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diff --git a/42969-0.txt b/42969-0.txt index 9636129..43eceed 100644 --- a/42969-0.txt +++ b/42969-0.txt @@ -1,37 +1,4 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of St. Nicholas, by George H. McKnight - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: St. Nicholas - His Legend and His Rôle in the Christmas Celebration and - Other Popular Customs - -Author: George H. McKnight - -Release Date: June 17, 2013 [EBook #42969] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ST. NICHOLAS *** - - - - -Produced by Karina Aleksandrova, Paul Clark and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42969 *** Transcriber's Note: @@ -3867,366 +3834,4 @@ CHAPTER XI End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of St. Nicholas, by George H. McKnight -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ST. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: St. Nicholas - His Legend and His Rôle in the Christmas Celebration and - Other Popular Customs - -Author: George H. McKnight - -Release Date: June 17, 2013 [EBook #42969] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ST. NICHOLAS *** - - - - -Produced by Karina Aleksandrova, Paul Clark and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - Transcriber's Note: - - Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as - possible. The Council of Nicaea is referred to as the Council of - Nice: this has been left unchanged. Some changes have been made. - They are listed at the end of the text. Illustrations have been - moved. - - Italic text has been marked with _underscores_. - - - - -[Illustration: G. da Fabriano. St. Nicholas with Conventional Emblems -along with Mary Magdalene, St. John, and St. George. - -Alinari] - - - - - St. Nicholas - - His Legend and His Rôle in the Christmas - Celebration and Other Popular - Customs - - By - George H. McKnight - - _Illustrated_ - - G. P. Putnam's Sons - New York and London - The Knickerbocker Press - 1917 - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1917 - BY - GEORGE H. MCKNIGHT - - The Knickerbocker Press, New York - - - - -PREFACE - - -A few years ago, while trying to trace the history of certain Christmas -customs, I was unavoidably brought into contact with St. Nicholas. A -closer acquaintance with that amiable personality was the result, and -acquaintance gradually deepened into veneration and affection. In the -same year in which began my closer acquaintance with St. Nicholas, -I was so fortunate as to be brought face to face with some of the -quaint pictures in which Italian painters, with so much charm, have -represented the various episodes in the life of the saint. I was led to -believe that others would enjoy the pictures, not all of them readily -accessible, and that a wider knowledge of St. Nicholas would greatly -enlarge the circle of his friends. The present book was the result. - -My aim has been, not to offer an exhaustive study of all the difficult -questions that are connected with the name of St. Nicholas, but to -bring together, from somewhat scattered sources, the elements in his -life story. The kindly acts recorded of him have lived in popular -memory and have flowered into some of the most generally cherished of -popular customs. In St. Nicholas the reader will come in contact with a -personality of unique amiability, whose influence has permeated popular -customs for many centuries and has contributed much of sweetness to -human life. - -My original contribution to the subject has been slight. In the notes I -have attempted to indicate my indebtedness to other writers, although -the amount of this debt I have not been able adequately to show. To the -artists who have represented with feeling and with charm the scenes in -the life of St. Nicholas, this book is most indebted, and for them I -wish to bespeak a major part of the reader's attention. - - G. H. McK. - - COLUMBUS, O., - _July 16, 1917_. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - PREFACE iii - - CHAPTER - - I.--ST. NICHOLAS, SANTA CLAUS, AND KRIS KRINGLE 1 - - II.--BIOGRAPHY AND LEGEND 28 - - III.--THE BOY ST. NICHOLAS AND ST. NICHOLAS THE - PATRON SAINT OF SCHOOLBOYS 37 - - IV.--ST. NICHOLAS AND THE DOWERLESS MAIDENS 53 - - V.--THE BOY BISHOP, OR NICHOLAS BISHOP 66 - - VI.--VARIED BENEFICENT ACTIVITY 79 - - VII.--ST. NICHOLAS PLAYS 89 - - VIII.--ST. NICHOLAS AS PATRON SAINT 112 - - IX.--PAGAN HERITAGE OF ST. NICHOLAS 125 - - X.--ST. NICHOLAS, DEFENDER OF THE FAITH 141 - - XI.--CONCLUSION 146 - - NOTES 149 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - ST. NICHOLAS AND OTHER SAINTS _Frontispiece_ - Gentile da Fabriano. (Florence.) - - FACING PAGE - ST. NICHOLAS IN EAST FRISIA 12 - Reproduced from Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Das festliche Jahr_. - - CHRISTKINDCHEN (KRIS KRINGLE) AND HANS TRAPP IN ALSACE 18 - Reproduced from Reinsberg-Düringsfeld. - - ST. NICHOLAS SCENES IN THE STAINED GLASS OF BOURGES CATHEDRAL 34 - From P. Lacroix, _Science and Art in the Middle Ages_. - - THREE SCENES FROM THE EARLY LIFE OF ST. NICHOLAS 38 - Beato Angelico. (Rome.) - - THE YOUNG CLERK STRANGLED BY THE DEVIL 42 - A. Lorenzetti. (Florence.) - - ST. NICHOLAS RESTORING A BOY TO HIS FATHER 46 - Fresco at S. Croce, Florence. - - ST. NICHOLAS AND THE MURDERED SCHOOLBOYS 48 - L. di Bicci. (Metropolitan Museum, New York.) - - ANOTHER PICTURE OF THE SAME SCENE 50 - F. Pesellino. (Florence.) - - ST. NICHOLAS AND THE THREE MAIDENS 52 - A. Lorenzetti. (Florence.) - - ANOTHER PICTURE OF THE SAME SCENE 54 - Florentine School. (Louvre, Paris.) - - ANOTHER PICTURE OF THE SAME SCENE 56 - L. di Bicci (?). (Metropolitan Museum, New York.) - - MADONNA AND CHILD AND VARIOUS SAINTS 60 - L. di Bicci. (Florence.) - - ST. NICHOLAS AND THE MONEY LENDER 64 - Fresco at S. Croce, Florence. - - THE BOY NICHOLAS ELECTED BISHOP 68 - A. Lorenzetti. (Florence.) - - ST. NICHOLAS SAVING THE CITY IN TIME OF FAMINE 80 - A. Lorenzetti. (Florence.) - - NORMAN BAPTISMAL FONT AT WINCHESTER 84 - - ST. NICHOLAS SAVES THE KNIGHTS ABOUT TO BE BEHEADED 86 - F. Pesellino. (Florence.) - - TRIUMPHAL CAR OF ST. LUCY AT SYRACUSE IN SICILY 112 - - IMAGES OF BRETON SAINTS 116 - - ST. NICHOLAS SAVES THE CITY FROM FAMINE 118 - Beato Angelico. (Rome.) - - ST. NICHOLAS RESCUES SEAMEN 122 - L. Monaco. (Florence.) - - ST. NICHOLAS IN THE MOSAICS OF ST. MARK'S IN VENICE 142 - - - - -ST. NICHOLAS - - - - -CHAPTER I - -ST. NICHOLAS, SANTA CLAUS, AND KRIS KRINGLE - - -The good St. Nicholas, the bishop-saint, is strangely little known -in America. He has lent his name to a church here and there and to a -popular magazine for children, his protégés. But how many people are -familiar with the story of his life? How many even know the date of his -own special festival? There are countries in which his memory is not -thus neglected, in which the festival of St. Nicholas is one of the -important events of the year. An English newspaper of the first year of -the war has this to report concerning the Belgian custom: - - The feast of St. Nicholas, December 6th, was celebrated at the - Belgian refugee camp at Earle's Court, England, with presents for - the children, stockings hung up, a Christmas tree, and all the rest - of the children's festivities which we associate with Christmas - eve and Christmas morning. This was not a mere anticipation of - Christmas. St. Nicholas' day, and not Christmas, is the children's - festival in Holland, Belgium, and parts of Germany, and we have - borrowed the hanging up of stockings from them and turned it into a - Christmas custom.[1] - -Letters from Belgian children, exiled in France for more than two -years, offer further evidence of the intimate and friendly relationship -existing between St. Nicholas and his Belgian children. Here is a -touching passage from a letter written by a little eight-year-old -Belgian girl from Varengeville-sur-Mer, in France, to an American -"godmother"; the adult English used in translation fails to reproduce -the naïve charm of the original. - - We have just had a grand visit from St. Nicholas. He came in person - to bring us some nice things as he used to do when we were home. - We were playing when, all at once, we heard singing at one side - and saw a bishop, ringing a bell. What joy, it is St. Nicholas! We - kneeled down to receive his blessing, and then sang a song and went - into the house. St. Nicholas talked to us and, best of all, he gave - us some presents. He gave us an orange, a barley sweet, a cake, and - some games. My, how happy we were! - - GERMAINE BARBEZ. - -Le 16 dec., 1916. - -Another little girl, a little older, writes from the same place of 'how -the "grand Saint Nicholas" has gone out of his way to come to see the -Belgian children on December sixth, and how he delivered admonitions -to various boys and girls but did not fail to distribute among them -dainties much appreciated by all, big and little.' - -The importance of St. Nicholas in Belgian life is evident. His festival -day too, the celebration of which is so deeply rooted as not to lose -its life in an atmosphere of exile and painful memory, has continued -to hold an important place in the year's life not only of Belgium but, -as remains to be seen, of Holland. At one time the celebration of St. -Nicholas' day seems to have been general in most of western Europe. -There is plentiful record of the earlier popularity of this celebration -in all the southern and western parts of the countries occupied by -the peoples speaking the Teutonic languages. It can be traced from -Holland and Belgium, through eastern France, the Rhine provinces, -Luxembourg, Alsace and Lorraine, through Switzerland, both French and -German, as far east as the Tyrol and Salzburg, including on the way -Baden, Württemberg, and Bavaria, in Germany.[2] In northern Germany, -Protestantism, with its aversion to saint worship, was hostile to the -St. Nicholas celebration. Also the growing concentration on Christmas -day of the different winter popular celebrations, and especially -the rapid rise in importance, during the last two centuries, of the -Christmas tree, have caused the St. Nicholas customs, in many places, -to be absorbed into the Christmas celebration, in other places, to -go quite out of use. But popular customs seem to be to some extent -affected by political boundaries, and in two of the smaller countries -of western Europe, Belgium and Holland, the St. Nicholas customs still -retain much of their earlier vigor. - -In Belgium, St. Nicholas has long been among the most venerated of -saints, hardly second to St. Martin. In the whole country there are -one hundred and six churches in his honor.[3] Besides he is the patron -saint of many trades and crafts, for example, of the boatmen in cities -on the Meuse, of sawyers, dyers, turners, and haberdashers at Bruges, -of seedmen, packers, and coopers at Liège, of haberdashers and mercers -at Malines. But above all he is the protector and the corrector of -children. - -The children's festival at Christmas time does not exist in Belgium. -The _grand réveillon_, the great Christmas feast of southern -France, which leads children to call Christmas the "day when one -eats so much," the English Christmas, with its life and gayety and -open hospitality, have nothing corresponding at Christmas time in -Belgium,[4] where the celebration of Christmas is confined almost -entirely to services in the church. In place of the Christmas gayeties -of other countries, Belgium has its St. Nicholas festival. St. -Nicholas' day throughout the whole country is a day of joy, especially -for the young. Even the German Christmas tree, which has been gradually -finding its way into Belgium, is introduced not on Christmas day, but -on December 6th, the day devoted to the honor of the popular saint. - -A writer of about fifty years back thus describes the joyous -celebration of St. Nicholas' day by Belgian children of that time. -"Weeks beforehand, children full of impatience, before going to sleep -ask: 'How many times must I go to sleep before he comes?' They sing to -him as soon as it is dark, and they see him in their dreams, giving -them gifts or punishment, according as they have been good or naughty. -Occasionally they are made happy by a little gift that comes down the -chimney into a pinafore hung up to receive it, or is found accidentally -in the corner of the room. A joyful 'Thank you, Saint Nicholas' greets -each such gift. Each evening every corner of the room is searched, and -the children sing with fervor their petition, one Flemish version of -which begins: - - 'Sint Niklaes, Gods heilge man, - Doe uwen besten tabbaerd aen, - En rydt er mee naer spanje - Om appelen van Oranje - Om peeren van den boom.'" - -In one of the versions of this children's song the supplication is -addressed to "Sinte Niklaes van Tolentyn," a saint quite distinct from -Saint Nicholas of Bari, the recognized patron of children, but the -heavenly postal arrangements seem to be effectively organized, for, so -far as known, the wrong address used, in no way prevents the desired -response from their special protector and friend. - -On the eve of his festival day, St. Nicholas makes his tour, visiting -palace and cottage. Frequently in the early evening he makes a -preliminary visit in bishop's robes, with pastoral staff and miter, at -each house making inquiries concerning the conduct of the children, -giving appropriate praise or warning, and promising on the following -morning to give more substantial reward. When he is gone, the children -place receptacles for the gifts which St. Nicholas is expected to let -fall down the chimney. The receptacle varies in different places. -Sometimes shoes are neatly polished for the purpose,[5] at other times -plates or baskets or stockings or specially made shoes of porcelain -are set on the bed, in the open chimney, before the door of a room, -or merely in the corner of a room. St. Nicholas' steed, variously -conceived of as gray horse or white ass, is not forgotten. For him -the children put water and hay or carrot or potato peeling or piece -of bread, in the shoe or basket or stocking. In the morning, from the -tipped-over chairs and general disarray in the room, it is evident that -St. Nicholas has been present. Replacing the oats or hay or carrot are -found sweets and playthings for children that have been good, obedient, -and studious during the year.[6] In the case of bad children, rods are -left, and the fodder is untouched. - -A recent writer has given a highly interesting account[7] of the -similar celebration at the present day in Holland, where St. Nicholas' -day has the same importance as in Belgium. - - St. Nicholas' eve is a time of great importance to children because - at that time they receive a visit from the saint, and his arrival - is looked forward to with trembling. A large white sheet is placed - on the floor in the middle of the room, and the children stand - about anxiously watching the slow movement of the hands of the - clock. In the meantime some of the elder members of the family - dress up so as to represent St. Nicholas and his black servant. At - five minutes before the expected time, for St. Nicholas generally - announces at what time he may be expected, they sing songs asking - him to give liberally as is his wont, and praising his greatness - and goodness in eloquent terms. The first intimation of his arrival - is a shower of sweets on the sheet spread on the floor. Then, - amid the ensuing scramble, St. Nicholas appears in full bishop's - vestments, laden with presents, while in the rear comes his black - servant with an open sack in one hand, for naughty boys and girls, - and in the other a rod which he shakes vigorously from time to - time. St. Nicholas usually knows the shortcomings of individual - children, and on his departure gives each an appropriate lecture, - promising to return later. Sometimes he makes the children repeat a - verse to him or asks about their lessons. - -The mysterious events of the ensuing night closely parallel those -recorded for Belgium. St. Nicholas' robe, his "beste tabbaerd," enables -him to pass from place to place instantaneously. But in his nightly -journey over the roofs of houses, he uses a horse which the children -of Holland, like those of Belgium, remember by leaving a wisp of hay -for his use.[8] If, for some reason, on account of lack of time or of -money, the parents have neglected to buy gifts, the children say, "St. -Nicholas' horse has glass legs; he has slipped down and broken his -foot."[9] - -But the joys of St. Nicholas' eve in Holland are not confined to -children. It is a time, like the Christmas season in England, for -family reunions and the renewal of old memories, also for the giving of -presents. But the manner of the Dutch gift-giving has its distinctive -features, for: - - St. Nicholas' presents must be hidden and disguised as much as - possible and be accompanied by rhymes explaining what the gift is, - and for whom St. Nicholas intended it. Sometimes a parcel addressed - to one person will finally turn out to be for quite a different - member of the family from the one who first received it. For the - address on each wrapper in various stages of wrapping, makes it - necessary for the parcel to change hands as many times as there are - papers to undo. Tiniest things are sent in immense packing cases. - Sometimes the gifts are baked in a loaf of bread or hidden in a - turf. The longer it takes to find the present, the greater the - surprise. - - Great delight is taken in concealing the identity of the giver as - long as possible. Even if the gift comes from a member of the same - household, before the parcel is brought in, the doorbell is rung by - a servant in order to create the impression that the parcel has - come from an outsider. For the same purpose a parcel for a friend's - house is often entrusted to a passer-by. - - On the evening of the celebration, after St. Nicholas has said his - adieux, promising to come again, the children are packed away to - bed, and the older people have their special amusement. They sit - about a table in the middle of the room and partake of tea and - "speculaas," a spice cake bearing a great picture of St. Nicholas, - until their own surprises begin to arrive. When this part of the - program is over, about ten o'clock, the room is cleared; the dust - sheet laid down for the children's scramble, is removed, the - papers, boxes, baskets, and the like, used in packing the presents, - are cleared away. The table is spread with a white tablecloth, and - when all have taken seats, a dish of boiled chestnuts, steaming - hot, is brought in and eaten with butter and salt.[10] - -Belgium and Holland have their special forms of cakes and sweetmeats -for the St. Nicholas season. In Holland these are the flat hard cakes -called "Klaasjes"[11] once made exclusively in the form of a bishop -in honor of the bishop St. Nicholas, but now made in forms of every -conceivable kind of beast, bird, or fish. In certain places on the -Rhine the figure of the saint himself, the "Klasmann," is baked in -dough with currant eyes, or an especially palatable little horse is -formed of honey cake dough and the "Klas" is inlaid on the horse. -Then there is the "Letterbanket" made in the form of letters so that -one may order his name in cake, and the "Marsepein," now made in a -great variety of forms, but formerly made only in heart-shaped sweets -ornamented with little turtle doves made of pink sugar or with a -flaming heart on a little altar. The "Marsepein" was formerly used as a -device in wooing. The young man sent "Marsepein"[12] with a "Vryer" of -cake to the young lady of his heart, and if she accepted, he knew his -cause was won. - -There are also various accounts of the way the cakes are made. In -Vorarlberg if, on the morning of St. Nicholas' day, mist is seen to -rise, one tells the children that St. Nicholas is baking his cakes, -"Zelten" or "Klösse." All the different figures found on the "Zelten" -have been made by St. Nicholas' ass stepping on them with his shoes. -Another explanation of the origin of the cakes has more direct relation -with the life story of the saint. The story is told that the three -maidens rescued from shame by St. Nicholas--whose story remains to be -told in a later chapter--at their marriage, out of gratitude, baked -triple kneaded rolls and distributed them among poor children.[13] - -Outside the homes, the time about St. Nicholas' day in Belgium and -Holland is one of unusual life and gayety. - - The old-time St. Nicholas fairs are no longer held in the streets, - at any rate, not in the large towns of Holland, but exchange of - presents is as universal as ever, and the shops are as festive - in appearance as American shops at Christmas time.[14] New - attractions for children are offered each year. Life-sized figures - of St. Nicholas are frequent in front of shop windows, and some - establishments have a man dressed like the good saint, who goes - about the streets mounted on a white steed, while behind him - follows a cart laden with presents to be delivered. Crowds of - children, singing, shouting, and clapping their hands, follow.[15] - -An older authority records concerning Belgium that often in country -districts this or that peasant makes up as a long-bearded man or bishop -and rides through the dark streets on a gray horse, or an ass, or a -wooden horse, with a great basket at his side and a bundle of whips in -his hand.[16] - -[Illustration: St. Nicholas in East Frisia. - -Reproduced from Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Das festliche Jahr_.] - -In no countries besides Belgium and Holland is the celebration of St. -Nicholas' day so widely prevalent to-day. But, as already remarked, -in earlier times the celebration of St. Nicholas' day was popular in -many parts of Teutonic Europe, particularly in Austria, Switzerland, -and southern Germany. In various parts of these countries the old St. -Nicholas customs still maintain a vigorous existence. In Württemberg -and Baden, children on St. Nicholas' day receive gifts from their -godparents. In Switzerland the gifts are brought by "Samiklaus," in the -Tyrol by the "Holy Man," in lower Austria by "Niglo," in Bohemia by -"Nikolo."[17] At Ehingen on the Danube, it is the custom to keep tally -on a stick of the number of prayers the children have said. The child -that can show many tallies is favored by Santiklos. Before going to bed -children place bowls under the bed and say the prayer: - - "St. Nikolaus, leg mir ein, - Was dein guter Will mag sein, - Aepfel, Birnen, Nuss und Kern - Essen die kleinen Kinder gern. - - (St. Nicholas put in for me - What thy good will may be, - Apple, pear, and good sweetmeat, - Little children love to eat.)" - -In the morning the bowls are found filled with the good things desired. - -In various places in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, the saint, -represented by some older member of the family, appears, or used to -appear, in person, in bishop's guise with staff and miter, and makes -inquiry concerning the behavior of the children, and hears the -children say their prayers. Before his coming the children have placed -shoes in the garden behind a bush, and when after his departure they -go out, they find the shoes filled with apples, nuts, and the like, if -their conduct has been good. But in the case of ill-behaved children, -the shoes are likely to be occupied by a whip. - -In Italy a similar custom was formerly observed among people of higher -social station. In the courts of princes, on St. Nicholas' day, it was -a custom to hide presents "in the shoes and slippers of persons whom it -was desired to honor, in such manner as to surprise them when they came -to dress. The custom was called Zopata from a Spanish word signifying a -shoe."[18] - -The function of St. Nicholas, it will have been observed, is a double -one, to bring pleasing rewards to good children, but also to bring fear -to children whose conduct has been bad. A Swiss dialect dictionary -published in 1806, defines "Samiklaus" as a "gift such as parents make -to their children through a disguised person named Samiklaus (corrupted -from St. Nicholas) in order to give them pleasure and encourage them to -duty and obedience or to frighten them through the strangely frightful -make-up of the bogey man who accompanies the Samiklaus."[19] As a -means of exciting fear in the ill-behaved children, the friendly -bishop was often accompanied on his rounds by a children's bugaboo, -a frightful figure with horns, black face, fiery eyes, and long red -tongue, variously called Klaubauf, Krampus, Rumpanz, and the like.[20] - -Further evidence of the earlier wider prevalence of St. Nicholas -customs is afforded by the objections[21] of seventeenth-century -Protestant preachers, quoted in a later chapter, who opposed the -attribution to St. Nicholas of gifts which, they asserted, came from -the Christ Child alone. In objections such as these, is to be found -one of the causes of the decay of distinctively St. Nicholas customs. -Or perhaps we may better say, here is an explanation why customs that -persisted, lost their association with the name of St. Nicholas. There -is apparent Protestant objection to saint worship. There is also in -evidence the rivalry of the celebration in honor of the birth of Christ -which had received the name Christmas. The Christmas celebration was in -its origin a church affair. Up to the fourteenth century the church had -tried in vain to convert it into a popular festival. It employed all -kinds of methods to attract the traditional customs and beliefs of the -beginning of winter to the church festival. But only after the beliefs -and practices earlier attached to Martinmas, to St. Andrew's day, and -to St. Nicholas' day were brought into association with the birth of -Christ, did the Christmas festival, after the end of the fourteenth -century, become a genuinely popular occasion. - -From this time on the customs distinctive of St. Nicholas' day became -more and more absorbed into the Christmas festival.