The American slang expletive "My eye!" derives from the British original.