[22] At times St. -Nicholas retains his association with the old customs, but the time -is shifted from St. Nicholas' day to Christmas time. In Catholic -Nuremberg, for instance, at the end of the seventeenth century, the St. -Nicholas gift-giving and the Christmas gift-giving customs were united, -and the St. Nicholas customs made dependent on the Christmas customs. -Children believed that St. Nicholas was the attendant of the Christ -Child and was made to carry the wares basket at the Christmas market, -and that St. Nicholas received sweetmeats as extras from the dealers. -As Christmas time approached, these were put under the pillows of the -children, who believed them to be the gifts of St. Nicholas.[23] - -In all north Germany, too, on Christmas eve, there goes about a bearded -man covered with a great hide or with straw, who questions children -and rewards their good conduct. His name varies with the locality. -In many places he is called "Knecht Ruprecht," a name probably going -back to a pre-Christian time before St. Nicholas became associated -with the children's festival. In other places the man is called "De -Hele Christ," Holy Christ, who later becomes the central figure of all -Christmas activities. In many of his names, however, such as "Rû Clås," -"Joseph Clås," "Clåwes,"[24] "Clås Bur," and "Bullerclås," one will -recognize the juvenile derivative from the name Nicholas. This figure -often rides on a white horse. Not infrequently his relation to the -Christmas festival proper needs to be made clear by the presence of the -Holy Christ as a companion, represented by a maiden in white garb who -hears the children say their prayers. - -Saint Nicholas in the double rôle of children's benefactor and -children's bugaboo found his way to America. Among the Pennsylvania -Germans, or "Pennsylvania Dutch," as they are more familiarly called, -at least in the country districts, he continues to play his old part. -"You'd better look out or Pelznickel will catch you," is the threat -held out over naughty children about Christmas time. The nickel in -Pelznickel serves to show the relationship of this personage to -St. Nicholas. Pelznickel is a Santa Claus with some variations. "On -Christmas eve someone in the neighborhood impersonates Pelznickel by -dressing up as an old man with a long white beard. Arming himself with -a switch and carrying a bag of toys over his shoulder, he goes from -house to house, where the children are expecting him. - -"He asks the parents how the little ones have behaved themselves during -the year. To each of those who have been good, he gives a present from -his bag. But woe betide the naughty ones! These are not only supposed -to get no presents, but Pelznickel catches them by the collar and -playfully taps them with his switch."[25] - -Eventually, in many places, St. Nicholas became quite excluded from the -customs with which he was long associated. In Schleswig-Holstein, for -instance, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the old customs -were preserved but entirely separated from their earlier associations -with St. Nicholas and St. Nicholas' eve, and now connected with the -story of the Christ Child and His festival, Christmas. The custom was -for each child to borrow a plate or bowl from the kitchen and place -this in an appointed room or in a window. On Christmas eve, when the -tinkle of the bell summoned the children from the dark anteroom -into the room with the festal decorations, then each child found what -the Christ Child ("Kindjes") had brought him. On the plates lay cakes, -fruits, and playthings. Perhaps a rod was laid beside the other gifts, -but it counted as the most severe punishment when the plate remained -empty. - -[Illustration: Christkindchen (Kris Kringle) and Hans Trapp in Alsace. - -Reproduced from Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Das festliche Jahr._] - -Here and there also in the country, as late as 1865, there survived the -similar custom, for the children, before going to bed, to place the -plate before the window, for in the night the Christ Child took out -a pane of glass and laid his gifts on the plate so that on Christmas -morning it was evident that the "Kindjes" had been present. Here we see -St. Nicholas quite deprived of his old prerogatives and his place taken -by the "Christ Kindjes," or as he was called in some places "Christ -kindel," from whose name, by a process of popular etymology, presumably -was derived the name Kris Kringle. - -In various parts of the United States where Dutch and German customs -prevail, Kris Kringle appears in the combined rôle of the Christ Child -and Santa Claus, and the vigil of his festival is called "Christ Kinkle -eve." In certain parts of Germany children sing, on Christmas eve: - - "Christkindchen komm; - Mach mich fromm; - Dass ich zu dir im Himmel komm."[26] - -In the principality of Waldeck[27] down as late as 1830 there survived -a popular Christmas mummers' play custom originating in the sixteenth -century and bringing in not only Christ and St. Nicholas but other -personages grotesque in appearance, some of them survivals from folk -celebrations antedating St. Nicholas customs. In the play appear -Christ, Mary, an Angel, Peter, and Niklawes, all clad in white, and -Hansruhbart, Brose, who bears the sack, and the shepherd Pamphilius -with the noble steed, Zink. Hansruhbart and Brose are clad in pea -straw and wear frightful masks. Pamphilius has suspended from a strap -about his neck a box full of dirt with which he threatens to smear -the children. Each person in turn is summoned to speak. As the chief -offence in the case of children is reckoned the preference of small -beer to coffee. Peter distributes the gifts, which the children receive -only after they have been forgiven. He has a basket with apples and -nuts, which he throws on a table for the children. As the children -reach out for his gifts, he strikes them on the fingers with his rod. - -Mumming pieces like this were popular all over Germany, the personages -varying with the locality. Sometimes the Holy Christ went about alone, -and before him the children presented themselves. But the most striking -of all the personages in these plays was the one at Waldeck called -Hansruhbart, elsewhere Ruprecht and Knecht Ruprecht, at his earliest -recorded appearance called Acesto, probably a traditional figure that -originated in customs that antedate Christianity. - -In all this discussion of various customs associated with the name -of St. Nicholas there will have been seen little to connect with the -life story of a saintly person. The deeds of the children's friend, -St. Nicholas, to be sure exhibit beneficence, but the beneficence of -a capricious, fairy-like benefactor rather than of a holy saint. In -fact it is evident that the customs in question, in their origin, -had little, if anything to do with St. Nicholas, and as they exist -to-day show only in certain external features any relation with the -life story of the kindly Eastern saint. This impression of the earlier -independence of the popular customs in question from the story of St. -Nicholas, is confirmed by the fact that many of them are associated -with other names. St. Martin, as well as St. Nicholas, figures as a -giver of gifts to children, especially in the Netherlands. At Antwerp -and certain other cities, according to a report from a generation ago, -on St. Martin's day, as in the St. Nicholas' day celebration already -described, a man with bishop's vestments and crosier appeared in the -nurseries and made inquiries about the behavior of the children. -According to the nature of this report he threw on the floor from his -basket, either rods, or apples, nuts, and cakes. In Ypres children are -reported to hang stockings filled with hay in the open chimneypiece on -the eve of Martinmas. The next morning the stockings are found filled -with gifts from St. Martin who in the night has ridden over the chimney -and has been grateful for the attention paid to his gray (or white) -steed.[28] There is also an old custom in Flemish Belgium in which on -the eve of Martinmas the children are placed in the corner of a room -with their backs to the door and told not to look. The parents then -throw in at the door apples, nuts, peppercakes, and other sweetmeats of -various kinds, pretending that St. Martin has done it. If one of the -children turns around, St. Martin goes away without leaving anything. - -The bugaboo feature of St. Nicholas' day also was not lacking in the -Martinmas celebration. In several places in southern Germany, on St. -Martin's day, "Pelzmärte," with blackened face and cowbells, went about -giving beatings or throwing apples into rooms, whichever the children's -behavior called for. - -Some of the Martinmas customs had less resemblance to St. Nicholas -customs. The convivial customs of Martinmas have given St. Martin a -reputation for drunkenness entirely undeserved by that zealous defender -of Christianity, St. Martin of Tours. But the ones singled out for -mention evidently belong jointly to St. Martin and St. Nicholas, -although in their origin probably as little connected with the one as -with the other. - -The celebration of St. Andrew's day, also, has features similar to -that of St. Nicholas' day. On St. Andrew's eve (November thirtieth), -in the neighborhood of Reichenberg, children are said to hang up their -stockings at the windows and in the evening find them filled with -apples and nuts.[29] - -The explanation of the origin of these customs is to be found in -practices long antedating the time of St. Martin or St. Nicholas or -even of St. Andrew. They seem to be practices rooted in pre-Christian -agricultural rites which have been superseded, or better expressed, -have survived with new meanings read into them. With the introduction -of Christianity, following the usual course of things, the older -modes of celebration were changed not so much in form as in name. -To St. Martin were devoted customs which coincided in time with the -celebration in honor of St. Martin, customs originally associated -with the first drinking of the new wine or with the autumn slaughter, -a connection not entirely lost in our own times, as indicated by the -"Martlemas beef" in Great Britain, the "St. Martin's geese" and "St. -Martin's swine" in Germany. With the shifting of the agricultural -practices to a later date, the customs came to be associated with the -celebration of saints' days later in the calendar. With St. Nicholas, -on December sixth, became associated customs and practices earlier -associated with St. Martin, on November eleventh, or with St. Andrew on -November thirtieth, but in their true nature as little appropriate to -one as to the other. - -There have been attempts to show points of connection between the -Christian worship of St. Nicholas and the earlier worship of the -Teutonic divinities. It has been attempted to connect the children's -bugaboo variously called Hansruhbart, Ruprecht, and Knecht Ruprecht, -with Odin, largely through a connection between the name Ruprecht and -one of the variety of names given Odin.[30] There has been pointed out -also the parallelism between the "beste tabbaerd" of St. Nicholas sung -about by children, and the magic robe which enabled Odin to pass from -place to place; between the gray horse of St. Nicholas on which he rode -over the roofs of houses, and Odin's horse, Sleipnir, on which he took -an autumn ride through the world; between the sheaf of grain in pagan -days left in the field for Odin's horse and the wisp of hay left by -children in their shoes for their friend St. Nicholas. But too much -stress must not be laid on these parallelisms. The customs associated -with St. Nicholas in their origin doubtless antedate Christianity but -also antedate the worship of Odin. Possibly the pre-Christian practices -were influenced by their temporary association with the Teutonic gods -as they afterwards were by the association with the Christian saints. -But in both cases this influence was only superficial. - -A rapid resumé may clear up some of the obscure places in the preceding -mass of details. In the practices associated in our time with the name -of Santa Claus we have survivals of pagan sacred custom once regarded -as important in the furtherance of human welfare. Perhaps influenced -superficially by conceptions of the Germanic gods, eventually they -came to be connected with the honor of Christian saints. They afford a -remarkable illustration of the longevity of folk customs. With meaning -lost or changed, the older forms persist. Influenced, as remains to be -shown, superficially, by the life story of the saint with whose worship -they became associated, also to some extent with the Roman festivities -of the same season, above all converted to the use of providing -pleasure, as well as just reward, for children, they have survived -to our day. But owing in part to the effort of the Church in earlier -times to convert the church ceremony in honor of the birth of Christ -into a truly popular festival, in part to the later opposition to saint -worship on the part of Protestantism, the customs once associated with -the worship of St. Nicholas are now associated with the birth of Christ. - -Santa Claus, the name derived from St. Nicholas through the familiar -use of children in Teutonic countries, crossed to America. The exact -route followed by him is somewhat open to question. On the way he -traded his gray horse or ass for a reindeer and made changes in his -appearance. It is usually said, however, that he was brought to -America by the Dutch. In America he has made himself very much at home, -and according to the explanation most generally accepted, from America -he recrossed the Atlantic to England, whence he has journeyed to the -most distant parts of the British Empire, to India and to Australia, -where he is as familiarly known as in America. In England, however, -while the custom of giving gifts to children has been made a part of -the Christmas celebration, the gratitude of the children in some places -goes to Santa Claus, but in other places goes to another creation of -the popular fancy, a personage called Father Christmas. In parts of -the German-speaking countries also, as has been shown, the honors of -Christmas day are concentrated in the person of the Christ Child, and -the benefactor of children is the Christ Child himself, the "Kindjes" -or "Christ kindel," more familiarly known in America as Kris Kringle. -In France the place of the Christ Child as the purveyor of gifts had -been in part filled by "le petit Noël," in a manner like that in which -in England Father Christmas in part shares the rôle of Santa Claus. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -BIOGRAPHY AND LEGEND - - -It is quite apparent that the journeys of Santa Claus by night over the -housetops, and his various chimney escapades, are beneath the dignity -of the reverend Bishop of Myra, formally canonized by the medieval -church as St. Nicholas. In appearance, too, Santa Claus is more like an -elf, or one of the other beings of Teutonic mythology, than like the -Christian bishop whom early artists were fond of representing in full -episcopal vestments, with miter, pallium, and pastoral staff. In his -manners, too, he is more like a friendly fairy than a patron saint. In -reality, as has been seen, in his origin there is more of the pagan -than of the Christian. At the same time Christian legend has had its -influence. The name Santa Claus is a popular, or juvenile, derivative -from St. Nicholas, and the mysterious visit by night which wins for -Santa Claus the hearts of children, is closely associated with a famous -incident in the life story of the Christian saint. - -What then do we know about St. Nicholas? "Of all patron saints," -says Mrs. Jameson, "he is perhaps the most universally popular and -interesting. No saint in the calendar has so many churches, chapels, -and altars dedicated to him. In England, I suppose, there is hardly a -town without one church at least bearing his name." Both in Eastern -Church and Western Church he is the object of extreme veneration, to a -degree unequalled in the case of any other saint.[31] It is established -that veneration of St. Nicholas goes back to the early centuries in the -history of the Christian faith. The Emperor Justinian built a church -in his honor at Constantinople about the year 430, and he was titular -saint of four churches at Constantinople.[32] - -Yet with all this high esteem and veneration through so many centuries, -little is known concerning the facts of his life. Historical criticism -has demolished much of the story built up around his lovable -personality. One by one the cherished tales of his beneficence have -been questioned, because lacking the required corroboration of -historical evidence. There has even been raised doubt whether he ever -existed. In any case certain knowledge is extremely dim. The authorized -story of his life set as the _lectio_ or "reading" for the second -nocturn of St. Nicholas' day (Dec. 6th) in the Roman Breviary, makes -but a slight narrative. In brief paraphrase it runs as follows: - - An only child, in infancy he manifested singular piety. His youth - was characterized by deeds of charity, among them one that saved - three maidens from a life of shame. In youth, on a sea voyage, he - saved the ship in a fearful storm. In youth also he was elected - Bishop of Myra, a miraculous sign indicating him to be the divine - choice. In later life he succored the oppressed, in particular - saving three tribunes unjustly condemned to death. At the Council - of Nice he is said to have condemned the Arian heresy, and at his - death is said to have received miraculous sign of divine approval. - His remains are preserved with the greatest veneration at Bari in - Italy. - -This sober biography, so lacking in concrete detail, is the life of the -beloved saint as sanctioned by the Roman Church of to-day. As already -remarked, most even of its meager details have been questioned by -higher criticism. In earlier times, however, when the test of reality -was not as rigorously applied as is the wont to-day, there flourished a -luxuriant growth of stories about St. Nicholas as about other saints, -the objects of popular veneration and gratitude. - -Much is to be said in favor of the earlier, more imaginative, lives -of the saints, _legends_ as they were technically called. It has been -remarked, with much truth, that all of us lead double lives, a life -of our fancy, in a world of things as they should be, or as we should -like them to be, and a life in a world of things as they really are. -And this is as it should be. We can lift the level of real existence by -thinking of things as we should like them to be. It is well not to walk -with one's eyes always fixed on the ground. The uplift to be derived -from the contemplation of things as they should be as distinguished -from things as they are, is well exemplified in the case of the -legendary stories about St. Nicholas. The fact that these largely -imaginative stories existed in the belief of people served to influence -human action, leading to imitation which eventually crystallized into -some of the noblest of popular customs. In some of the beautiful -popular customs connected with the name of St. Nicholas we have the -projection into reality of fanciful stories once held worthy of -implicit faith. - -Much deserves to be said also in favor of the creators of legendary -story. One is sometimes disposed to look on such story uncharitably -and to regard it as the product of willful intent to deceive. Such -is by no means the real explanation of the origin of legendary tales. -Such tales are usually the product of intense emotional life, when -the imagination becomes heated by prolonged contemplation of any -subject. Thus we must explain the revelations to St. Francis and the -vivid scenes from the life of Christ attributed to St. Bonaventura. A -similar condition serves to explain the popular capacity for belief in -tales of the supernatural. We sometimes think of such legendary story -as the exclusive product of an earlier, uncritical age. That we are -mistaken in this opinion and that the conditions for the production of -legendary story continue to exist in our own time, is illustrated in a -striking manner by certain highly interesting stories that owe, if not -their origin, at least their circulation, to the intensity of feeling -aroused by the war in Europe. There has found wide circulation a story -concerning certain supernatural occurrences on the battlefield of Mons. -"The story goes that at the crisis of the fighting, when the French -and English were growing disheartened by their ineffectual efforts to -overcome the enemy, certain celestial beings, in the midst of whom was -St. George, suddenly appeared between the armies and by their timely -aid brought victory to the Allies".[33] The origin of this story has -been clearly explained. Its author, Arthur Machen, in a recent volume, -gives a circumstantial account of its creation. It "was conceived and -written by me," he tells us, "in prosaic London, on the last Sunday of -August, 1914," immediately after reading of the retreat from Mons, and -this story, for which he chose the title, "The Bowmen," was published -in _The Evening News_ of September 29th the same year. This story then, -an admitted fiction, has nevertheless found life in popular belief. It -has found not only oral circulation but has been reproduced in print -with variants and corroborative testimony. In its circulation it has -reached the outermost bounds of the British Empire. How a story which -under ordinary conditions would at once be recognized as fiction, now -finds ready credence, is revealed in the following extract from a -personal letter from far-away Sydney in Cape Breton: - - Rev. Mr. ---- preached in Falmouth Street Church on Sunday night on - the Angels at Mons. I had seen in the papers that the Allies had - seen three figures in the sky in the retreat from Mons and that - although the Germans pursued them, they never could catch up with - them. But I just thought it some Roman Catholic superstition. But - Mr. ---- thought otherwise. He said reliable people on both sides - had undoubtedly seen them, and he thought the age of miracles is - not yet past and that if anyone had told him two years ago that - he would have been preaching to justify this vision he would have - thought him crazy. I really never heard a more wonderful sermon. - Rev. Mr. ---- has enlisted and goes overseas with the 85th. - -The origin of such a miraculous tale and of others of the same kind, -such as that of the "Comrade in White," and the credence given in our -own time, by critical, skeptical Protestants, enable one to understand -the origin of earlier stories of the supernatural and how in less -critical times general credence could be attached to stories to the -unsympathetic now often seeming preposterous. - -[Illustration: Scenes from the Legend of St. Nicholas in the Stained -Glass (thirteenth century) of Bourges Cathedral. - -Reproduced from Paul Lacroix, _Science and Art of the Middle Ages_.] - -The Church, too, in earlier times was not rigorous in the exclusion -of extravagant features in the life history of its heroes. On the -contrary it permitted the fancy to play freely about the objects of -its veneration, was hospitable to the wonderful, the supernatural, -element in story. By various means it aimed to keep ever alive the -memory of the saints, not excluding the livelier details contributed -by popular tradition. Legendary stories in Latin prose formed a part -of the private reading of the clergy in their canonical hours, and in -vernacular prose or verse were read before popular congregations in -church on the days devoted to the honor of the particular saint. -Sometimes they found a place in the story repertory of secular -minstrels. Artists other than literary contributed their share toward -the perpetuation of the legendary story. The separate scenes in the -lives of the popular saints were presented in stained glass windows, -particularly in France,[34] in series of pictures on canvas, in wall -paintings adorning the chapels devoted to particular saints, especially -in Italy, or in sculptured series, in low or in high relief, as -architectural ornament or decorating the sides of baptismal fonts as -in the case of the St. Nicholas scenes represented in the fonts at -Winchester cathedral and elsewhere in England and on the continent. - -In even more effective ways the stories were kept alive when the -principal scenes were reenacted in dramatic entertainments, by towns or -guilds in honor of their particular patron saints, or by schoolboys in -honor of their patron Saint Nicholas. - -In all these ways the story of St. Nicholas was kept in memory. Of -Eastern origin, St. Nicholas became the object of general veneration -in the West, especially after the transfer of his remains to Bari in -Italy in the year 1087. The especial honor paid to him doubtless finds -its explanation in the nature of his life story and the particular -needs of earlier times. In the days when the idea that God is love had -not become the central feature of Christianity, when God was regarded -rather as a judge, just but therefore severe, suffering humanity -felt the need of a more approachable divine personality. This place -of intermediary between man and divine justice was taken in part by -Our Lady, the Divine Mother, and almost countless are the _Miracles -de Notre Dame_, the tales of aid afforded by her to human beings in -distress. A similar part was played to some extent by each of the -popular saints, but above all by St. Nicholas, who was the principal -agent in many stories of this kind. - -It is my purpose, then, to take up in detail the story of St. Nicholas -as found in these earlier records, which reflect so well the devotion -felt for the most thoroughly human of all the saints. Though many -elements pass the bounds of modern credulity, they serve to express -the loving reverence felt for the saint who, second only to Our Lady -herself, was looked to as the beneficent source of aid in times of -human distress, and at the same time serve to explain some of the most -interesting of popular customs. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE BOY ST. NICHOLAS AND ST. NICHOLAS THE PATRON SAINT OF SCHOOLBOYS - - -The legendary story of St. Nicholas has certain features that -distinguish it from the legendary stories of other saints. The story of -St. Nicholas is not a narrative of a single dramatic achievement, like -that in the life of St. George, nor of a glorious martyrdom, like that -of a St. Sebastian or a St. Cecilia. Nor is the name of St. Nicholas -associated with the diffusion of the Christian faith like that of St. -Augustine, St. Boniface, or St. Patrick, nor with the exposition of -Christian doctrine, like that of St. Jerome or St. Bernard. More like, -it is yet different from, that story of perfect exemplification of -the Christian life, the life story of St. Francis. The story of St. -Nicholas consists almost entirely of a series of beneficent deeds, of -aid afforded humanity in distress, accomplished either by St. Nicholas -during his lifetime or through his intervention after death. As a -benefactor he ranks almost with Divinity in his aid rendered, and even -lacks the severity of the justice that attends Divine awards. - -The conception of St. Nicholas, then, is almost that of beneficence -incarnate. The minor traits of his personality, however, the nature of -his parentage, the time details in his life history, the exact manner -of his death, are left in comparative obscurity. The very vagueness of -the information concerning him serves in great measure to explain the -remarkable variety of the rôles he has assumed in the world's history. -Only the nebulous ideas that have prevailed concerning him have made -it possible that in Scandinavia his name should be connected with that -of a hostile water demon, known in English as the "Old Nick," while -in certain parts of Siberia he receives divine honor and is worshiped -as the "Russian god Nicolo." A similar reason explains how he comes -to be regarded as patron saint of classes of people as dissimilar -as schoolboys, parish clerks, unwedded maids, seamen, pirates, and -thieves, how it is possible to associate him with the whimsical -children's friend Santa Claus. - -[Illustration: Beato Angelico. Three Scenes from the Early Life of St. -Nicholas. - -Anderson] - -The story of the boyhood of St. Nicholas, reverent in tone and not -a little tinged with the supernatural, is of the kind that one -might well look for in the legendary account of one whose memory is -entirely associated with kindness and generosity. St. Nicholas was -born, the Golden Legend[35] tells us, 'in the city of Patras in Asia -Minor, of rich and holy kin. His father was Epiphanes, and his mother -Johane. He was begotten in the first flower of their age, and from -that time forthon they lived in continence and led an heavenly life.' -From the first the boy Nicholas manifested signs of extreme piety, -observing fasting periods even in earliest infancy. The story runs: -"Then, the first day that he was washed and bained, he addressed -himself right up in the bason, and he would not take the breast nor -the pap but once on Wednesday and once on Friday, and in his young -age he eschewed the plays and japes of other young children. He used -and haunted gladly holy church; and all that he might understand of -holy scripture, he executed it in deed and work after his power." Thus -he is represented in the narrative of the Golden Legend. Thus too he -is represented in the series of scenes painted by Beato Angelico and -preserved in the Vatican gallery. In these interesting paintings there -is a scene representing the infant Nicholas at the time of his birth -standing up in the basin, and a second scene where he is represented -in a flower-covered ground in front of a church, devoutly standing in -front of a group of worshipers listening to the words of a bishop who -preaches from above in an outside pulpit. Chaucer's Prioress, speaking -of the saintly boy murdered by the Jews, remarks: - - "But ay, when I remembre on this matere, - Seint Nicholas stant ever in my presence, - For he so yong to Christ did reverence." - -It is not hard to see why he should have been chosen as patron saint -of children, unless, indeed, the story of his pious childhood itself -originates from the fact that he was the patron saint of children. In -the words of the English _Liber Festivalis_, "his parents called him -Nycolas, that is a mannes name, but he kepeth the name of a child, for -he chose to kepe vertue, meknes, and simplenes, and without malice.... -And therefore, children don him worship before all other saints." - -But it is to be feared that the exemplary boyhood of St. Nicholas -would hardly in itself have sufficed to give him so firm a hold on the -affections of children. Children of our day, or shall we say of the day -that has just passed, in the stories provided them, not infrequently -read of boys almost equally exemplary, without being unduly moved to -love, reverence, or emulation. A more sure road to the affections of -children is through benefits received or at least stories of benefits -rendered. Children love and honor St. Nicholas because they conceive of -the spirit of St. Nicholas as a guardian angel, not only looking after -their safety and well-being, but bringing them substantial rewards, and -many of the stories told of him, led children to feel toward him the -warmest gratitude and at the same time to look to him as a semi-divine -protector in time of trouble. - -St. Nicholas was particularly the patron saint of schoolboys, and one -of the best known of the stories of protection afforded by him is thus -told in the Golden Legend:[36] - - A man, for the love of his son, that went to school for to learn, - hallowed, every year, the feast of S. Nicholas much solemnly. On - a time it happed that the father had to make ready the dinner, - and called many clerks [schoolboys] to this dinner. And the devil - came to the gate in the habit of a pilgrim for to demand alms; - and the father anon commanded his son that he should give alms - to the pilgrim. He followed him as he went for to give him alms, - and when he came to the quarfox the devil caught the child and - strangled him. And when the father heard this he sorrowed much - strongly and wept, and bare the body into his chamber, and began - to cry for sorrow, and say: Bright sweet son, how is it with thee? - S. Nicholas, is this the guerdon that ye have done to me because - I have so long served you? And as he said these words, and other - semblable, the child opened his eyes, and awoke like as he had been - asleep, and arose up before all, and was raised from death to life. - -The clerks assembled at the dinner in honor of St. Nicholas, the devil -in pilgrim guise seeking alms at the door, and later strangling the -boy who has followed him outside, and the boy on the bed being brought -to life through influence of his protector saint, all with entire -disregard to unity of time, are represented in one of the animated -scenes of the painting by Lorenzetti in Florence, in which in quaintly -primitive fashion is anticipated the method of the modern motion -picture. - -[Illustration: A. Lorenzetti. The Young Clerk Strangled by the Devil at -the Feast on St. Nicholas' Eve and Brought to Life by the Saint. - -Alinari] - -Another story with St. Nicholas in his favorite rôle is thus told in -the Golden Legend: - - There was another rich man that by the merits of S. Nicholas had - a son and called him: _Deus dedit_, "God gave." And this rich man - did do make a chapel of S. Nicholas in his dwelling place; and did - do hallow every year the feast of S. Nicholas. And this manor was - set by the land of the Agarians. This child was taken prisoner, - and deputed to serve the king. The year following, and the day that - the father held devoutly the feast of S. Nicholas, the child held a - precious cup tofore the king, and remembered his prise, the sorrow - of his friends, and the joy that was made that day in the house of - his father, and began to sigh sore high. And the king demanded him - what ailed him and the cause of his sighing; and he told him every - word wholly. And when the king knew it, he said to him; Whatsomever - thy Nicholas do or do not, thou shalt abide here with us. And - suddenly there blew a much strong wind, that made all the house - to tremble, and the child was ravished with the cup, and was set - tofore the gate where his father held the solemnity of S. Nicholas, - in such wise that they all demeaned great joy. - -A variant version of this story is included in the Golden Legend. It -runs as follows: - - And some say that this child was of Normandy, and went oversea, and - was taken by the sowdan, which made him oft to be beaten before - him. And as he was beaten on a S. Nicholas day, and was set in - prison, he prayed to S. Nicholas as well for the beating that he - suffered, as for the great joy that he was wont to have on that day - of S. Nicholas. And when he had long prayed and sighed, he fell - asleep, and when he awoke he found himself in the chapel of his - father, whereas much joy was made for him. - -Wace, the twelfth-century author of a life of St. Nicholas in French -verse, supplies the introductory part of this story only briefly -alluded to in the Golden Legend version. He tells of the rich merchant -of Alexandria named Getro, and his wife, Eufrosine, who have longed in -vain for children. Getro hears of St. Nicholas and goes to the city -where St. Nicholas lives, to seek his aid. But he finds the saint -dead and on his bier. He asks for some of the saint's clothes. These -he bears as holy relics to Alexandria and erects a church for them. -The next December, on St. Nicholas' day, a son is born and receives -the name Deudoné. This son is carried off by robbers and sold to the -emperor, whom he serves as cup-bearer. On St. Nicholas' day the boy -weeps but is cruelly beaten for it. At the same time his father in -Alexandria is praying to St. Nicholas, and on rising from prayer, finds -his son, safely restored, standing before him. After that, naturally, -there is no neglect to worship St. Nicholas on his festival day. - -This story seems to be closely connected with the development of St. -Nicholas worship in western Europe following the removal of his relics -to Bari, Italy. General veneration of the saint, long popular in the -East, seems to increase in the West after that event. The particular -incident just recorded is followed in Wace by these words: - - Devant ceo ne trovons pas - qui si servist saint Nicholas, - -which may be translated, "Before this we do not find worshipers of -Saint Nicholas," and seem to indicate that the composition of Wace was -connected in some way with a newly instituted church festival. - -The story was one kept particularly in memory since, as remains to be -seen, it formed the subject of a schoolboy play enacted by the boys on -St. Nicholas' eve. It also forms the subject of two of the scenes in -fresco, possibly by Giottino, possibly by Giotto himself, as a young -man, in the church of St. Francis at Assisi. The first scene in these -frescoes represents a boy prisoner of a Saracen king in the act of -raising a cup to his lord seated at table, when St. Nicholas, hovering -above, grasps him by the hair to bear him away. The second scene -represents St. Nicholas, bringing back the boy, with the cup still in -his hands, and restoring him to the astonished father and mother seated -at table. The scene is an animated one. The father with both arms -embraces his son, and the mother stretches out her arms. A youth in -the group, with clasped hands looks to heaven, and a monk, astonished, -lifts his arms. Not least of all, a little dog betrays his recognition -of the restored boy.[37] - -Another story of this kind is thus told in the Golden Legend: - - Another nobleman prayed to S. Nicholas that he would, by his - merits, get of our Lord that he might have a son, and promised - that he would bring his son to the church, and would offer him - a cup of gold. Then the son was born and came to age, and the - father commanded to make a cup, and the cup pleased him much, and - he retained it for himself, and did do make another of the same - value. And they went sailing in a ship toward the church of S. - Nicholas, and when the child would have filled the cup, he fell - into the water with the cup and anon was lost, and came no more up. - Yet nevertheless the father performed his avow, in weeping much - tenderly for his son; and when he came to the altar of S. Nicholas - he offered the second cup, and when he had offered it, it fell - down, like as one had cast it under the altar. And he took it up - and set it again upon the altar, and then yet was it cast further - than tofore, and yet he took it up and remised it the third time - upon the altar; and it was thrown again further than tofore. Of - which thing all they that were there marvelled, and men came for - to see this thing. And anon, the child that had fallen in the sea, - came again prestly before them all, and brought in his hands the - first cup, and recounted to the people that, anon as he was fallen - in the sea, the blessed S. Nicholas came and kept him that he had - none harm. And thus the father was glad and offered to S. Nicholas - both the two cups. - -This story is represented in one of the frescoed scenes in the -Chapel of the Sacrament at Santa Croce in Florence and in the -Franciscan Church at Assisi. It also forms one of the scenes carved on -the Winchester baptismal font. - -[Illustration: Fresco at S. Croce, Attributed to G. Starnina. St. -Nicholas Restores to his Father the Son with the Cup lost at Sea. - -Brogi] - -Still another story in which St. Nicholas appears as the guardian angel -of schoolboys, is the one dealing with the resuscitation of the three -schoolboys murdered on their journey home. The story, which appears in -a number of variant forms, relates how three boys, on their journey -home from school, take lodging at an inn, or as some versions have it, -farmhouse. In the night the treacherous host and hostess murder the -boys, cut up their three bodies, and throw the pieces into casks used -for salting meat. In the morning St. Nicholas appears and calls the -guilty ones to task. They deny guilt, but are convicted when the saint -causes the boys, sound of body and limb, to arise from the casks. This -story, of repellent detail, is "not known among the Greeks, who are so -devoted to St. Nicholas."[38] It is also not included in the Golden -Legend nor in the Roman _Breviary_. It seems to have been one of the -elements added to the legend after the development of St. Nicholas -worship in the West. Its earliest record is said to be that in the -French life of St. Nicholas by Wace. With the incident in the story, -Wace connects the great honor paid to St. Nicholas by schoolboys. -"Because," says Wace, "he did such honor to schoolboys, they celebrate -this day [Dec. 6] by reading and singing and reciting the miracles of -St. Nicholas." - -Different attempts have been made to explain the origin of this, at -first, repellent story. One critic finds the explanation of the story -in the conventional methods of medieval art. He explains it as growing -out of a misinterpretation of an illustration representing one of -the incidents in the earlier story of St. Nicholas, the well-known -story of the succor lent by St. Nicholas to the three officers -condemned to death by Constantine. The three captives, after the -manner of the Middle Ages, were supposedly represented in a tower, -and in order to make the scene more visible, only the upper part of -the tower was represented. Then, too, in order to bring about the -desired subordination of human to divine, the medieval artist would -reduce the size of tower and prisoners in relation to the intervening -saint, so that the tower would become, in appearance, a cask, and -the three officers, little boys. From this pictorial representation -misunderstood, if we adopt this theory, arose the story of the three -boys brought to life from the packing cask.[38] - -[Illustration: L. di Bicci (?). St. Nicholas and the Murdered -Schoolboys. - -Metropolitan Museum of Art] - -Another explanation of the story is to be found in the association, -to be discussed later, between St. Nicholas and the northern water -demon known as "Nix" or "Old Nick." According to belief prevalent in -northern lands, the souls of drowned people are kept by Nix in pots. -When one remembers that souls were generally represented in the form -of children, one may see the close analogy between the pots of the -water demon and the tubs from which St. Nicholas resuscitated the -schoolboys.[39] - -Mrs. Jameson has still another explanation to offer. To use her own -words: "The story is sometimes treated as a religious allegory, -referring to the conversion of sinners or unbelievers. In some pictures -the host is represented as a demon with hoofs and claws." - -The explanations just offered, afford interesting illustration of the -ingenuity of the folk-lorist but seem superfluous. The tale could -hardly be improved on for the use it serves, to excite the gratitude of -young schoolboys. The details, repellent perhaps to the modern adult, -trained in the school of modern naturalism, are, if one stops to think, -features characteristic of the world's classic folk-tales for children. -The ogre-like ferocity of the host and hostess where the boys lodged, -is quite in keeping with the tone of little Red Riding Hood or of -Bluebeard. - -In any event we may infer popularity of this tale from its wide -prevalence. The central scene of the famous story is represented among -the sculptured scenes of the church of St. Nicholas at Bari, and among -the frescoed scenes at Santa Croce. It is pictured on the pages of the -Salisbury missal and forms the subject of several canvas paintings by -early artists. Up to within recent times a picture of St. Nicholas -standing by a tub from which were emerging three boys, was to be -seen painted on the side of a prominent house in Amsterdam, with the -inscription "Sinterklaes."[40] It was one of the stories dramatically -presented by medieval schoolboys on St. Nicholas' eve. Down to our own -day it has continued to be the subject of a song used in the popular -dances of the Faröe Islands. The youths rising from the cask became -a constant symbol used in representing St. Nicholas. In the churches -of Brittany, and doubtless elsewhere in France and Belgium, among the -images of saints occupying places on the pillars within the church, -or standing as sentinels on each side of the recessed portals, St. -Nicholas is frequently to be met with, always to be recognized by his -conventional pedestal formed by the tub from which are issuing the -three saved boys. - -[Illustration: F. Pesellino. St. Nicholas and the Murdered Schoolboys. - -Alinari] - -A charming version of the story appears in a French folk-song, -effectively rendered by Yvette Guilbert appropriately garbed in the -robes of the kindly bishop. Anatole France, too, has brought to bear -on this story, his gift of paradox in a highly diverting version -containing a sequel in which the innocent St. Nicholas suffers every -conceivable form of injury from the three rescued boys, who prove to be -incarnations of three varied forms of human depravity. - -St. Nicholas, the youth of exemplary piety, we may hope inspired -proper emulation on the part of schoolboys. St. Nicholas, the generous -protector, and friend, we may be sure was an object of schoolboy -gratitude and love. The memory of his kindly deeds was kept alive -not only in recited story, but in carved stone and painted wall. The -boys themselves sang about them in beloved songs and enacted them -in spirited plays. But the beneficence of the kindly saint was not -confined to the past. The gifts mysteriously bestowed on the saint's -festival eve have kept alive the feelings of gratitude, and through -the centuries boys have continued to look to St. Nicholas for aid and -protection. "St. Nicholas be thy speed," facetiously remarks Launce, -to Speed who is about to give an exhibition of his ability to read. -Even in his athletics the English schoolboy has continued to invoke -the assistance of his patron saint. According to Brand,[41] if a boy -is pursued and about to be caught, the cry of _Nic'las_ entitles him -to a suspension of the play for a moment. Or if he is not ready, or is -obliged to stop, to fasten his shoe or make other readjustment, the -same magic word affords him protection. One is reluctant to associate -St. Nicholas with the methods, not always above question, sometimes -used by the athlete in order to gain time or wind, but this continued -use of the name of Nicholas in sports bears eloquent testimony to the -place their saint has occupied in the hearts of schoolboys. - -[Illustration: A. Lorenzetti. St. Nicholas Providing the Dower for the -Three Maidens. - -Alinari] - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -ST. NICHOLAS AND THE DOWERLESS MAIDENS - - -Reference has already been made to the fact that after the introduction -of Christianity the name of St. Nicholas came to be associated with -a number of customs antedating Christianity and that to some extent, -mainly superficially, the earlier customs were influenced by the new -association. Thus the gift giving of apples and pears and nuts and of -rods to children, characteristic of the pre-Christian autumn festivals, -was brought into association with St. Nicholas, probably largely -because the pre-Christian festival coincided in time with the time of -the St. Nicholas celebration, December sixth. With the transfer of this -old custom to the Christmas celebration, the custom of giving gifts -to children coalesced with another, an adult custom of gift giving, -derived from the Roman _strenæ_, a feature of the Roman celebration of -the Kalends of January, and surviving distinctly in Latin countries, -notably in the _étrennes_ of the French New Year's Day. With both of -these customs coalescing in the general gift giving of Christmas, in -America at least, is still associated the name of Santa Claus, or St. -Nicholas. - -Aside from the coincidence in time between the St. Nicholas festival -and the pagan children's festival, there was also a point of contact -in one of the best-known of the stories in the life of St. Nicholas, -which, associated with the earlier custom at first in a superficial -way, in time affected its character. The story in question is the -famous one of the young man St. Nicholas and his gifts to the dowerless -maidens. This story in the condensed, not too lively, version in the -Golden Legend, runs as follows: - - And when his father and mother were departed out of this life, he - [the young man Nicholas] began to think how he might distribute - his riches, and not to the praising of the world but to the honor - and glory of God. And it was so that one, his neighbour, had - then three daughters, virgins, and he was a nobleman: but for - the poverty of them together, they were constrained, and in very - purpose to abandon them to the sin of lechery, so that by the gain - and winning of their infamy they might be sustained. And when - the holy man Nicholas knew hereof he had great horror of this - villainy, and threw by night secretly into the house of the man a - mass of gold wrapped in a cloth. And when the man arose in the - morning, he found this mass of gold, and rendered to God therefor - great thankings, and therwith he married his oldest daughter. And - a little while after this holy hermit of God threw in another mass - of gold, which the man found and thanked God, and purposed to wake - for to know him that had aided him in his poverty. And after a few - days Nicholas doubled the mass of the gold, and cast it into the - house of this man. He awoke by the sound of the gold and followed - Nicholas, which fled from him, and he said to him: "Sir, flee not - away so but that I may see and know thee." Then he ran after him - more hastily and knew that it was Nicholas; and anon he kneeled - down, and would have kissed his feet, but the holy man would not, - but required him not to tell nor discover this thing as long as he - lived. - -[Illustration: Florentine School (Fifteenth Century). St. Nicholas and -the Three Maidens.] - -This is the story which in general has linked the name of St. Nicholas -particularly with the virtue of generosity. For instance, in Dante's -_Purgatorio_ the shade of Hugh Capet introduces the name of Nicholas in -this connection. - - Esso parlava ancor della largezza - che fece Niccolao alle pulcelle, - per condurre ad onor lor giovenezza. - - "It spoke further of the generosity of Nicholas toward the maidens - in order to conduct their youth to honor." - - Canto xx., vo. 31-33. - -Among schoolboys the story was particularly well known. It formed the -subject of one of the plays performed by them on St. Nicholas' eve. It, -also, more frequently than any other incident in his life story, forms -the subject of pictures by Byzantine and early Italian painters. The -pictures representing the dejected father and the daughters preparing -for bed, one of the daughters sometimes dutifully pulling off her -father's boots, and the youth St. Nicholas on the outside of the house -furtively casting through an open window his gifts of gold, inevitably -bring to mind the later methods of gift bestowing employed by Santa -Claus. That the connection was felt in earlier times is made clear from -earlier references to the custom, especially in the form of Protestant -objection. For instance, a preacher of Lauban in 1608, referring to -St. Nicholas' gifts to the maidens, remarks: "Hence comes the custom -that some parents lay something on the bed for children and say St. -Nicholas has given it, which is an evil custom since by it the children -are directed to St. Nicholas when we know that not St. Nicholas but the -holy Christ Child gives us everything good for body or for soul."[42] -Another Protestant preacher of the same period makes similar objection, -saying: "One had better tell the children that the dear Christ Child -sent such gifts; if they shall be good, better ones will follow on -Christmas day." The surreptitious manner of conveying the gifts to the -children must have been an old practice as may be inferred from the -incident recorded of the young man of the sixteenth century who, in -attempting to imitate St. Nicholas, fell through an opening left for -grain and nearly lost his life.[43] - -[Illustration: L. di Bicci (?). St. Nicholas and the Three Maidens. - -Metropolitan Museum of Art] - -That the association of St. Nicholas with gift giving was known in -England in the sixteenth century, is shown by the following lines -from Barnabe Googe's _Popish Kingdom_, a translation from the _Regnum -Antichristi_ by Naogeorgus: - - "Saint Nicholas money used to give to maidens secretly. - Who that be still may use his wonted liberality; - The mothers all their children on the eve do cause to fast, - And when they every one at night in senseless sleep are cast, - Both apples, nuts, and pears they bring, and other things beside, - As caps, and shoes and petticoats, with other things they hide, - And in the morning found, they say, 'Saint Nicholas this - brought.'"[44] - -Down to within recent times in the church of S. Nicola in Carcere at -Rome, the generosity of St. Nicholas was annually commemorated, by the -giving of gifts to poor children in the sacristy after the memorial -Mass on St. Nicholas' day. This custom at Rome seems to have been -discontinued, but the memory of it, and the attending hopes for gifts, -are not extinct, as the present writer had opportunity to observe when -attending services in honor of St. Nicholas at this church on St. -Nicholas' day, in 1914. After the Mass a throng of expectant parents -and children followed the officiating priest into the sacristy and -were permitted to kiss the ring on the hand of the officiating priest, -but in their hope for the customary presents, met with keenly felt -disappointment. - -But although in modern times deprived somewhat of the gratitude once -felt for him as a giver of gifts, St. Nicholas for centuries has been -honored on account of another phase of his kindly art, the procuring -of husbands for marriageable girls. Reference has already been made to -the fact that in the Netherlands the special cakes of the St. Nicholas -festival are said to perpetuate a custom originated by the three -daughters in the story, who on their marriage day are said to have -baked such cakes and distributed them among poor children as a sign of -gratitude. - -Honor paid to St. Nicholas by unwedded maids goes back a great many -centuries. Among Normans of the twelfth century he was regarded as the -peculiar saint of spinsters, who invoked him in order to procure speedy -marriage.[45] - -The same idea is in evidence in English popular carols, in which St. -Nicholas is praised particularly as a provider of husbands. One song of -seven stanzas recites the story of how St. Nicholas saved the maidens, -and ends with the stanza: - - "Seynt Nicholas, at the townys ende, - Consoylid the maydens hom to wynde, - And throw Godes grace he xulde hem synde - Husbondes thre, good and kind." - -The refrain is: - - "Alle maydenis for Godes Grace, - Worchepe ye seynt Nicolas."[46] - -One of the most important of marriages in English history is associated -with this St. Nicholas custom. In one of Bishop Fisher's sermons it is -recorded of Margaret, Countess of Richmond, mother of Henry VII., "that -she prayed to St. Nicholas, the patron and helper of all true maydens, -when nine years old, about the choice of a husband; and that the saint -appeared to her in a vision and announced the Earl of Richmond."[47] - -From another ancient authority we have similar testimony,[48] as -follows: - - St. Nicholas was likewise venerated as the protector of virgins; - there are, or were until lately, numerous fantastical customs - observed in Italy and various parts of France, in reference to that - peculiar tutelary personage. In several convents it was customary, - on the eve of St. Nicholas for the boarders (_sic_) to place each - a silk stocking at the door of the apartment of the abbess with - a piece of paper enclosed, recommending themselves to "great - St. Nicholas of her chamber," and the next day they were called - together to witness the saint's attention, who never failed to fill - the stockings with sweetmeats and other trifles of that kind, with - which these credulous virgins made a general feast. - -If the kindly saint, in this case, was not in position to provide -husbands, he at least provided agreeable consolation. - -The conception of St. Nicholas as the protector of maidens and the -provider of husbands and the association of this idea with the story -of his generous act toward the three maidens in distress, is by no -means extinct in our own times, as is shown by the following account of -English customs recorded in a recent newspaper:[49] - - In the mining districts of the North of England they still - maintain the pleasant custom of collecting "maidens' purses" on - Christmas eve. - - These purses, in most cases subscribed for by the mining folk - themselves, are intended as marriage portions for girls undowered - with worldly wealth, who are expecting to be led to the altar. On - Christmas eve the full purse is stealthily thrown in at the girl's - window to avoid any possibility of wounding her feelings. - - In one parish four purses are provided every Christmas eve by - a woman now rich, who makes no secret of the fact that her own - wedding day was brightened by the gift thrown in at the window when - she was a miner's lass. - -[Illustration: L. di Bicci. Madonna and Child and Various Saints with -their Conventional Emblems. - -Alinari] - -Among the images of saints in France and other northern countries of -Europe, as has already been remarked, the tub with the three saved -youths is the conventional sign of St. Nicholas. Italian artists, -on the other hand, represent St. Nicholas in bishop's garb and with -three golden balls, commonly on a book which he holds in his hand, -but sometimes in his cap or at his feet.[50] This conventional symbol -of the three balls is sometimes explained as alluding to the Trinity, -or to the loaves of bread used by the saint in feeding the poor in a -famine, but is more usually associated with the three gifts to the -three maidens, the balls of gold corresponding in appearance to the -handfuls of gold tied up in a handkerchief thrown in at the window by -St. Nicholas, in the representations of the scene. - -Remote as at first thought may appear the connection between St. -Nicholas and pawnbrokers, it seems possible also to connect the three -balls, the conventional sign for St. Nicholas, with the more modern use -of the three balls as the sign of the professional money-lender. The -pawnbroker's three balls have been sometimes explained as derived from -the arms of the Medici. A more generally received explanation is that -the three balls were used as a sign before their houses by the Lombard -bankers. "The three blue balls," says Brand,[51] "prefixed to the doors -and windows of pawnbrokers' shops (by the vulgar humorously enough said -to indicate that it is _two to one_ that the things are ever redeemed) -were in reality _the arms of a set of merchants from Lombardy_, who -were the first that publicly lent money on pledges. They dwelt together -on a street from them called Lombard Street, in London." It has been -said that "the golden balls were originally three flat yellow effigies -of byzants, or gold coins, laid heraldically upon a sable field, but -that they were presently converted into balls the better to attract -attention."[52] - -A plausible explanation, which, however, remains to be proved, would -be found in the association of the three balls of the pawnbroker with -the three golden balls, the symbol of St. Nicholas, whom the Lombard -bankers might well have chosen as their patron saint. If one were -disposed to be uncharitable, one might call attention to the fact that -St. Nicholas was the patron saint not only of schoolboys and unwedded -maids, and as remains to be shown, of mariners, but also of pirates -and thieves, between whom and the kindly saint the connection is not, -at first thought, obvious, and one might try to show a relationship -between the pawnbroker who lends money on pledges, and the pirate -or thief who borrows money without a pledge. The suggestion is not -intended seriously, but it is seriously believed that the association -with St. Nicholas is not more unlikely in one case than in the other. -Confirmatory evidence is afforded by the legend of the saint, in -which is included an episode that seems to establish St. Nicholas as -the protector of the money-lender as firmly as the stories already -discussed associate him with the protection of boys and of maidens. In -the Golden Legend the story is told as follows: - - There was a man that had borrowed of a Jew a sum of money, and - sware upon the altar of St. Nicholas that he would render and pay - it again as soon as he might, and gave none other pledge. And - this man held this money so long, that the Jew demanded and asked - his money, and he said that he had paid him. Then the Jew made him - to come before the law in judgment, and the oath was given to the - debtor. And he brought with him an hollow staff, in which he had - put the money in gold, and he leant upon the staff. And when he - should make his oath and swear, he delivered his staff to the Jew - to keep and hold whilst he should swear, and then sware that he had - delivered more than he ought to him. And when he had made the oath, - he demanded his staff again of the Jew, and he nothing knowing of - his malice, delivered it to him. Then this deceiver went his way, - and anon after, him list sore to sleep, and laid him in the way, - and a cart with four wheels came with great force and slew him, and - broke the staff with gold that it spread abroad. And when the Jew - heard this, he came thither sore moved, and saw the fraud, and many - said to him that he should take to him the gold; and he refused it, - saying, But if he that was dead were not raised again to life by - the merits of St. Nicholas, he would not receive it, and if he came - again to life, he would receive baptism and become Christian. Then - he that was dead arose, and the Jew was christened. - -This story forms the subject of three spirited scenes in the frescoes -at Santa Croce, which represent the borrowing of the money, the oath on -the book before the altar of St. Nicholas, a place detail neglected in -the Golden Legend version, and the street scene where the sharper is -run over. - -[Illustration: Fresco at S. Croce, Attributed to G. Starnina. Three -Scenes from the Story of St. Nicholas and the Jew Moneylender. - -Brogi] - -The singular reversal of the rôle usually assigned to the Jew in -medieval story is striking. The main purpose of the story seems to -be not so much to show the lack of appreciation on the part of St. -Nicholas of the sharp trick played, the kind of trick that medieval -story loved to record, especially when a Jew was the sufferer by the -chicanery, as to show the justice of St. Nicholas and perhaps, if we -are disposed to be skeptical about the truth of the story, owes its -origin to the desire to establish a relation of protectorship between -St. Nicholas and the money-lending class, as other stories established -him as the protector of schoolboys, of maidens, and of mariners. - -Another of the best known stories of St. Nicholas, which tells of the -protection afforded a Jew on another occasion, remains to be recorded -in another connection.[53] In any event there seems to be good evidence -in the story of St. Nicholas for associating the three balls, his -conventional sign, with the three balls of the pawnbroker, and thus -establishing a connection, at first thought so far-fetched, between the -pawnbroker class and the story of the dowerless maids. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE BOY BISHOP, OR NICHOLAS BISHOP - - -In all the representations of St. Nicholas, painting or image, -except those pictures dealing with his childhood, he appears with -the robes and insignia of a bishop. St. Nicholas is preëminently the -bishop-saint. Concerning his boyhood elevation to the episcopal rank, -legend has an interesting story to relate. Once more let us turn to the -Golden Legend, which relates the story as follows: - - After this the bishop of Mirea died and other bishops assembled for - to purvey to this church a bishop. And there was, among the others, - a bishop of great authority, and all the election was in him. And - when he had warned all for to be in fastings and in prayers, this - bishop heard that night a voice which said to him that, at the - hour of matins, he should take heed to the doors of the church, - and him that should come first to the church, and have the name of - Nicholas they should sacre him bishop. And he showed this to the - other bishops and admonished them for to be all in prayers; and he - kept the doors. And this was a marvelous thing, for at the hour of - matins, like as he had been sent from God, Nicholas arose tofore - all other. And the bishop took him when he was come and demanded - of him his name. And he, which was simple as a dove, inclined his - head, and said: I have to name Nicholas. Then the bishop said to - him: Nicholas, Servant and friend of God, for your holiness ye - shall be bishop of this place. And sith they brought him to the - church, howbeit that he refused it strongly, yet they set him in - the chair. And he followed, as he did tofore in all things, in - humility and honesty of manners. He woke in prayer and made his - body lean, he eschewed company of women, he was humble in receiving - all things, profitable in speaking, joyous in admonishing, and - cruel in correcting. - -This episode is the most celebrated in the life of St. Nicholas. It -is represented in a number of Italian paintings. The early morning -appearance of the boy Nicholas at the church and his surprise as he -learns of his election are presented in particularly lively manner in -one of the scenes from his life by Lorenzetti preserved at Florence.[54] - -Interesting in itself, the story of the elevation of the boy Nicholas -to the rank of bishop also possesses interest because associated with -some of the most interesting of early church customs, those centering -about the personage of the Boy Bishop, or Nicholas Bishop as he was -sometimes called. The explanation of this interesting personage and the -customs associated with him, like that of Santa Claus, is a complex -one. In the case of the Boy Bishop customs once more we have probably -to do with the survival of pre-Christian customs with which the Church -associated new names and new meaning. - -The spirit that dominated the Christian December celebration and many -details of the external form of celebration are to be found in the -Roman pagan customs of December and early January. The early winter -season in Roman times was a period of general relaxation and merry -making. In the week beginning December 17th and ending December 23d, -the ancient god Saturn resumed once more, for a limited period, the -benign rule of which he had been deprived by his more strenuous, shall -we say more efficient, son Jove. The week of the rule of Saturn, the -_Saturnalia_, was a time of revelry and riot. The serious was barred. -No business was allowed; drinking and games and noise prevailed. All -men were to be equal, rich and poor, slave and free. There was chosen -a mock king who could impose forfeits. The Roman New Year's feast had -a similar character. As at the _Saturnalia_, masters drank and gambled -with slaves.[55] In the words of the Greek sophist, Libanius: "From the -minds of young people it (the New Year's feast) removes two kinds -of dread: the dread of the schoolmaster and the dread of the stern -pedagogue." - -[Illustration: A. Lorenzetti. The Boy Nicholas Indicated as the Divine -Choice for Bishop. - -Alinari] - -The attitude of the Christian church toward pagan custom is well known. -Since it could not hope to extirpate old practice, it endeavored to -adapt it to Christian use, giving to it Christian meaning and, as far -as possible, Christian character. It aimed to make the birth of Christ, -and the associated events, the dominating idea in its celebration at -the beginning of winter. In spite of this intention, in the popular -customs of the Christmas season, even in the ceremonies of the Church, -there is apparent a survival of many features of pagan practice. -Especially in the practice of the week following Christmas, there -is to be observed the leveling or inversion of rank, the election -of a mock ruler, and the general relaxation of discipline that were -features of the pagan celebrations of the same season at Rome. Thus -in the three days immediately following Christmas, church discipline -was sufficiently relaxed to permit of revels in turn, by the lower -orders of clergy and by the choir boys. December 26th, St. Stephen's -day, was the day for the deacons, since St. Stephen was a deacon. For -this day the deacons supplanted the higher dignitaries and took the -preëminence in the divine services. On Christmas night, the eve of St. -Stephen's day, after vespers, the deacons formed a pompous procession -dressed in silk copes like priests. On St. Stephen's day the deacons -performed the parts of the divine service. There was also a great deal -of mock ceremonial, and drinking and processions in the streets, with -visiting of houses and levying of contributions.[56] On the following -day, the day of St. John the Evangelist, the priests had their innings. -Features of their celebration were mock blessings and the proclamation -of a ribald form of indulgence. On the eve of Innocents' day (Dec. -28th), the priests gave way to the choir boys, "the children," for -the celebration of Childermas. On Circumcision Day (Jan. 1st), the -sub-deacons, the "rookies" among the priestly orders, took their turn -at occupying the places of the higher clergy. - -The day of the sub-deacons, possibly because of its coincidence with -the Roman Kalends, was celebrated in a particularly mad fashion. In -the words "_Deposuit potentes de sede: et exaltavit humiles_" sung in -the _Magnificat_ at Vespers, was found the suggestion for a general -inversion in rank. For the time, the places of rank and honor were -taken by the lowly sub-deacons. The sacred services were burlesqued in -most shocking fashion varying in different places. In Paris[57] in -the fifteenth century, "priests danced in the choir dressed as women, -panders, or minstrels. Wanton songs were sung. Black puddings were -eaten at the horn of the altar while mass was being celebrated, and -the altar was censed with ashes or by the smoke from the soles of old -shoes." Performers without the church were even more irreverent and -riotous in character. - -The choir boy customs of Holy Innocents' day were somewhat like those -described, although more restrained in character, since, as Mr. -Chambers has remarked, boys were more amenable to discipline than -the older clergy. There was a similar inversion of rank and, within -limit, a similar burlesque of custom, on this day the choir boys taking -precedence in rank, presided over by one of their number, usually -elected on St. Nicholas' day, with the title of Boy Bishop, or Nicholas -Bishop. - -A central feature of the celebration was a pompous church procession -following vespers on Childermas eve. In this procession the inversion -of rank was a feature. The book, the censer, and the candles, usually -borne by boys, on this occasion were borne by reverend canons, and -when at the end of the ceremony the procession returned to the choir, -the boys took the places of dignity in the higher stalls, with the Boy -Bishop in the stall of the bishop or dean. Then followed a feature -doubtless in the estimation of the boys not less important than the -procession, namely a supper provided by one of the church dignitaries. - -On Innocents' day all the services, including the Mass, were performed -by the boys with their "Bishop," also in many places the "Bishop" -preached a sermon. Nor were the honor and dignity of the Boy Bishop -confined to the ceremonies within the church. In mounted procession, -with attendant boy prebends, he visited other religious houses and -houses of neighboring people of prominence, singing songs and imparting -blessings in the expectation of festal entertainment and of money gifts -as well. In the year 1555 the "chylde byshope" of St. Paul's with his -company visited Queen Mary at St. James's and sang a song before her -both on St. Nicholas' day (Dec. 6th) and on Innocents' day (Dec. 28th). -The amounts collected on these occasions were considerable. Robert de -Holme,[58] who was "Bishop" at York, received from the choirmaster, who -served as treasurer, in 1369, the sum of £3 15s. 1½d. But this was only -a part of the receipts, for at intervals during the fortnight following -Christmas, the "Bishop" with his troupe made trips in the neighborhood -which netted handsome profit, the countess of Northumberland alone -contributing twenty shillings and a gold ring.[59] In Aberdeen the -master of the grammar school was paid by a collection taken when he -went the rounds with the "Bishop." That this source of revenue was not -a matter of trivial importance may be inferred from the interesting -statement in the municipal registers that "he hes na uder fee to leif -on." - -Some interesting details regarding French observance of the Boy Bishop -custom have been garnered by Mr. Chambers from the records for Toul. At -that place - - the expenses of the feast, with the exception of the dinner on - the day after Innocents' day, which came out of the disciplinary - fines, are assigned by the statutes to the canons in the order of - their appointment. The responsible canon must give a supper on - Innocents' day, and on the following day a dessert out of what - is over. He must also provide the "Bishop" with a horse, gloves, - and a _biretta_ when he rides abroad. At the supper a curious - ceremony took place. The canon returned thanks to the "Bishop," - apologized for any shortcomings in the preparations, and finally - handed the "Bishop" a cap of rosemary or other flowers, which was - then conferred upon the canon to whose lot it would fall to provide - the feast for the next anniversary. Should the canon disregard - his duties the boys and sub-deacons were entitled to hang up a - black cope on a candlestick in the middle of the choir _in illius - vituperium_ for as long as they might choose. - -The elaborateness, too, of the manner of celebration, as well as the -constant association with St. Nicholas, may be inferred from the -following Northumberland inventory of robes and ornaments belonging to -one of these Boy Bishops:[60] - - Imprimis, i. myter, well garnished with perle and precious stones, - with nowches of silver and gilt before and behind. Item, iiii. - rynges of silver and gilt, with four ridde precious stones in them. - Item, i. pontifical with silver and gilt, with a blue stone in - hytt. Item, i. owche, broken, silver and gilt, with iiii. precious - stones, and a perle in the mydds. Item, a croose, with a staff of - coper and gilt, with the ymage of St. Nicolas in the mydds. Item, - i. vestment, redde, with lyons, with silver, with brydds of gold in - the orferes of the same. Item, i. albe to the same, with starres in - the paro. Item, i. white cope, stayned with tristells and orferes, - redde sylke, with does of gold, and whytt napkins about the necks. - Item, iiii. copes, blew sylk with red orferes, trayled, with whitt - braunchis and flowers. Item, i. steyned cloth of the ymage of St. - Nicholas. Item, i. taberd of skarlet, and a hodde thereto lyned - with whitt sylk. Item, a hode of skarlett, lyned with blue sylk. - -The earliest known reference to the Boy Bishop custom is from St. -Gall in the year 911. King Conrad I. was visiting Bishop Solomon of -Constance and heard so much of the Vespers procession at St. Gall that -he determined to visit the monastery at the time of the revels. He -found it "all very amusing and especially the procession of children, -so grave and sedate that even when Conrad bade his train roll apples -along the aisle, they did not budge."[61] In later years the custom -lost much of its early sobriety, although doubtless a great deal of -dignity, real or assumed, persisted in the church procession. The -custom pervaded most of the countries of Europe in the following -centuries. - -In France it was not abolished until 1721. At Mainz, in Germany, it was -not wholly extinct in 1779.[62] In Belgium in the nineteenth century -there survived a number of popular customs showing for the celebration -of Innocents' day of the present the same kind of inversion of -authority that characterized the Boy Bishop customs of earlier times. -Innocents' day is in Belgium more than in other countries a popular -festival, making up somewhat for the fact that in Belgium, Christmas -is less of a children's celebration than in other Teutonic countries, -or perhaps owing to the greater importance of St. Nicholas customs in -the Netherlands than in other countries. In any event, in Belgium, -Innocents' day is a real children's festival: children are masters in -the house, and parents must obey them. At Antwerp, in Brabant, and in -some parts of the county of Limbourg, little boys and girls dress up -for the day as papas and mammas. Usually the youngest of the family -receives the key to the pantry and orders in the kitchen the meals for -the day.[63] - -In England the Boy Bishop custom, which came to an end in the sixteenth -century under Reformation influence, once prevailed throughout the -length and breadth of the land--at first in cathedrals, collegiate -churches, and schools, later "in every parish church where there -was a sufficient band of choristers to furnish forth the Boy Bishop -ceremonial, or sufficiently well-to-do parishioners to be worth laying -under contribution."[64] - -The relation of the Boy Bishop to St. Nicholas customs offers a -number of difficulties to explain. Mr. Chambers leans to the view -that the custom was originally associated with St. Nicholas' day, -an opinion supported by the fact that the "Bishop" was elected -on the eve of St. Nicholas. But he believes that, like other St. -Nicholas customs, the Santa Claus custom for instance, it was later -transferred to the Christmas season. Something, however, may be said -for a contrary explanation. It is an established fact that medieval -schools and universities had their origin in the song schools of -the Church; consequently in schools and universities there survived -customs originally appropriate only to choir boys. In this way might -be transferred a custom observed by choir boys on the festival at -Holy Innocents' day (Dec. 28th), to St. Nicholas' day (Dec. 6th), -the festival day of schoolboys, and the Boy Bishop of Innocents' day -get the name of _Episcopus Nicholatensis_, "Nicholas Bishop," or by -an admirable Latin pun at Eton, "_Episcopus Nihilensis_," "Bishop of -Nothing." There is evident relationship between the custom of the Boy -Bishop and the story of St. Nicholas elected bishop when a boy. Did the -custom grow out of the story, or as is so often the case, did the story -originate as an explanation of an established custom? - -Oliver Wendell Holmes, on the occasion of a visit paid, late in life, -to Westminster Abbey, singles out from "amidst all the imposing -recollections of the ancient edifice," one that impressed him "in the -inverse ratio of its importance, ... the little holes in the stones, -in one place, where the boys of the choir used to play marbles." In -a similar way it may be remarked that among all the magnificent -ceremonies in the history of the Church, few are more impressive than -those associated with the Boy Bishop, or Nicholas Bishop. The choir -boy, exercising his rule over his fellow boys, riding with them in -parade about the city or surrounding country, or for the nonce lording -it over his pompous superiors and indulging in playful parody of the -ceremonies in which throughout the year he has taken a not always too -patient part,--all this affords us a glimpse at natural boy nature -centuries ago. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -VARIED BENEFICENT ACTIVITY - - -It will have been noted that St. Nicholas is not only the patron saint -of youths, but is himself a youthful saint. His most distinctive -deeds, at least the deeds about the memory of which have most been -interwoven popular customs, are deeds performed by him as a young man. -The distinctive feature about his election as bishop was that he was -elected when a mere youth. But before his election as bishop he had -already distinguished himself by his act of generosity in saving the -three daughters of the impoverished nobleman. Also, according to the -account of his life in the Roman Breviary, the act upon which is based -his reputation as protector of seamen was accomplished by him as a -young man when on a pious pilgrimage, on the return from which he was -miraculously directed to Myra, there to be chosen bishop. In a way, -then, the election as bishop forms a kind of climax to a series of -youthful accomplishments. - -But the life story of St. Nicholas differs from the typical saint's -legend in that it is not the record of one single achievement that -absorbed all the energies of the story's hero and whose accomplishment -formed a dramatic close. On the contrary, as already remarked, his -legend is made up of a series of beneficent acts, in part accomplished -by the living saint, in part accomplished by him after death serving -as a protecting spirit. Besides the youthful deeds already discussed, -there remain to be recorded a number of others, some of them hardly -less well known than the ones already considered, others not so widely -known but of interest, not only in themselves, but as revealing the -varied aspects of the kindness of St. Nicholas and showing the enduring -character of his fame. - -[Illustration: A. Lorenzetti. St. Nicholas Saving a City in Time of -Famine. - -Alinari] - -First there remain in the Golden Legend two well known stories that -deserve to be included here. One of these, in which St. Nicholas -accomplished an ultra-modern function, that of "Food Comptroller," will -make clear why he was popular as the patron saint of cities. The story -goes: - - It was so on a time that all the province of S. Nicolas suffered - great famine, in such wise that victual failed. And then this holy - man heard say that certain ships laden with wheat were arrived in - the haven. And anon he went thither and prayed the mariners that - they would succor the perished at least with an hundred muyes of - wheat of every ship. And they said: Father, we dare not, for it - is meted and measured, and we must give reckoning thereof in the - garners of the emperor in Alexandria. And the holy man said to - them: Do this that I have said to you, and I promise, in the truth - of God, that it shall not be lessened or minished when ye shall - come to the garners. And when they had delivered so much out of - every ship, they came into Alexandria and delivered the measure - that they had received. And then they recounted the miracle to the - ministers of the emperor, and worshiped and praised strongly God - and his servant Nicholas. Then the holy man distributed the wheat - to every man after that he had need, in such wise that it sufficed - for two years, not only for to sell, but also to sow. - -The art of the early Italian painters in handling narrative subjects is -once more admirably illustrated in the animated presentation of this -story in the paintings by Lorenzetti and by Fra Angelico. - -In another of the stories included in the Golden Legend, St. Nicholas -twice appears in his favorite rôle as the protector of human life. The -story, with double catastrophe, goes as follows: - - And in this time certain men rebelled against the emperor; and - the emperor sent against them three princes, Nepotian, Ursyn, and - Apollyn. And they came into the port Adriatic for the wind, which - was contrary to them; and the blessed Nicholas commanded them to - dine with him, for he would keep his people from the ravin that - they made. And whilst they were at dinner, the consul, corrupt by - money, had commanded three innocent knights to be beheaded. And - when the blessed Nicholas knew this, he prayed these three princes - that they would much hastily go with him. And when they were come - where they should be beheaded, he found them on their knees, and - blindfold, and the righter brandished his sword over their heads. - Then S. Nicholas, embraced with the love of God, set him hardily - against the righter, and took the sword out of his hand, and threw - it from him, and unbound the innocents, and led them with him all - safe. And anon he went to the judgment to the consul, and found - the gates closed, which anon he opened by force. And the consul - came anon and saluted him: and this holy man having this salutation - in despite, said to him: Thou enemy of God, corrupter of the law, - wherefore hast thou consented to so great evil and felony, how - darest thou look on us? And when he had sore chidden and reproved - him, he repented, and at the prayer of the three princes he - received him to penance. After, when the messengers of the emperor - had received his benediction, they made their gear ready and - departed, and subdued their enemies to the empire without shedding - blood, and sith returned to the emperor, and were worshipfully - received. And after this it happed that some other in the emperor's - house had envy on the weal of these three princes, and accused them - to the emperor of high treason, and did so much by prayer and by - gifts that they caused the emperor to be so full of ire that he - commanded them to prison, and without other demand, he commanded - that they should be slain that same night. And when they knew it by - their keeper, they rent their clothes and wept bitterly; and then - Nepotian remembered him how S. Nicholas had delivered the three - innocents, and admonested the others that they should require his - aid and help. And thus as they prayed S. Nicholas appeared to them - and after appeared to Constantine, the emperor, and said to him: - Wherefore hast thou taken these three princes with so great wrong, - and hast judged them to death without trespass? Arise up hastily, - and command that they be not executed, or I shall pray to God that - he move battle against thee, in which thou shalt be overthrown, - and shalt be made meat to beasts. And the emperor demanded: What - art thou that art entered by night into my palace and durst say to - me such words? And he said to him: I am Nicholas, bishop of Mirea. - And in like wise he appeared to the provost, and feared him, saying - with a fearful voice: Thou that hast lost mind and wit, wherefore - hast thou consented to the death of innocents? Go forth anon and do - thy part to deliver them, or else thy body shall rot, and be eaten - with worms, and thy meiny shall be destroyed. And he asked him: Who - art thou that so menacest me? And he answered: Know thou that I - am Nicholas, the bishop of the city of Mirea. Then that one awoke - that other, and each told to other their dreams, and anon sent for - them that were in prison, to whom the emperor said: What art magic - or sorcery can ye, that ye have this night by illusion caused us - to have such dreams? And they said that they were none enchanters - ne knew no witchcraft, and also that they had not deserved the - sentence of death. Then the emperor said to them: Know ye well a - man named Nicholas? And when they heard speak of the name of the - holy saint, they held up their hands toward heaven, and prayed our - Lord that by the merits of S. Nicholas they might be delivered of - this present peril. And when the emperor had heard of them the life - and miracles of S. Nicholas, he said to them: Go ye forth, and - yield ye thankings to God, which hath delivered you by the prayer - of this holy man, and worship ye him; and bear ye to him of your - jewels, and pray ye him that he threaten me no more, but that he - pray for me and for my realm unto our Lord. And a while after, the - said princes went unto the holy man, and fell down on their knees - humbly at his feet, saying: Verily thou art the sergeant of God, - and the very worshipper and lover of Jesu Christ. And when they - had all told this said thing by order, he lift up his hands to - heaven and gave thankings and praisings to God, and sent again the - princes, well informed, into their countries. - -This story, although, so far as known, it does not form the subject -of any of the St. Nicholas plays presented by medieval schoolboys, -certainly possesses dramatic quality. The first intervention by the -protecting saint provides suspense like that before the arrival of -a reprieve on the stroke of twelve in a modern melodrama. The scene -is strikingly presented in one of the Santa Croce frescoes. One of -the young men is represented kneeling blindfolded awaiting the death -stroke. The executioner holds his sword lifted, while St. Nicholas -from behind grasps it by the point. - -Also both this scene and the second scene in the story are represented -in the celebrated Giottesque frescoes at Assisi. In the second scene -there is represented a hall with straight ceiling supported by slender -columns. In this hall the Emperor Constantine is lying asleep. Nicholas -with uplifted hands approaches and commands him to free the three -imprisoned princes. The latter, one sees below, behind a barred window, -before which stands a great wooden cage.[65] - -[Illustration: Norman Baptismal Font at Winchester Cathedral, with -Sculptured Scenes from the Life of St. Nicholas.] - -The twelfth-century life of St. Nicholas by Wace, written, as the -reader is told in the opening lines, for the sake of the unlettered, -to explain to them the purpose of the St. Nicholas festival newly -instituted in the West, contains a number of episodes not included in -the more or less official account in the Golden Legend. There is one -story which seems like a variant version of that of the three murdered -schoolboys, which itself is also included by Wace.[66] A merchant is -on his way to visit the saint. On the journey he takes lodgings at an -inn and in the night is murdered by the treacherous landlord. His body -is cut to pieces and packed in a cask and salted like edible flesh. In -the night St. Nicholas restores the merchant to life with his body -entirely sound. In the morning the merchant appears, naturally to the -astonishment of the landlord, who confesses and worships St. Nicholas. - -Wace also includes a short story of how St. Nicholas freed a child -possessed by the devil,[67] and still another incident, one more than -usually filled with human interest, recorded in connection with the -election of St. Nicholas as bishop. The story goes that the hostess at -an inn where the youthful bishop-elect had stayed, was so overjoyed at -the election, that she left her baby in a bath pan by the fire. In her -absence the water boiled. The mother returned in fright but found her -child safe and happy. - -[Illustration: F. Pesellino. St. Nicholas Saves the Knights about to be -Beheaded. - -Alinari] - -St. Nicholas in origin was an Oriental saint. In the Eastern Church at -the present day his worship is more active than in western Europe. In -countries like Greece of to-day there survive the conditions amid which -St. Nicholas worship had its origin and amid which legendary stories -of him were propagated. His ability to work miracles is still believed -in by many a Greek peasant. The following remarkably circumstantial -account of an incident supposed to have taken place on May 25, 1909, -will illustrate the faith in the goodness and power of St. Nicholas -still alive in certain parts of Greece.[68] - - In a romantic situation, one quarter of an hour from the village of - Sparta in Elis, stands a fine monastery dedicated to St. Nicholas. - Every year on the 10th of May--the anniversary of the finding - of the saint's ikon--there come to the monastery thousands of - worshipers from all parts of the Peloponnese, who bring various - offerings to the saint and remain several days in the romantic - monastery, worshiping the wonder-working ikon and celebrating the - annual festival. - - Amongst this year's worshipers' was a peasant, John Doulos, from - the village of Bezaïté, who invoked the help of the saint on behalf - of Kyriakula, his young daughter, who was blind. He brought her to - worship at the shrine. The unfortunate girl had lost her sight on - Easter day, when she thought she saw a great fire before her eyes - and fell to the ground. From that moment she could see nothing. All - medical skill was of no avail, and the despairing Doulos determined - to take his daughter to the saint. They arrived at the monastery on - the Wednesday before the festival. Thursday and Friday, days and - nights, they spent inside the church kneeling before the ikon in - prayer and supplication. Suddenly about dawn on the Saturday, when - the worshipers in the church were numerous, Kyriakula arose, and - crossing herself, cried: - - "Father, father, I see! There are the saint's candles! There is the - ikon!" - - A thrill of emotion ran through those present, and all joined with - the girl, whose sight had been restored, in worshiping the ikon of - the wonder-working saint. After remaining many hours to bless the - name of the saint, the healed girl left the church with her father - and joined in the festival. Then she returned to her village, and - her restored eyesight told better than words the saint's miracle. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -ST. NICHOLAS PLAYS - - -In our time the celebration of St. Nicholas' day has lost much of the -ceremony that was once associated with it. Even in countries like -Belgium and Holland, where the day is a great folk festival, there is -little to connect the day with the story of the beloved bishop-saint. -"Sinterklaes" is better known than St. Nicholas. In early days the case -was different. Particularly in the centuries immediately following the -transfer of the St. Nicholas relics to Italy, the time when the vogue -of the eastern saint reached its height in the countries of western -Europe, in many ways his story was kept fresh in the popular memory. -Not only did the Boy Bishop custom commemorate, in somewhat extravagant -fashion to be sure, the elevation of the boy Nicholas to the rank of -bishop, but stories of the life of the saint formed an important part -of the _lectiones_, or "readings," for the day in the church; and more -important still, some of the principal episodes in his life formed the -subject, in church schools, for hymns which later developed into little -plays.[69] In the election of the Boy Bishop was reenacted with a great -deal of adventitious detail one of these episodes. In more strictly -dramatic fashion were reenacted the four episodes: (1) of the maidens -saved from a life of shame; (2) the three murdered schoolboys restored -to life; (3) the kidnapped boy restored to his parents; and (4) the Jew -that put his treasures in charge of the image of St. Nicholas. - -These little St. Nicholas plays have genuine significance in the early -history of the modern drama. At a time when the classical drama was -dead, when the works of Plautus and Terence were valued as repositories -of sententious expressions and their dramatic character apparently -not suspected, when the names tragedy and comedy were almost entirely -dissociated from dramatic meaning, by one of the strange ironies of -life, under the auspices of the Church, which had been hostile in its -attitude toward earlier drama, there was created, seemingly without -being realized, the germ from which developed the modern drama. The -St. Nicholas plays go back to an early stage in the new dramatic -development. Little dramatic scenes from scriptural story began to find -a place in the liturgy of the Church as early as the tenth century. -St. Nicholas plays are not much later, and are the earliest ones -handling scenes drawn from outside the biblical story. They begin not -later than the first of the twelfth century. St. Nicholas may almost -be regarded as the patron saint of the modern drama, since he seems to -have watched over its birth. - -The St. Nicholas plays were represented apparently by the choir boys in -connection with the celebration of the festival of their patron saint. -The language used was Latin, of a schoolboy variety, but vernacular -elements soon began to appear. Forming, as they did, a part of the -school service, and presented, as they were, by choir boys, as might be -expected, they were for the most part sung or chanted. Their purpose to -provide entertainment and their dissociation from the older drama are -indicated by the names applied to these primitive dramas. _Miracula_ -was the name given them when the subject-matter was in mind; when their -character and purpose were in mind the name applied to them in Latin -was _ludus_, in French, _jeu_. The actors at a comparatively early time -in English were called players before the word 'play' had yet acquired -its later definitely dramatic meaning. - -The subjects from the St. Nicholas story used in these little plays -have been mentioned. One should notice what a range of interest is -comprised in these four stories. They afford opportunity for the use -of many of the cant phrases of the modern dramatic critic. There was -a melodrama of crime, a primitive detective play, with St. Nicholas -playing the part of detective in discovering the crime of the innkeeper -and his wife. There was a play dealing with the rough road to -matrimony, ending in a triple marriage, hardly surpassed in modern love -comedy. There was a sentimental comedy, with gripping heart interest, -in the story of the boy abducted and restored. There was a screaming -farce in the story of the Jew that was robbed. It should be noted, too, -that the modern "tired business man" would find the endings in all four -as happy as could be wished. - -One of the early St. Nicholas plays also is of interest because it is -one of three plays composed by the earliest determinable personality -in connection with the authorship of modern drama. The name of the -author, Hilarius, seems to have been no misnomer. He was probably an -Englishman,[70] or an Anglo-Norman, who went to France to study under -Abélard. He is the author of a number of innocent love poems, playful -in tone, addressed to an English Rose and to his nun friends, Bona -and Superba. From his writings we learn that he was not only lively, -but fat. Along with a number of other students, on account of some -misbehavior, he seems to have suffered a kind of rustication and been -obliged to leave the monastery where he was studying and to take up -residence in a neighboring village. In a mock elegy he feigns despair -at being deprived of the privilege of hearing lectures. Altogether -the character of this medieval student is easy to associate with the -farcical little Latin play which he wrote, back in the twelfth century, -presenting the story of the Jew who committed his valuables to the care -of the image of St. Nicholas. - -This play,[71] or operetta, for it was intended for song and chant -by the choir boys, is composed in rimed Latin stanzas, practically -impossible to reproduce in form and in spirit with any degree of -literalness in English, although Professor Gayley has accomplished the -miraculous with one or two of them. - -The _dramatis personæ_ in the play are: Barbarus (a Heathen), owner of -the treasure, corresponding to the Jew in the Golden Legend version of -the story, four or six robbers, and St. Nicholas. At first the Heathen, -having assembled his treasures, approaches an image of St. Nicholas -(represented by a man standing in a shrine) and puts them in care of -the image, saying (probably in song): - - "Nicolæ, quidquid possideo, - hoc in meo misi teloneo; - te custodem rebus adhibeo; - serva quæ sunt ibi: - meis, precor, attende precibus; - vide, nullus sit locus furibus! - Pretiosis aurum cum vestibus - ego trado tibi." - -The thought of which may be rendered freely: - - Nicholas, all that I possess, I have put in this chest. I leave - it to you in charge; keep what is here. I pray you, listen to my - request. See to it that no thief gets in. I am putting in your - charge gold and precious raiment. - -In a second like stanza Barbarus expresses the security that he feels -now that his valuables are in the charge of the image of St. Nicholas -and at the same time warns the image that there will be trouble if -anything happens to his property. - -When Barbarus has gone, tramps, noticing the house open and without -guardian, carry off everything. When Barbarus returns, he finds his -treasure gone and expresses his feelings in song. His song consists of -three Latin stanzas, each with a French refrain probably joined in by -the other members of the boy choir. It begins: - - "Gravis sors et dura! - Hic reliqui plura, - sed sub mala cura; - Des! quel domage! - qui pert la sue chose, purque n'enrage?" - -The rime scheme of which may be reproduced something like this: - - Hard luck and sad! - I left all I had, - But the care was bad. - Gad, what a shame! - If I am mad, I'm not to blame. - -Two stanzas with the same refrain follow. Then Barbarus turns to the -image and lays on it the blame in two additional stanzas with the -threatening French refrain: - - "Ha! Nicholax, - se ne me rent ma chose, tu ol comparras." - - (If you don't give me back my things, I'll make you pay for it.) - -Barbarus then takes up a whip and vents his feelings in two additional -stanzas of the same sort, the form and spirit of which Professor Gayley -has admirably caught in English[72]: - - By God, I swear to you - Unless you "cough up" true, - You thief, I'll beat you blue, - I will, no fear! - So hand me back my stuff that I put here! - -The amount of whipping and other stage "business" to accompany this -recitative might safely be trusted to choir boy impromptu. The Latin -text of the play at this point gives the following simple directions: -"Then St. Nicholas shall go to the thieves and say to them:" - -In four Latin stanzas he tells the thieves that he has been whipped -because he cannot restore the things left in his charge, and threatens: - - "Quod si non feceritis - suspensi eras eritis - crucis in patibulo; - vestra namque turpia, - vestra latrocinia, - nuntiabo populo." - - (If you don't do this, you will be hanged to-morrow on a gibbet, - for your misdeeds and thievery, I will proclaim abroad.) - -The threats have the desired effect on the thieves, who in fear return -the goods, with no accompanying words provided by the playwright. - -When Barbarus finds his treasures again, in a series of three -macaronic stanzas, Latin and French, he expresses his joy and surprise, -ending with praise for the guardian: - - "Quam bona custodia - jo en ai; - qua redduntur omnia! - De si grant mervegle en ai." - - (What a good watch I have had! it returns everything. I am quite - surprised.) - -The alternating lines in French form a refrain in which, as in the -other songs, the other choir boys have a chance to join. - -Then Barbarus approaches the image and in three like stanzas, Latin and -French, expresses his gratitude. - -At this point St. Nicholas in person makes his appearance. He disclaims -any credit to himself, and bids Barbarus praise God alone, through Whom -his things have been restored. - -Barbarus in reply renounces heathen faith and praises God, the maker of -heaven and earth and sea, Who has forgiven his sin. - -The printed text of the little play is simple enough, but the easy -swing of the series of Latin songs and the French refrains offering -opportunity for choral participation, the beating of the image, and -the impromptu comedy "business" which choir boys might be counted on -to supply, would provide as much entertainment at a church festival -to-day as they doubtless did in the St. Nicholas' eve celebration of -the twelfth century. - -In a single manuscript there are preserved four St. Nicholas plays -of a century later. The stories presented in these plays are the -four mentioned above. The play of the abducted son of Getro may here -represent the series. - -This Latin play,[73] almost entirely in rimed couplets, is more serious -in tone and in general a more elaborate production than the little -play by Hilarius. It was staged in characteristic medieval fashion, -with simultaneous set; that is to say, there were a number of prepared -stations, side by side, all visible, and the action shifted from one -station to another. A rubric in the manuscript indicates the stage -arrangement. - - In order to represent how St. Nicholas freed the son of Getro from - the hands of Marmorinus, King of the Agarenes, King Marmorinus - shall appear, surrounded by armed servitors and seated on a - high seat as if in his own kingdom. In another place, shall be - represented Excoranda, the city of Getro, and in it Getro, with his - consolers, his wife Euphrosina and their son Adeodatus. East of the - city of Excoranda shall be the church of St. Nicholas in which the - boy is taken captive. - -The action shifts from one of these stations to the other, all the -stations and all the characters, however, being constantly visible. - -In the opening scene the servitors approach King Marmorinus, and, -"either all together, or the first one speaking for all," say: - - Hail prince, hail greatest king. Do not delay to declare thy will - to thy servants; we are ready to do what thou dost wish. - -These words apparently are sung, since they are in rimed verse and -since song alone would be appropriate for speech in unison. The king -replies: - - Go then, do not delay, and subject to my rule whatever people you - can; kill any that resist. - -With this the action shifts to another station. - -"In the meantime Getro and Euphrosina with a band of schoolboys," the -stage directions tell us, "shall go to the church of St. Nicholas, -to celebrate his festival, and shall bring with them their son; and -when they shall see the armed servitors of the king coming there, they -shall flee to their own city, in their fright forgetting the boy. But -the servitors of the king shall seize the boy and bring him into the -presence of the king, and either the second of them or all in unison -shall say," apparently in song: - - We have done, O king, what thou didst order; we have subjected many - people to thee and of the things acquired, we are bringing to thee - this boy. - -Then the third one, or all in unison, shall say: - - The boy is fair of face, of active mind, and noble race; it is - fitting, in our opinion, that he enter thy service. - -The king: - - Praise be to Apollo who rules all, and thanks to you who have made - so many countries subject and tributary. - -And then, addressing the boy: - - Good boy, tell us, what is thy land, what thy race; what is the - faith of the people of thy country; are they gentile or Christian? - -The boy: - - My father, Getro by name, is prince of the people of Excoranda; - he worships God, who rules the seas, who made us and thee and all - things. - -The king: - - My god, Apollo, is the god that made me. He is true and good. He - rules the land, he reigns in the air; him alone we ought to believe - in. - -The boy: - - Thy god is false and evil; he is stupid, blind, deaf, and mute. - Thou shouldst not worship such a god, who cannot rule even himself. - -The king: - - Say not such things; do not offend my god; for if thou dost make - him angry, thou canst not in any way escape. - -In the meantime, the directions tell us, Euphrosina shall discover that -her son has been forgotten and shall return to the church. And when she -shall not find the boy, she shall sing the following _Miserere_: - - "Heu! heu! heu mihi miseræ! - Quid nunc agam? Quid quæm dicere? - Quo peccato merui perdere - natum meum, et ultra vivere? - - Cur me pater infelix genuit? - Cur me mater infelix abluit? - Cur me nutrix lactare debuit? - Mortem mihi quare non præbuit?" - -The consolers shall come to her and say: - - In what way does this grieving aid? Cease to weep, and pray for thy - son to the highest Father, and he will give him aid. - -Euphrosina, not heeding the words of consolation, shall continue: - - Dear son, most beloved child; child, the great part of my soul; now - thou art to us the cause of sadness who wert the cause of joy. - -Comforters: - - Do not despair of the grace of God. He whose great mercy gave thee - this boy, will return to thee either him or another. - -Euphrosina: - - My soul is disturbed within me. Why should death delay? When I am - not able to see thee, my son, I prefer to die rather than to live. - -Comforters: - - Struggle, grief, and despair injure thee and do not profit thy - son; instead, from thy wealth give to schoolboys and to the poor. - Ask the kindness of Nicholas that he may pray for the mercy of the - Father on high for thy son, that thy prayer may not fail. - -Euphrosina (praying to St. Nicholas): - - Nicholas, most holy father, Nicholas most dear to God, if thou - wishest that I should worship thee longer, cause my son to return. - Thou that didst save many in the sea, and three men from the bonds - of death, listen to the prayer of me, a suppliant, and assure - me that it will be granted. I will not eat of flesh longer, nor - partake of wine, nor enjoy anything more until my son shall return. - -Getro: - - Dear sister, cease to mourn: thy tears avail thee nothing. But - seek the propitiation of the Father on high for our son. To-morrow - is the festival of St. Nicholas whom all Christianity ought to - worship, to venerate, to bless. Hear, then, my counsel. Let us go - to his festival. Let us praise his greatness and seek his support. - Perhaps it is an inspiration of God that admonishes me on account - of our son. With the grace of God we must pray for the great - kindness of Nicholas. - -Then they shall get up and go to the church of St. Nicholas. And when -they have entered, Euphrosina shall stretch her hands out toward heaven -and say: - - Highest Father, king of all kings, sole king, and sole hope of - mortals, make to be returned to us our son, the solace of our life. - Hear the prayers of us suppliant. Thou that didst send thy Son - into the world to make us citizens of Heaven, to save us from the - bars of hell. Father God, thou whose power dost supply everything - good, do not cast off me a sinner, but let me see again my son. - Nicholas, whom we call a saint, if all is true that we believe - concerning thee, let thy prayers go forth to God for us and our son. - -"After these words," the directions tell us, "she shall leave the -church and go home and there prepare a table with bread and wine for -the entertainment of schoolboys and the poor. When these have been -invited and have begun to eat, Marmorinus (at the other end of the -stage) shall say to his servitors": - - My beloved, I want to tell you that I have never in my life felt - such hunger as I have to-day. I can't stand it. Make ready what I - ought to eat and save my life. Why delay? Go quickly, prepare at - once something for me to eat. - -The servitors then shall go and bear food to the king and shall say: - - We have prepared the food as thou didst command and here it is. Now - if thou dost wish, thou mayst grow fat in extinguishing thy hunger. - -Then water is brought, and the king washes his hands and begins to eat -and says: - - I was hungry, now I am thirsty. Bring me wine, and no delay about - it, my servant, son of Getro. - -The boy, hearing this, shall sigh deeply, saying to himself: - - Alas! Alas, poor me! I should like to die, for as long as I live, I - shall never be free. - -The king, addressing the boy: - - Why dost thou sigh so? What ails thee? What dost thou want? - -The boy: - - I was thinking of my misery, of my father and my native land. I - began to sigh, and said to myself, "It is a year to-day since I - entered this country, and was made a miserable slave, subject to - royal power." - -The king: - - Poor wretch, why dost thou think about it? What good does thy - grieving do? None can take thee from me as long as I do not care to - lose thee. - -"In the meantime," the directions tell us, "some one in the likeness of -Nicholas shall take up the boy holding in his hand the cup with fresh -wine, and shall place him before his father's city and, as if not -seen, shall depart. Then one of the citizens shall say to the boy": - - Boy, who art thou, and where goest thou? Who gave thee the cup with - the fresh wine? - -The boy: - - I am here and am not going farther. I am the only son of Getro. - Glory and praise to Nicholas whose grace brought me back here. - -Then that citizen shall run to Getro and say: - - Be glad, Getro. Weep no more. Outside stands thy son. Praise be to - Nicholas whose grace restored him. - -"When Euphrosina hears this message, she shall run, and after kissing -and embracing her son many times, shall say": - - To our God be glory and praise. Whose great mercy, turning our - grief to joy, has released our son. To our father Nicholas be - enduring praise and thanks, whose prayer to God aided us in this - affair. - -The play ends with the choral singing of the Latin hymn to St. -Nicholas, beginning with the words "_Copiosæ Caritatis_." - - * * * * * - -As already remarked, these Latin plays of St. Nicholas are the -earliest plays handling subjects outside the scriptural narrative, -also one of the St. Nicholas stories is the subject of one of the -group of plays by the earliest medieval dramatist known by name. In -another way the name of St. Nicholas is associated with the beginnings -of the modern drama, in that one of the St. Nicholas stories provides -the theme for one of the earliest of plays in a vernacular tongue and -produced under secular control. The play in question is the famous -one by Jean Bodel produced at Arras in the very first years of the -thirteenth century. The time of production was probably the eve of St. -Nicholas' day, and the producing actors were the members of a secular -fraternity of which St. Nicholas was the patron saint, possibly, Gaston -Paris[74] suggests, the famous minstrel brotherhood at Arras that had -for its palladium the famous candle, said to have set itself on the -viol of one of the brotherhood while he played before the altar. - -The story told in this play is one already well known as a subject -for dramatic rendering in Latin, one of three handled by Hilarius, -the story of the image of St. Nicholas and the robbers. But in this -vernacular play St. Nicholas himself is overshadowed by the new -elements that have been joined to the story. The Jew, or pagan, of -earlier versions of the story, here appears as a Saracen king at war -with the Christians. The thieves are tavern revelers who steal in order -to pay their tavern score. - -In condensed summary, following largely the summary by Creizenach,[75] -the story runs as follows: - -After a prolog in which the content of the story is related, the -messenger Auberon appears and announces to the king that the Christians -have invaded his land. The king is enraged at his idol Tervagant -that this has been possible in spite of the fact that the image has -recently been richly gilded. Auberon is sent forth to summon the -emirs with their armies. There follows a scene between the Christians -and Saracens, which is imbued with all the ardor and spirit of the -crusading times. The Christians show divinely inspired bravery and -are visited by an angel which encourages them in the fight. They are -defeated in battle, but the angel announces that they have won a place -in Paradise. The Saracens find on the battlefield only one Christian -alive, and he is kneeling before an image of St. Nicholas. The man with -his image is brought before the Saracen king, who in ridicule asks what -the ugly old chap is good for. The Christian announces that the image -is excellent as a protector of treasure. The king determines to test -the image and causes his herald Connart to proclaim that the treasure -will be left open, guarded only by the image of St. Nicholas. The -Christian prisoner is given over to the hangman Durand to die if his -patron saint does not live up to his reputation. - -The scene shifts to a tavern. The innkeeper has his man servant -announce that he has a fine wine for the epicure, a wine which he -describes in most eloquent fashion. The rogues assemble, and in a -drawn-out scene manifest their appreciation of the good wine, but at -the end are unable to pay their score. They determine to steal the -unguarded royal treasure, and the innkeeper agrees to receive the -stolen goods. They enter the treasure chamber, and with great labor, -which affords much comedy, get away with the heavy chest. - -The theft is discovered, and the Christian prisoner is ordered to be -hanged, but gets a suspended sentence of one day, and cheered by an -angel, awaits the intervention of the saint. - -The thieves, in the meantime, have brought the treasure to the tavern -and continue their revelry until they fall asleep. Hardly has sleep -overtaken them, when the saint appears and in gruff language demands -the return of the treasure, with the gallows as the alternative. -The thieves, panic-stricken, carry the treasure back. One of them -proposes that each take a handful of gold pieces, but they are too much -terrified, and in the end the ringleader must leave his mantle with the -innkeeper in settlement. - -The king, delighted at the protection afforded, takes the Christian -into high favor, naturally to the disappointment of the hangman. He -also decides to abjure his old faith, and his emirs feel it their -feudal duty to follow his example, with the exception of one, who, -however, is compelled to kneel before the saint's image. In the midst -of all this the image of Tervagant utters a frightful shriek, but -is, by command of the king, cast out of the "Synagogue" in shame and -disgrace while the Christian starts a _Te Deum_, in which the actors, -and, perhaps, the spectators, join. - -In this play it will be observed that the old story is made to serve -a new purpose. St. Nicholas is made an exponent of the virtue of -Christianity as opposed to the Saracen faith. The story is developed -with much supporting detail. The struggle between Christian and Saracen -is represented with true crusading zeal, in the spirit which pervaded -the contemporary romances of Charlemagne and his paladins. On the -other hand, balancing with these scenes, noble in tone, were the low -comedy scenes provided by the tavern revelers, drinking, casting dice, -quarreling, and speaking a slang often unintelligible to the modern -reader, in general affording remarkable genre pictures of French life -in the early thirteenth century. - -In his two-sided development of the dramatic values in this story, -the author established a method which one might have expected to be -followed by his contemporaries, a method actually followed, a little -later, in the development of the native English drama. In reality, -however, the play occupies a solitary position in its own day and age. -To the author must be given the credit of original creation, of being -ahead of his time. But this credit the author must share with the story -of his play, for has not the name of St. Nicholas through all the -centuries, down to our own time, been constantly associated, not only -with the idea of noble beneficence, but with a peculiar quality of good -nature and fun? - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -ST. NICHOLAS AS PATRON SAINT - - -Anyone brought up in a Protestant country, in the Protestant faith, -will not find it easy to form an adequate conception of the nature of -saint worship. Such a person, however, if he should visit certain of -the less progressive provinces of Catholic Christendom, would find -surviving in much of its pristine vigor, with much of its original -_naïveté_, the saint worship once universal in the Christian world. In -Sicily, for instance, he would find each city with its patron saint -revered and honored very much as in the earlier days. If he should -happen to be in Catania on one of the two days in the year devoted to -the honor of Catania's patron saint Agatha, he would see the image -of St. Agatha surrounded by native offerings of extravagant value, -in a resplendent car drawn by white-robed men, and he would hear -enthusiastic shouts of "Viva Sant' Agatha!" whenever a new candle for -the car was offered by one of the votaries of the saint. In Palermo -he would find like honor paid on her festival day to St. Rosalia, -the patron saint of Palermo; in Syracuse he would find St. Lucy; in -Taormina, St. Pancras, similarly honored. These Sicilian celebrations -of saints' days, featured as they are by the presence of such modern, -ultra-secular inventions as fireworks, nevertheless retain not only -much of the form but to some extent the spirit of earlier celebrations. - -[Illustration: Triumphal Car of St. Lucy used in the Annual Procession -in Honor of the Saint at Syracuse in Sicily.] - -Nor is the Sicilian worship of saints entirely one-sided. On the one -hand honors are paid, but on the other hand benefits are supposed to -be received. An idea of the nature of the protection afforded by the -saints and of the intimate relation existing between saint and votary -may be gained by a visit to the church of San Nicola at Girgenti. There -one will find the picture of the saint surrounded by representations, -in silver, or more often in wax or carved and painted wood, of swollen -limb, cancerous breast, goitered throat, injured eye, carbuncle, and -the like, healed through the intervention of the saint. Even more -specific, more living, record of protection received is afforded by the -votive offerings on one wall of the church in the form of naïve little -paintings illustrating the aid afforded by St. Nicholas, one "showing -a spirited donkey running away with a painted cart, the terrified -occupant frantically making signals of distress to S. Nicola in heaven -who is preparing promptly to check the raging ass, others showing S. -Nicola drawing a petitioner from the sea, or turning a mafia dagger -aside, or finding a lost child in the mountains."[76] - -In Catholic Brittany, too, one will find similar forms of saint -worship. One will find the so-called "Pardons," or pilgrimages on -different days of the year to different ones of the famous shrines of -Brittany, occasions celebrated with festal processions accompanying -the image or the relics of the saint honored. In the Breton churches -also one will find the same form of testimony, as in Sicily, to the -protection offered by the various saints. In the church of St. Sauveur -at Dinan, in the chapel of St. Roch, one will find a representation of -the saint over the altar and on the wall a framed _voeu_, to the effect -that St. Roch confers many benefits, especially in case of pestilence, -that he saved the city from pestilence in 16--, and that the _voeu_ is -for the sake of preserving the memory of his goodness to the city. On -the wall also are framed litanies to St. Roch and individual votive -offerings with dates, many in the form of hearts, others framed -inscriptions with "_Merci Bon St. Roch_," accompanied by the date of -the benefit received. Over the door of a house in Brittany also one -often finds the image of the patron saint of the occupant. - -In Brittany down to our own time honor continues to be paid to a -great number of saints not known elsewhere, never canonized by the -Roman church and probably in their origin having little of Christian -character, more than likely Christian representatives of earlier, -local, pagan divinities. The functions of these local Breton saints -are specialized to an extent hardly found elsewhere at the present -time. Ailments are subject to the cure of particular saints. The -specialization is hardly equalled even by that in the modern practice -of medicine. Saint Mamert is invoked in case of pains of the stomach, -Saint Méen for insanity, Saint Hubert for dog bites, Saint Livertin for -headache, Saint Houarniaule for fear, Saint Radegonde for toothache. - -There is a certain beauty in the intimate relations existing between -simple people and their divine representative, but the naïve character -of the practice, in a striking manner, brings to one's realization -the superstitious mode of thought prevalent in medieval times. The -Reformation, in the sixteenth century, did much to dispel these older, -superstitious forms of religious thought. As already remarked, among -Protestants the old reverence of the saints is hardly understood. In -the modern Catholic church, too, the extravagant features of saintly -legend and of saint worship have been largely eliminated, only vestiges -surviving in those provinces little affected by modern progress. - -[Illustration: Images of Breton Saints, Preserved at -Moncontour-de-Bretagne.] - -Evidence of similar specialization in earlier forms of saint worship, -and of Protestant ridicule of it, is to be found in Barnabe Googe's -sixteenth-century translations from Naogeorgus[77]: - - To every saint they also doe his office here assine, - And fourtene doe they count of whom thou mayst have ayde divine; - - * * * * * - - Saint Barbara lookes that none without the body of Christ doe dye, - Saint Cathern favours learned men, and gives them wisdome hye; - - * * * * * - - Saint Appolin the rotten teeth doth helpe, when sore they ake; - Otilla from the bleared eyes the cause and griefe doth take; - - * * * * * - - Saint Gertrude riddes the house of mise, and killeth all the rattes; - The like doth bishop Huldrich with his earth, two passing cattes; - Saint Gregerie lookes to little boys, to teach their a, b, c, - And makes them for to love their bookes and schollers good to be; - Saint Nicolas keepes the mariners from daunger and diseas - That beaten are with boystrous waves and tost in dreadfull seas. - -Not only were the saints invoked for protection against particular -ills, but the guilds, or craft fraternities, had each its patron saint. -Cities and nations also had each its particular saintly guardian, and -individuals, by assuming the names of particular saints, aimed to -establish a protective relationship. Variations in these relationships -existed, but some ones widely recognized were that between St. Agatha -and nurses, St. Catherine and St. Gregory and studious persons, St. -Cecilia and musicians, Saints Cosmas and Damian and physicians, St. -Luke and painters, St. Sebastian and archers, St. Valentine and lovers, -St. Ives and lawyers, Saints Andrew and Joseph and carpenters, St. -George and clothiers, and so on. Of countries Scotland comes under -the care of St. Andrew, England under that of St. George, Ireland -under that of St. Patrick, Wales under that of St. David. St. Anthony -belongs especially to Italy, St. Denis to France, St. Thomas to Spain, -St. Mary to Holland, St. Sebastian to Portugal. Of cities Venice is -under the protection of St. Mark, Florence of St. John, Paris of St. -Genevieve, Vienna of St. Stephen, Cologne of the Holy Magi.[78] - -As compared with some of the other saints in affording protection St. -Nicholas is less the specialist and more the general practitioner. -He certainly has his share of duties assigned him. With St. Mary and -St. Andrew he shares the guardianship of Russia, with Olaf that of -Norway,[79] with St. Julian of Rimini, that of the whole eastern coast -of Italy. Of cities he is the patron saint: in the North, of Moscow and -Aberdeen, in the South, of Bari and Corfu, in intermediate countries, -of Amiens, Civray (Poitou), Ancona, Fribourg (Switzerland), and several -places in Lorraine.[80] - -The guardianship of St. Nicholas over schoolboys and unwedded maids -has already been discussed. Mention has also been made of St. Nicholas -as patron saint of various crafts in the towns of the Netherlands. To -the list of occupations protected, may be added those of butchers, -fishermen, pilgrims, brewers, chandlers, and coopers,[81] with all -of which St. Nicholas is more or less closely associated as patron -saint. It remains to consider in more detail the part played by St. -Nicholas as the protector of mariners and the less prominent, but not -the less interesting, relationship between St. Nicholas and thieves. - -[Illustration: Beato Angelico. St. Nicholas Saves the City in Time of -Famine. - -Anderson] - -Throughout the Christian world, everywhere, the devotion of sailors to -St. Nicholas is much in evidence. In Greece, where St. Nicholas is one -of the most popularly honored saints, at the present day, according -to a recent authority,[82] "everyone connected with seafaring appeals -to him for protection and relief. All ships and boats carry his ikon -with an ever-burning lamp, and in his chapels, models of boats, coils -of cables, anchors, and such things, are given as votive offerings. -Pirates even used to give him half their booty in gratitude for favors -received. On account of this worship, St. Nicholas has been said to -have supplanted Poseidon, for the cults lie along the same lines. -During a recent strike at the Piræus the seamen swore by St. Nicholas -not to yield, and they would not break their vow although they wished -to compromise. The Archbishop had to come specially to release them -from their oath." - -In Russia, as in Greece, an ikon of St. Nicholas is carried in every -merchantman.[83] In other countries there is plentiful record of -similar association of St. Nicholas with the protection of the sea. In -the Island of Minorca, in the eighteenth century, near the entrance -to the harbor, stood a chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas, to which, -according to an old account, "the sailors resort that have suffered -shipwreck, to return thanks for their preservation, and to hang up -votive pictures (representing the dangers they have escaped), in -gratitude to the saint for the protection he vouchsafed them, and in -accomplishment of the vows they made in the height of the storm."[84] - -In Teutonic countries St. Nicholas played a similar part. In Germany it -was formerly customary for sailors escaped from shipwreck to dedicate -a piece of old sail to St. Nicholas.[85] In every Hanseatic city there -was a church to St. Nicholas, and in Hanseatic cities favorite personal -names were Nicolaus, Claas, Nickelo, and other popular derivatives from -St. Nicholas. There were also churches dedicated to St. Nicholas in -places threatened by injury from water, for instance at Quedlingburg. -In Switzerland, too, St. Nicholas is the patron of travelers by water. -Sailors on the Lake of Lucerne are said to make vows and votive -offerings to him, and by Swiss waters formerly there were everywhere to -be found St. Nicholas chapels.[86] - -The association of St. Nicholas with the sea is found in one of the -best known of the incidents in his legend, although, in this case, -even more than the case of the other incidents of his life story, there -is room for question whether he is to be regarded as the protector of -seamen because of the incident in his story, or the incident in the -story originated as an explanation of the veneration paid St. Nicholas -by seamen. - -The incident in question is thus recorded in the Golden Legend: - - It is read in a chronicle that the blessed Nicholas was at the - Council of Nice; and on a day as a ship with mariners were in - perishing on the sea, they prayed and required devoutly Nicholas, - servant of God, saying: If those things that we have heard of thee - be true, prove them now. And anon a man appeared in his likeness - and said: Lo! see ye me not? ye called me, and then he began to - help them in their exploit of the sea, and anon the tempest ceased. - And when they were come to his church, they knew him without any - man to show him to them, and yet they had never seen him. And then - they thanked God and him of their deliverance. And he bade them to - attribute it to the mercy of God, and to their belief, and nothing - to his merits. - -It is worthy of note that the mariners of this story, when in distress, -already know of the reputation of St. Nicholas for efficacy in such -situations, which seems to indicate that in this case story grew from -belief rather than belief from story. - -The story of the rescue at sea accomplished by the intervention of the -saint forms a favorite subject for Italian painters, particularly those -of the earlier period. The picture by L. Monaco represents the scene in -a manner delightfully primitive. - -The aid afforded by St. Nicholas to mariners in distress also forms the -subject of a story sung in a popular Servian carol,[87] in which there -is much in evidence the peculiar charm of the folk-tale. The story goes -that all the saints, festively assembled, were drinking wine. When the -cup, out of which each drank in turn, was passed to St. Nicholas, he -was too sleepy to hold it, and let it drop. St. Elias shook him by the -arm and aroused him. "Oh! I beg the pardon of the company," said the -sleepy saint, "but I have been very busy and I was absent from your -festival. The sea was rough, and I had to give my help to three hundred -ships that were in danger." - -[Illustration: L. Monaco. St. Nicholas Rescues the Seamen. - -Brogi] - -It is not easy to associate St. Nicholas with the thought of severity. -One can hardly conceive of him as a stern judge. Was he open to the -charge of being what is popularly called "easy"? Certain it is that -his beneficence had a wide scope. The universality of his guardianship -can hardly be better illustrated than by the fact that he not only -afforded protection from robbers and shielded the unjustly condemned, -but at the same time shared with St. Dismas the questionable honor of -being the protector of pirates and thieves. - -This protective relationship, in Elizabethan times, formed the subject -of a stock jest. Robbers and thieves were facetiously called "St. -Nicholas' clerks." - -"Sirrah," says Gadshill, "if they meet not with St. Nicholas' clerks, -I'll give thee this neck." - -"No," rejoins the Chamberlain, "I'll none of it; I pr'ythee keep that -for the hangman; for I know thou worshipp'st Saint Nicholas as truly as -a man of falsehood may."[88] - -How did St. Nicholas get into such evil associations? It will be -remembered that the seamen protected by him included pirates, and -that Greek pirates are said to have shared their booty with him. -Have these evil associations corrupted his good manners, and has he -thus been brought into association with thieves and robbers? Perhaps -so. But other explanations have been offered. His name has become -associated with that of the "Old Nick" in a way that remains to be -explained. Perhaps in this way he has come to acquire the function of -the "Old Nick," as the protector of evil. A more plausible explanation -accounts for his association with thieves by the popularly known story, -which formed the subject of one of the St. Nicholas plays, that of -the thieves who had stolen goods left under the guardianship of St. -Nicholas' image and who were compelled by the saint to restore the -goods and thus brought "to the way of trouth." - -Whatever the cause, the association was one well established. St. -Nicholas' clerks were well known in Elizabethan times,[89] and are -frequently referred to in literature. There were also lively popular -stories on the subject, one of which forms the subject of a stanza in a -merry St. Nicholas carol.[90] - - "Another he dede sekyrly, - He saved a thief that was ful sly, - That stal a swyn out of his sty, - His lyf than savyd he." - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -PAGAN HERITAGE OF ST. NICHOLAS - - -It is well known that when paganism was superseded by Christianity, the -older religion was by no means obliterated. In Greece the pagan temples -often were converted into Christian churches. At Athens, the Parthenon, -a temple of the Virgin Pallas, became a church of the Virgin Mary; the -temple of Theseus became a church devoted to a Christian hero, also -a dragon-slayer, St. George of Cappadocia. In the structure of new -churches, material from the older temples was freely used. In many of -the churches of Rome may be seen beautiful classical columns taken -from the earlier pagan structures. A fine instance of the mingling of -elements, old and new, in Christian architecture, is to be seen at -Syracuse in Sicily, where the older classical temple of Minerva has -been transformed into a renaissance cathedral. The columns of the Doric -temple are built into the wall of the church but are too thick to be -concealed. On the outside they may be seen, at times a protruding Doric -capital, at times a whole Doric column; within the church, they form -a line of magnificent weathered columns bordering the outer side of -each aisle. In this church, to the Christian and pagan combination, -is superadded a third element, in the form of rounded Saracenic -battlements. - -The hybrid nature of this Christian architecture in the countries -pervaded by classical civilization finds a striking parallel in the -Christian practices and Christian beliefs of these countries. In these, -too, there is evident a mingling of elements new and old, Christian -and pagan, with here and there a tinge taken on from later forms of -non-Christian religion, corresponding to the Saracenic element in the -architecture of the cathedral at Syracuse. Just as the graceful classic -columns survive as beautiful features in the Christian churches, -so, many fair products of the poetic imagination belonging to the -earlier faith have found a place in the Christian religion. This is -particularly true in the case of the saints, who continue to exert over -the forces of nature the same control in the interests of man that the -minor gods and demi-gods had done before. - -In modern Greece there is to be found ample illustration of Christian -appropriation of the old. When gods have not been directly transformed -into saints, at least many of their attributes have been taken over. -In the island of Naxos, St. Dionysios is widely worshiped, and like -the god of similar name, is connected in popular story with the origin -of the wine. There is a story of the journey of the saint from Mt. -Olympos to Naxos, in which there is assuredly more of the pagan than -of the saintly quality. "He [St. Dionysios] noticed an herb by the way -and planted it in the bone of a bird, then in the bone of a lion, and -lastly in the bone of an ass. At Naxos he made the first wine with -its fruit. The intoxication which followed the drinking of this wine -had three stages: first, he sang like a bird; then, felt strong as a -lion; and lastly, became foolish as an ass."[91] In a similar way, St. -Demetrios, as the popular patron of Greek husbandmen and shepherds, -and the protector of agriculture in general, assumes the functions of -the Earth-Mother, Demeter,[92] and St. Artemidos, as patron of weakly -children, has taken over some of the attributes of Artemis, to whom -belonged protecting powers over children, animals, and vegetation.[93] -Still better known is the case of St. Elias, who has acquired many -of the attributes of the sun-god, Helios. "It would be difficult to -find any spot in Greece from which one could not descry on a prominent -hilltop a little white chapel dedicated to him, where at least once a -year, on the 20th of July, a service is held. This hilltop saint is -believed by the peasants to be lord of sunshine, rain, and thunder."[94] - -Venus, too, finds her place in Christian worship under the name of St. -Venere. In West Albania, where the practice has been imported from the -south of Italy, "she is invoked by girls as patroness of marriage."[95] -In the territory of St. Sophia, in Calabria, her festival is celebrated -on the 27th of July, and the girls sing a song, in substance "a -prayer to St. Venere not to leave them husbandless now that all their -companions are married and gone."[96] St. Merkurios, also, has many -of the attributes of the pagan god Mercury. There is an ancient story -in which the saint plays the rôle of messenger formerly assigned to -the god. Basil, Bishop of Cæsarea, in a vision, saw the heavens open, -revealing Christ enthroned. "Then Christ called, 'Merkurios, go and -slay Julian the King, the persecutor of the Christians.' And St. -Merkurios stood before Him wearing a gleaming iron breastplate, and -on hearing the command, he disappeared. Then he reappeared and stood -before the Lord and cried, 'Julian the King has been slain as Thou -didst command, O Lord.'"[97] - -In many other cases, where the direct pagan inheritance is not so -easily traced, saints in modern Greece accomplish functions precisely -similar to those accomplished in ancient times by minor deities. St. -George is regarded as the protector of the crops, probably on account -of the etymology of his name (_Ge_="earth," _ergein_="work"). For a -similar reason, apparently, St. Maura is invoked in case of ulcers or -smallpox. Other saints with similar functions are St. Madertos invoked -in case of pestilence among beasts, St. Blasios in case of sore throat, -and St. John in cases of fever. - -People accustomed to seek divine aid in this way, in case of trouble, -are not easily to be deprived of their recourse. If they are forbidden -to worship their pagan divinities, then substitutes must be found. -Thus seamen deprived of Poseidon as source of aid, had recourse to St. -Phokas and later turned to St. Nicholas, possibly, as has been pointed -out, due to the story, in the legend of St. Nicholas, of aid rendered -by him to the ship in distress. The connection once established, St. -Nicholas came more and more to occupy the place formerly held by -Poseidon. Hence probably the position held by St. Nicholas in popular -belief, especially in eastern Christendom, as the guardian of sailors. - -There is one modern Greek story of St. Nicholas as patron saint of -seamen which deserves to be told because it shows the occasional -survival, in the popular worship of saints, of pagan elements which -the Christian Church could not countenance. The story, as told by an -old Greek man, is to this effect: "At the time of the Revolution a -number of Greek ships assembled off Kamári. There was great excitement -and trepidation. So they thought things over and decided to send a -man to St. Nicholas to ask him that their ships might prosper in the -war. They accordingly seized a man and took him to the large hall at -Kamári. There they cut off his head and his hands, and carried him -down the steps into the hall." This was a pagan rite obviously not to -be tolerated by the Christian God, for the story goes, "thereupon God -appeared with a bright torch in his hand, and the bearers of the body -dropped it, and all present fled in terror."[98] - -It is evident that St. Nicholas inherited some of the attributes of -Poseidon, or Neptune. But that does not sum up the extent of his pagan -heritage. Probably earlier than the association of St. Nicholas with -Poseidon is that with Demeter, or Diana, whose cult was particularly -in vogue in Lycia, the scene of the principal events in the story of -St. Nicholas. - -In the Eastern Church there were two celebrations in honor of St. -Nicholas, not only the one on the 6th of December, but one on the 9th -of May. The May celebration, which is still kept up by Italians, even -in America, is usually said to be in honor of the removal of the relics -of St. Nicholas to Bari, but not unlikely is the continuation of the -Rosalia, a local pagan spring festival at Myra, the Lycian home of -St. Nicholas. Not only in Lycia, but elsewhere, the St. Nicholas cult -supplanted the earlier worship of Artemis. In Ætolia "at the village of -Kephalovryso, there is a little ruined temple of St. Nicholas which, -according to an inscription built into the church, stands on the site -of a temple of Artemis. Another instance of the same transference -occurs at Aulis, where a little Byzantine church of St. Nicholas has -replaced the Artemisium."[99] - -Following the substitution of the Christian worship of St. Nicholas for -the pagan worship of Artemis, there were two natural consequences. In -the first place the pagan deity, formerly revered, came to be regarded -as an evil spirit. In the second place this evil spirit was supposed to -be particularly hostile to the Christian saint that had replaced her -in popular worship. This hostility is reflected in the well-known story -of the devil's plot against the church of St. Nicholas. The Golden -Legend version of the story is as follows: - - And in this country the people served idols and worshiped the false - image of the cursed Diana. And to the time of this holy man, many - of them had some customs of the paynims, for to sacrifice to Diana - under a sacred tree; but this good man made them of all the country - to cease then these customs, and commanded to cut off the tree. - Then the devil was angry and wroth against him and made an oil that - burned, against nature, in water, and burned stones also. And then - he transformed him in the guise of a religious woman, and put him - in a little boat, and encountered pilgrims that sailed in the sea - towards this holy saint, and areasoned them thus, and said: I would - fain go to this holy man, but I may not, wherefore I pray you to - bear this oil into his church, and for the remembrance of me, that - ye anoint the walls of the hall; and anon he vanished away. Then - they saw anon after another ship with honest persons, among whom - there was one like to S. Nicholas, which spake to them softly: What - hath this woman said to you, and what hath she brought? And they - told to him all by order. And he said to them: This is the evil - and foul Diana; and to the end that ye know that I say truth, cast - that oil into the sea. And when they had cast it, a great fire - caught it in the sea, and they saw it long burn against nature. - Then they came to this holy man and said to him: Verily thou art he - that appeared to us in the sea and deliveredst us from the sea and - awaits of the devil. - -But the victory over the pagan deity was not a complete one. Constant -association of St. Nicholas custom with earlier worship of Artemis was -not without its influence on the popular conception of the Christian -saint. One is tempted to assume the malevolent and insidious work of -the pagan deity aiming to corrupt the character of the benevolent -bishop. In any event from Artemis as well as from Poseidon St. Nicholas -inherited attributes which serve to explain some of the elements in his -complex personality. It is to be remembered that Artemis of Ephesus was -not only a spring deity but also in part a sea and a river goddess. -Hence her epithet, "Potamia." Both associations, that with spring, and -especially that with the sea, Artemis shares with St. Nicholas.[100] -Artemis-Cybele is often represented as a sea monster with the tail of -a fish. There are traces of a similar grotesque popular conception -of St. Nicholas in the Sicilian popular legend with the hero named -Nicolo-Pesce. This conception of St. Nicholas is much in evidence in -western Europe and serves to explain the connection of St. Nicholas -with a conception widely prevalent there, of a water spirit or god. -Among Teutonic peoples, particularly, this water spirit is widely -known with various names, such as Nix, Nickel, Nickelman, Nick, Nökke. -Millers are said to be particularly afraid of this spirit and to -throw different things into the water on the sixth day of December, -St. Nicholas' day, to propitiate it.[101] In the character of Nikur, -a Protean water sprite (Edda, _Doemesaga_, 3), he inhabits the lakes -and rivers of Scandinavia, where he raises sudden storms and tempests -and leads mankind into destruction.[102] Danish peasantry, in earlier -times, conceived of the Nökke (Nikke) as a monster with human head, -dwelling both in fresh and in salt water. Where anyone was drowned, -they said, _Nökken tag ham bort_, "the Nökke took him away." The -Icelandic Neck, a kelpie or water spirit, appears in the form of a fine -horse on the seashore. If anyone is foolish enough to mount him, he -gallops off and plunges into the water with his burden.[103] - -In France there is known a similar water monster, and there, -paradoxical as it may seem, it has taken the name of the benevolent -St. Nicholas. It is a terrible monster that seizes fishermen who walk -without permission by the water side at nightfall. It has claws and -tears the faces of the children that remain too late on the beach.[104] - -The water monster under discussion was known in England. Back in the -eighth century, in the story of Beowulf, there are introduced water -monsters, apparently conceived of as like walruses or sea-lions, but -malevolent in character. These are called _niceras_. The "Old Nick," -a name familiar since the early seventeenth century, seems to have -originated in the conception of this water monster once prevalent in -the North of England. The conversion of the name of the water demon -into a name for the Devil is not an unusual phenomenon. The process is -illustrated in the history of the Greek word "demon" itself, which, at -first meaning "spirit," in no evil sense, with the hostile attitude -assumed toward earlier religious conceptions following the introduction -of Christianity, came to be used as a name for an evil spirit or devil. -The same conversion of an old name to a new use is to be seen in the -case of the "Old Nick," in the beginning the name of a water spirit, -later a name for the Devil. In this case the malevolent character of -the water spirit made the conversion one easy to comprehend. - -What, then, is the relation of this well known, usually malevolent, -water spirit to St. Nicholas? An attempt has recently been made to -show that the Eastern conception of St. Nicholas as a water spirit, -originating in the older mythical beliefs concerning Artemis, was -carried by seamen to the West of Europe and that in this way the name -St. Nicholas is the base of the different forms for the name of the -water spirit.[105] This theory can hardly be sustained, since there -is no proof of the popularity of St. Nicholas in the West so early -as the earliest reference to the water spirit, that is to say, in -the case of the _niceras_ of the English _Beowulf_, and because in -popular contraction of the name Nicholas, it is the second part of the -name, the -clas, that usually survives. A more likely explanation is -that the confusion between the water spirit, variously known as Nick, -Neck, Nicor, Nökke, Nickel, Nickelmann, and St. Nicholas, is explained -by a well-known process of popular etymology. St. Nicholas with his -attributes as controller of the waters, inherited from the mythical -Poseidon and Artemis, when in the eleventh century he became known in -the West, became confused with the more and more vaguely conceived -pagan water spirit of similar name, and in the end, in certain places, -became identified with him, thereby inheriting some of his qualities, -and influencing the form of his name. - -Over in Russia also St. Nicholas has fallen heir to similar attributes. -In this way he has come to figure in an interesting episode in recent -musical history, an episode which illustrates in a most interesting -way how the influence of St. Nicholas has penetrated to affairs of -our own time. Rimsky-Korsakoff, in his opera, _Sadko_, composed in -1896, made use of an old Novgorod folk-tale of the Volga. This story -centers about a river deity said to be something like the Old Man of -the Sea in the Arabian Nights Tales. Under Christian influence this -tale has been converted into a story of St. Nicholas, one of many told -of him in Russia, where he is one of the most popular of the saints. -Both versions of the popular story persist, the earlier, pagan form -and the one where St. Nicholas has inherited the prominent part. -Rimsky-Korsakoff, after some hesitation which of the two versions to -use, finally made choice of the later, St. Nicholas, version. But here -he came into conflict with Russian orthodox bureaucracy, which would -not permit such irreverent use to be made of the Russian patron saint -Nicholas. The composer, therefore, made a change, substituting the -names of the older version. But in his opera he had made free use of -musical themes derived from the liturgy of the St. Nicholas festival, -and this music he retained, making a humorous incongruity between the -sacred music and the pagan story. A quarrel with officialdom resulted, -which is said to have been one of the reasons why Rimsky-Korsakoff lost -his position as Director of the Conservatoire at Petrograd. - -Attempt has been made to connect St. Nicholas, through his relationship -to the Teutonic water spirit, with Odin, who in one of the Edda poems -is given the name Hnikar. This particular link between St. Nicholas and -Odin has not been successfully established. It is certain, however, -that a relationship exists. The time of the St. Nicholas festival, -December 6th, and of Christmas, where St. Nicholas has come to play -an important part, coincides in part with the season of the year when -Odin, as god of the air, made his nightly rides, or, as god of the -dead led through the air the troops of spirits of departed ones. The -coincidence in time, under Christian influence, led to the transfer -to St. Nicholas of some of the functions of Odin. The heritage of St. -Nicholas from Odin has been discussed in an earlier chapter. From Odin -St. Nicholas inherited his gray horse, which in some Germanic countries -he uses in his nightly rides, but which he traded for a reindeer before -coming to America. For this horse of St. Nicholas children in parts -of Europe leave the hay and oats once left for the horse of Odin. From -Odin, too, Santa Claus inherited certain details of his appearance, -most notably his long white beard as distinguished from the kind of -beard familiar in pictures of the bishop-saint. - -From others of the Teutonic gods St. Nicholas received legacies. In him -various scholars[106] have recognized attributes of Fro and of Niordhr, -the father of Fro. The task of purveying gifts for children, for which -St. Nicholas uses the horse of Odin, is a function sometimes attributed -to the spirits of the dead, who, with or without Odin as a leader, in -the time of the shortest days of the year are supposed to revisit their -earthly homes.[107] - -From this discussion one will see that the Christian saint Nicholas -has the same perplexing variety of aspects that make it so difficult -to form any single unified conception in the case of one of the pagan -gods. At Bari, in Italy, where his relics are preserved, on his -festival day, he receives the honors of a water god not necessarily -malevolent in character. His image is borne by sailors in procession -out to sea and at nightfall is escorted back to the cathedral with -torches, fireworks, and chanting.[108] In parts of France he has -inherited different qualities; his name is given to a water spirit, a -veritable ogre in its malevolence. In many other countries, including -our own, he has inherited the pleasant rôle of children's benefactor. -If one wishes to gain a realization of how popular heroic conceptions -are formed, one should compare the many-sided St. Nicholas known in our -own day in the various countries of Christendom with the simple figure, -as clearly as one may distinguish it, of the kindly youth that was born -at Patras in Asia Minor in the early days of Christianity. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -ST. NICHOLAS, DEFENDER OF THE FAITH - - -Throughout the present discussion of St. Nicholas the fact has been -kept constantly prominent that St. Nicholas is more famed for deeds -than for doctrine. His rôle was not in general that of the apostle -extending the boundaries of Christendom nor that of the expounder of -creed. His fame rests on his kindly acts. But it was inevitable that -the authority of so beloved and so influential a personage should be -invoked in support of orthodoxy. In the Golden Legend mere mention -is made of the presence of St. Nicholas at that meeting of critical -importance, the Council of Nice. But in the Roman Breviary it is -recorded that just before his death he was present at the Council of -Nice and there, "with those three hundred and eighteen church fathers, -condemned the Arian heresy." - -Controversy, particularly religious controversy, has its pitfalls even -for those of most gentle nature, and connected with this momentous -occasion and the part in it played by St. Nicholas, there is a -legendary story[109] which exhibits a side to his character, if less -saintly, at least, more human. The story goes that St. Nicholas at Nice -struck an Arian bishop who spoke against the faith and that, for this -too violent zeal, he was deprived of the right of wearing bishop's -robes. But, the story adds, in celebrating the mass, he saw angels -bearing him the miter and the pallium as a sign that Heaven had not -blamed his wrath. - -The orthodoxy of St. Nicholas is thus put beyond question. If he was a -foe to heresy, he was still more a foe to paganism. In the story from -the Golden Legend already quoted is recorded his activity in uprooting -the worship of Diana in Lycia and the particular hatred of the goddess, -or devil as she was conceived of, that he incurred thereby. Concerning -his zeal in this work, Wace[110] has the following additional details -to offer. "Before the time of St. Nicholas," he tells us, "devils had -power. People worshiped gods and goddesses: Phoebus, Jupiter, Mars, -Mercury, Diana, Juno, Venus, Minerva. They had painted images with -names written on the foreheads. Diana in particular was a she-devil. -St. Nicholas broke her image and delivered the people from idolatry." - -[Illustration: St. Nicholas Represented (Byzantine style) in the -Mosaics of St. Mark's in Venice. - -Naya] - -But it is particularly in the conflict between Christianity and -Mohammedanism that St. Nicholas is prominent as defender of the faith. -The time when St. Nicholas worship was introduced in the West was a -time when this conflict was at its height, the time of the Crusades. -It will be remembered how Jean Bodel in his play, written about the -year 1200, made new use of the story of the image of St. Nicholas set -as the guardian of treasure. It will be remembered that the setting -for the story provided by Bodel was in the wars of Christian against -Saracen, and that the central feature of the story in the play is the -way in which the Christian image of St. Nicholas proved his power to -be greater than that of the Mohammedan idol of Tervagant, and thus led -the Mohammedan king with his seneschal and all his emirs to adopt the -Christian faith. - -In Eastern countries the conflict between Christianity and -Mohammedanism, so much alive in Western Europe in the time of the -Crusades, continues in active form in our own time. It must be -remembered, too, that in Eastern countries St. Nicholas occupies a -place even higher than that occupied by him in the West in our time. -It is not unnatural, then, that there he should be looked to as the -defender of the Christian faith. How well he is thought to be able to -represent the Christian cause is well brought out in a naïvely humorous -Albanian folk-tale.[111] The story goes as follows: Mohammed was the -guest of St. Nicholas. When the time to eat came around, Mohammed asked -where were the servants. St. Nicholas replied that no servants were -needed, that at a word from his mouth or a stroke on the table, the -edibles would be ready. He then proceeded to demonstrate that what he -said was entirely true, causing to appear on the table everything that -one could desire to eat and drink. - -Mohammed, not to be outdone, on his return home caused his servant to -construct a table which would turn and could thus be closed into the -wall leaving no visible sign. He commanded his servant to make ready -food of every kind, and when he heard a rap, to push the laden table -through the wall. He then invited St. Nicholas to his house, intending -to exhibit powers as great as those shown by St. Nicholas. - -But St. Nicholas made all his plans go awry. He made the servant deaf, -so that there was no response to the rap of Mohammed, and St. Nicholas -himself had to get up and bring in through the wall the table laden -with food, naturally to the discomfiture of his host. - -The next day Mohammed invited St. Nicholas again, promising to work -a miracle before him. He caused a great number of jugs and cans and -dishes of various kinds to be taken to the top of a hill. At a sign -from Mohammed, these were to be rolled down the hill and a cannon -fired. When St. Nicholas arrived, he bade Mohammed work his miracle. -Mohammed raised his hand, and the expected noise followed. St. -Nicholas, however, gave no sign of fear. Mohammed then bade him work a -miracle. St. Nicholas clapped his hands, and immediately the thunder -rolled and the lightning flashed, overwhelming Mohammed with terror. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -CONCLUSION - - And when it pleased our Lord to have him depart out of this world, - he prayed our Lord that he would send him his angels, and inclining - his head, he saw the angels come to him, whereby he knew well - that he should depart, and began this holy psalm: _In te domine - speravi_, unto _in manus tuas_, and so saying: "Lord into thine - hands I commend my spirit," he rendered up his soul and died, the - year of our Lord three hundred and forty-three, with great melody - sung of the celestial company. - -This is the Golden Legend account of the end of the earthly life of -the kindly bishop-saint. His body was placed in a tomb of marble, and -in the year 1087 was discovered by Italian merchants and borne by them -to the city of Bari in Italy. There his tomb is a famous center for -pilgrimages. On his festival day, many thousands bearing staves bound -with olive and pine honor his memory.[112] It is said that when his -tomb at Myra was opened, the body was found swimming in oil, and that -to this day there continues to issue from his body a holy oil "which is -much available to the health and sicknesses of many men." - -St. Nicholas, the guardian of so many things, also keeps guard over his -own remains. Wace relates the story of a man carrying off a supposed -tooth of the holy saint. In the night St. Nicholas appeared and -admonished the thief, and in the morning the tooth was gone. - -St. Nicholas was mortal. But his deeds are immortal. His beneficent -acts have flowered in legendary story and have found fruition in -universal popular customs animated by the same spirit of kindness that -pervaded the whole life of the saint. Probably the life history of no -other person, save that of the Founder of Christianity himself, has -been so intimately woven about human custom and human life as that of -St. Nicholas. In certain parts of Siberia he is worshiped as a god. -Even in our own country, although we are supposed to have outgrown -idolatry, representations of Santa Claus about Christmas time, in shop -windows and on street corners, are objects of worship little short of -idolatry. To Santa Claus also at Christmas time are addressed the most -sincere, even if not the most unselfish, supplications. - -We may well conclude our present consideration of St. Nicholas and -his works with an invocation to him, using the words composed by the -recluse Godric, back in the twelfth century, which form one of the very -earliest of English lyrics: - - Sainte Nicholaes, godes druth, - Tymbre us faire scone hus-- - At thi burth, at thi bare-- - Sainte Nicholaes, bring us wel thare. - - - - -NOTES - - -CHAPTER I - -[1] Manchester _Guardian_. - -[2] A. Tille, _Die Geschichte der Deutschen Weihnacht_, Leipzig, 1893, -p. 30. - -[3] O. von Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Traditions et Légendes de la -Belgique_, p. 302. - -[4] Do., p. 323. - -[5] Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Das festliche Jahr der germanischen -Völker_, Leipzig, 1863, pp. 360 ff. - -[6] Do., pp. 362, 363. - -[7] P.M. Hough, _Dutch Life in Town and Country_, London and New York, -1901, pp. 116 ff. The present account of St. Nicholas customs in -Holland is based on notes from the book by Hough, but is not quoted -exactly in order of details nor in wording. - -[8] Do., p. 121. - -[9] I. von Zingerle, _Zeitschrift für Volkskunde_, ii., 329 ff. - -[10] Hough, _op. cit._, p. 117. - -[11] Do., p. 125. - -[12] Do., p. 125. - -[13] I. von Zingerle, _op. cit._, p. 343. - -[14] Hough, _op. cit._, p. 125. - -[15] Do., p. 126. - -[16] Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Das festliche Jahr_, p. 362. - -[17] Tille, _op. cit._, p. 35. - -[18] Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, i., p. 420. - -[19] Tille, _op. cit._, p. 299. - -[20] Do., p. 36. - -[21] Do., p. 33. - -[22] Do., p. 36. - -[23] Do., p. 202. - -[24] Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Das festliche Jahr_, p. 382; C. A. Miles, -_Christmas_, London, 1912, p. 231. - -[25] _St. Nicholas, Our Holidays_, New York, 1916, p. 64. - -[26] W. A. Wheeler, _Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction_, Boston, -1883. - -[27] Tille, _op. cit._, p. 119. - -[28] Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _op. cit._, p. 342. - -[29] Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, quoted by Miles, _op. cit._, p. 277, -footnote. - -[30] Hough, _op. cit._, p. 120. - - -CHAPTER II - -[31] G. de Saint Laurent, _Guide de l'Art Chrétien_, 1874, v., p. 349. - -[32] A. Butler, _Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and other Principal -Saints_, London, 1838. - -[33] New York _Times_, Oct. 24, 1915. - -[34] Mrs. Jameson, _Sacred and Legendary Art_, vol. ii. - - -CHAPTER III - -[35] _The Golden Legend_, Caxton translation, Temple Classics series, -vol. ii., pp. 109-122. - -[36] Do., pp. 119, 120. - -[37] Mrs. Jameson, _op. cit._; also H. Thode, _Franz von Assisi_, -Berlin, 1904. - -[38] C. Cahier, _Caractéristiques des saints dans l'art populaire_, -Paris, 1867, vol. i. - -[39] E. Anichkof, "St. Nicholas and Artemis," _Folk-Lore_, v., pp. 108 -ff. - -[40] Hough, _op. cit._, p. 122. - -[41] Brand, _op. cit._, i., p. 417. - - -CHAPTER IV - -[42] Tille, _op. cit._, p. 32. - -[43] Do., p. 300. - -[44] Brand, _op. cit._, i., p. 420. - -[45] R. T. Hampson, _Medii Aevi Kalendarium_, London, 1841, ii., p. 76. - -[46] T. Wright, _Songs and Carols_, Warton Club, 1856, p. 4. - -[47] Brand, _op. cit._, i., p. 421. - -[48] Brady, _Clavis Calendaria_, quoted by W. Hone, _The Every-Day -Book_, London, 1838. - -[49] New York _Times_, April 18, 1915. - -[50] Mrs. Jameson, _op. cit._ - -[51] Brand, _op. cit._, ii., p. 356. - -[52] _Encyclopedia Britannica_, article "Pawnbrokers." - -[53] _Cf._ the story of the Jew who left his property under the -protection of the image of St. Nicholas. - - -CHAPTER V - -[54] Galleria antica e moderna. - -[55] C. A. Miles, _op. cit._, p. 168. - -[56] A. F. Leach, "The Schoolboy's Feast," _Fortnightly Review_, vol. -lix., pp. 128-141. - -[57] E. K. Chambers, _The Mediæval Stage_, London, 1903, i., p. 294. -The total amount of the debt to Chambers's work it has not been -possible to indicate in these notes. - -[58] Do., p. 357. - -[59] Do., p. 348. - -[60] Brand, _op. cit._, i., p. 423. - -[61] Chambers, _op. cit._, p. 338. - -[62] Tille, _op. cit._, p. 31, quoted by Chambers. - -[63] Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Traditions et Légendes de la Belgique_, p. -348. - -[64] Leach, _op. cit._ - - -CHAPTER VI - -[65] H. Thode, _Franz von Assisi_, Berlin, 1909. - -[66] Verses 1080-1143. - -[67] Verses 208-216. - -[68] M. Hamilton, _op. cit._, pp. 47, 48. - - -CHAPTER VII - -[69] G. R. Coffman, _A New Theory concerning the Origin of the Miracle -Play_, Univ. of Chicago _diss._, 1914. - -[70] Henry Morley, _English Writers_, 1889, vol. iii., pp. 105-114. - -[71] E. Du Meril, _Les Origines Latines du Théâtre Moderne_, new -edition, Paris, 1897, pp. 272-276. - -[72] C. M. Gayley, _Plays of our Forefathers_, New York, 1907, p. 64. - -[73] Du Meril, _op. cit._, pp. 276-284. - -[74] Gaston Paris, _La littérature française au Moyen-Age_, Paris, -1890, §167. - -[75] W. Creizenach, _Geschichte des neueren Dramas_, Halle, 1893, i., -pp. 139-141. - - -CHAPTER VIII - -[76] E. Bisland and A. Hoyt, _Seekers in Sicily_. - -[77] Brand, _op. cit._, pp. 363, 364. - -[78] Do., pp. 363, 364. - -[79] H. F. Feilberg, _Jul_, Copenhagen, 1909, i., p. 105. - -[80] C. Cahier, _op. cit._ - -[81] This additional list is derived from somewhat scattered references -in works cited above by Brand and by Cahier. - -[82] M. Hamilton, _op. cit._, pp. 29, 30. - -[83] E. Anichkof, _op. cit._, pp. 108 ff. - -[84] Brand, _op. cit._, i., p. 419. - -[85] Anichkof, _op. cit._ - -[86] Zingerle, _op. cit._, p. 334. - -[87] Anichkof, _op. cit._, p. 109. - -[88] First part of _Henry IV._, Act II., scene i. - -[89] Brand, _op. cit._, i., p. 418. _Cf._ also the Oxford Dictionary -under Nicholas. - -[90] T. Wright, _op. cit._, p. 99. - - -CHAPTER IX - -[91] M. Hamilton, _op. cit._, p. 16. - -[92] Do., p. 13. - -[93] Do., p. 18. - -[94] Do., p. 20. - -[95] Do., p. 33. - -[96] Do., p. 34. - -[97] Do., p. 31. - -[98] J. C. Lawson, _Modern Greek Folk-Lore and Ancient Greek Religion_, -Cambridge, 1910, p. 135. - -[99] M. Hamilton, _op. cit._, p. 30. - -[100] E. Anichkof, _op. cit._, p. 114. - -[101] Do., pp. 115, 116. - -[102] Hampson, _op. cit._, p. 68. - -[103] Keightley, _Fairy Mythology_, i., pp. 234, 235, quoted by -Hampson, _op. cit._, p. 75. - -[104] _Revue des traditions populaires_, i., p. 7, quoted by Anichkof. - -[105] This is the main thesis of the article by Anichkof. - -[106] J. W. Wolf, Hocker, and Al Kaufmann, quoted by Zingerle, _op. -cit._, p. 331. - -[107] A. Tille, _Yule and Christmas_, London, 1899, p. 115; H. -Feilberg, _Jul_, Copenhagen, 1904, ii., p. 179. - -[108] C. A. Miles, _op. cit._, p. 221. - - -CHAPTER X - -[109] C. Cahier, _op. cit._ - -[110] Wace, _op. cit._, vv. 342 ff. - -[111] J. V. Jarnik, _Zeitschrift für Volkskunde_, ii., pp. 348, 349. - - -CHAPTER XI - -[112] Miles, _op. cit._, p. 221. - - - - - Transcriber's notes: - - The following is a list of changes made to the original. - The first line is the original line, the second the corrected one. - - Belgian children, exiled in France for more that two years, - Belgian children, exiled in France for more than two years, - - paintings there is a scene respresenting the infant Nicholas - paintings there is a scene representing the infant Nicholas - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of St. Nicholas, by George H. McKnight - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ST. NICHOLAS *** - -***** This file should be named 42969-8.txt or 42969-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/9/6/42969/ - -Produced by Karina Aleksandrova, Paul Clark and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, -set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to -copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to -protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Mcknight. @@ -117,46 +117,7 @@ table { </style> </head> <body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of St. Nicholas, by George H. McKnight - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: St. Nicholas - His Legend and His Rôle in the Christmas Celebration and - Other Popular Customs - -Author: George H. McKnight - -Release Date: June 17, 2013 [EBook #42969] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ST. NICHOLAS *** - - - - -Produced by Karina Aleksandrova, Paul Clark and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42969 ***</div> <div class="transnote"> <p>Transcriber's Note:</p> @@ -5540,386 +5501,6 @@ paintings there is a scene <span class="u">respresenting</span> the infant Nicho paintings there is a scene <span class="u">representing</span> the infant Nicholas</p> </div> - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of St. Nicholas, by George H. McKnight - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ST. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: St. Nicholas - His Legend and His Role in the Christmas Celebration and - Other Popular Customs - -Author: George H. McKnight - -Release Date: June 17, 2013 [EBook #42969] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ST. NICHOLAS *** - - - - -Produced by Karina Aleksandrova, Paul Clark and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - Transcriber's Note: - - Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as - possible. The Council of Nicaea is referred to as the Council of - Nice: this has been left unchanged. Some changes have been made. - They are listed at the end of the text. Illustrations have been - moved. - - Italic text has been marked with _underscores_. - - - - -[Illustration: G. da Fabriano. St. Nicholas with Conventional Emblems -along with Mary Magdalene, St. John, and St. George. - -Alinari] - - - - - St. Nicholas - - His Legend and His Role in the Christmas - Celebration and Other Popular - Customs - - By - George H. McKnight - - _Illustrated_ - - G. P. Putnam's Sons - New York and London - The Knickerbocker Press - 1917 - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1917 - BY - GEORGE H. MCKNIGHT - - The Knickerbocker Press, New York - - - - -PREFACE - - -A few years ago, while trying to trace the history of certain Christmas -customs, I was unavoidably brought into contact with St. Nicholas. A -closer acquaintance with that amiable personality was the result, and -acquaintance gradually deepened into veneration and affection. In the -same year in which began my closer acquaintance with St. Nicholas, -I was so fortunate as to be brought face to face with some of the -quaint pictures in which Italian painters, with so much charm, have -represented the various episodes in the life of the saint. I was led to -believe that others would enjoy the pictures, not all of them readily -accessible, and that a wider knowledge of St. Nicholas would greatly -enlarge the circle of his friends. The present book was the result. - -My aim has been, not to offer an exhaustive study of all the difficult -questions that are connected with the name of St. Nicholas, but to -bring together, from somewhat scattered sources, the elements in his -life story. The kindly acts recorded of him have lived in popular -memory and have flowered into some of the most generally cherished of -popular customs. In St. Nicholas the reader will come in contact with a -personality of unique amiability, whose influence has permeated popular -customs for many centuries and has contributed much of sweetness to -human life. - -My original contribution to the subject has been slight. In the notes I -have attempted to indicate my indebtedness to other writers, although -the amount of this debt I have not been able adequately to show. To the -artists who have represented with feeling and with charm the scenes in -the life of St. Nicholas, this book is most indebted, and for them I -wish to bespeak a major part of the reader's attention. - - G. H. McK. - - COLUMBUS, O., - _July 16, 1917_. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - PREFACE iii - - CHAPTER - - I.--ST. NICHOLAS, SANTA CLAUS, AND KRIS KRINGLE 1 - - II.--BIOGRAPHY AND LEGEND 28 - - III.--THE BOY ST. NICHOLAS AND ST. NICHOLAS THE - PATRON SAINT OF SCHOOLBOYS 37 - - IV.--ST. NICHOLAS AND THE DOWERLESS MAIDENS 53 - - V.--THE BOY BISHOP, OR NICHOLAS BISHOP 66 - - VI.--VARIED BENEFICENT ACTIVITY 79 - - VII.--ST. NICHOLAS PLAYS 89 - - VIII.--ST. NICHOLAS AS PATRON SAINT 112 - - IX.--PAGAN HERITAGE OF ST. NICHOLAS 125 - - X.--ST. NICHOLAS, DEFENDER OF THE FAITH 141 - - XI.--CONCLUSION 146 - - NOTES 149 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - ST. NICHOLAS AND OTHER SAINTS _Frontispiece_ - Gentile da Fabriano. (Florence.) - - FACING PAGE - ST. NICHOLAS IN EAST FRISIA 12 - Reproduced from Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Das festliche Jahr_. - - CHRISTKINDCHEN (KRIS KRINGLE) AND HANS TRAPP IN ALSACE 18 - Reproduced from Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld. - - ST. NICHOLAS SCENES IN THE STAINED GLASS OF BOURGES CATHEDRAL 34 - From P. Lacroix, _Science and Art in the Middle Ages_. - - THREE SCENES FROM THE EARLY LIFE OF ST. NICHOLAS 38 - Beato Angelico. (Rome.) - - THE YOUNG CLERK STRANGLED BY THE DEVIL 42 - A. Lorenzetti. (Florence.) - - ST. NICHOLAS RESTORING A BOY TO HIS FATHER 46 - Fresco at S. Croce, Florence. - - ST. NICHOLAS AND THE MURDERED SCHOOLBOYS 48 - L. di Bicci. (Metropolitan Museum, New York.) - - ANOTHER PICTURE OF THE SAME SCENE 50 - F. Pesellino. (Florence.) - - ST. NICHOLAS AND THE THREE MAIDENS 52 - A. Lorenzetti. (Florence.) - - ANOTHER PICTURE OF THE SAME SCENE 54 - Florentine School. (Louvre, Paris.) - - ANOTHER PICTURE OF THE SAME SCENE 56 - L. di Bicci (?). (Metropolitan Museum, New York.) - - MADONNA AND CHILD AND VARIOUS SAINTS 60 - L. di Bicci. (Florence.) - - ST. NICHOLAS AND THE MONEY LENDER 64 - Fresco at S. Croce, Florence. - - THE BOY NICHOLAS ELECTED BISHOP 68 - A. Lorenzetti. (Florence.) - - ST. NICHOLAS SAVING THE CITY IN TIME OF FAMINE 80 - A. Lorenzetti. (Florence.) - - NORMAN BAPTISMAL FONT AT WINCHESTER 84 - - ST. NICHOLAS SAVES THE KNIGHTS ABOUT TO BE BEHEADED 86 - F. Pesellino. (Florence.) - - TRIUMPHAL CAR OF ST. LUCY AT SYRACUSE IN SICILY 112 - - IMAGES OF BRETON SAINTS 116 - - ST. NICHOLAS SAVES THE CITY FROM FAMINE 118 - Beato Angelico. (Rome.) - - ST. NICHOLAS RESCUES SEAMEN 122 - L. Monaco. (Florence.) - - ST. NICHOLAS IN THE MOSAICS OF ST. MARK'S IN VENICE 142 - - - - -ST. NICHOLAS - - - - -CHAPTER I - -ST. NICHOLAS, SANTA CLAUS, AND KRIS KRINGLE - - -The good St. Nicholas, the bishop-saint, is strangely little known -in America. He has lent his name to a church here and there and to a -popular magazine for children, his proteges. But how many people are -familiar with the story of his life? How many even know the date of his -own special festival? There are countries in which his memory is not -thus neglected, in which the festival of St. Nicholas is one of the -important events of the year. An English newspaper of the first year of -the war has this to report concerning the Belgian custom: - - The feast of St. Nicholas, December 6th, was celebrated at the - Belgian refugee camp at Earle's Court, England, with presents for - the children, stockings hung up, a Christmas tree, and all the rest - of the children's festivities which we associate with Christmas - eve and Christmas morning. This was not a mere anticipation of - Christmas. St. Nicholas' day, and not Christmas, is the children's - festival in Holland, Belgium, and parts of Germany, and we have - borrowed the hanging up of stockings from them and turned it into a - Christmas custom.[1] - -Letters from Belgian children, exiled in France for more than two -years, offer further evidence of the intimate and friendly relationship -existing between St. Nicholas and his Belgian children. Here is a -touching passage from a letter written by a little eight-year-old -Belgian girl from Varengeville-sur-Mer, in France, to an American -"godmother"; the adult English used in translation fails to reproduce -the naive charm of the original. - - We have just had a grand visit from St. Nicholas. He came in person - to bring us some nice things as he used to do when we were home. - We were playing when, all at once, we heard singing at one side - and saw a bishop, ringing a bell. What joy, it is St. Nicholas! We - kneeled down to receive his blessing, and then sang a song and went - into the house. St. Nicholas talked to us and, best of all, he gave - us some presents. He gave us an orange, a barley sweet, a cake, and - some games. My, how happy we were! - - GERMAINE BARBEZ. - -Le 16 dec., 1916. - -Another little girl, a little older, writes from the same place of 'how -the "grand Saint Nicholas" has gone out of his way to come to see the -Belgian children on December sixth, and how he delivered admonitions -to various boys and girls but did not fail to distribute among them -dainties much appreciated by all, big and little.' - -The importance of St. Nicholas in Belgian life is evident. His festival -day too, the celebration of which is so deeply rooted as not to lose -its life in an atmosphere of exile and painful memory, has continued -to hold an important place in the year's life not only of Belgium but, -as remains to be seen, of Holland. At one time the celebration of St. -Nicholas' day seems to have been general in most of western Europe. -There is plentiful record of the earlier popularity of this celebration -in all the southern and western parts of the countries occupied by -the peoples speaking the Teutonic languages. It can be traced from -Holland and Belgium, through eastern France, the Rhine provinces, -Luxembourg, Alsace and Lorraine, through Switzerland, both French and -German, as far east as the Tyrol and Salzburg, including on the way -Baden, Wuerttemberg, and Bavaria, in Germany.[2] In northern Germany, -Protestantism, with its aversion to saint worship, was hostile to the -St. Nicholas celebration. Also the growing concentration on Christmas -day of the different winter popular celebrations, and especially -the rapid rise in importance, during the last two centuries, of the -Christmas tree, have caused the St. Nicholas customs, in many places, -to be absorbed into the Christmas celebration, in other places, to -go quite out of use. But popular customs seem to be to some extent -affected by political boundaries, and in two of the smaller countries -of western Europe, Belgium and Holland, the St. Nicholas customs still -retain much of their earlier vigor. - -In Belgium, St. Nicholas has long been among the most venerated of -saints, hardly second to St. Martin. In the whole country there are -one hundred and six churches in his honor.[3] Besides he is the patron -saint of many trades and crafts, for example, of the boatmen in cities -on the Meuse, of sawyers, dyers, turners, and haberdashers at Bruges, -of seedmen, packers, and coopers at Liege, of haberdashers and mercers -at Malines. But above all he is the protector and the corrector of -children. - -The children's festival at Christmas time does not exist in Belgium. -The _grand reveillon_, the great Christmas feast of southern -France, which leads children to call Christmas the "day when one -eats so much," the English Christmas, with its life and gayety and -open hospitality, have nothing corresponding at Christmas time in -Belgium,[4] where the celebration of Christmas is confined almost -entirely to services in the church. In place of the Christmas gayeties -of other countries, Belgium has its St. Nicholas festival. St. -Nicholas' day throughout the whole country is a day of joy, especially -for the young. Even the German Christmas tree, which has been gradually -finding its way into Belgium, is introduced not on Christmas day, but -on December 6th, the day devoted to the honor of the popular saint. - -A writer of about fifty years back thus describes the joyous -celebration of St. Nicholas' day by Belgian children of that time. -"Weeks beforehand, children full of impatience, before going to sleep -ask: 'How many times must I go to sleep before he comes?' They sing to -him as soon as it is dark, and they see him in their dreams, giving -them gifts or punishment, according as they have been good or naughty. -Occasionally they are made happy by a little gift that comes down the -chimney into a pinafore hung up to receive it, or is found accidentally -in the corner of the room. A joyful 'Thank you, Saint Nicholas' greets -each such gift. Each evening every corner of the room is searched, and -the children sing with fervor their petition, one Flemish version of -which begins: - - 'Sint Niklaes, Gods heilge man, - Doe uwen besten tabbaerd aen, - En rydt er mee naer spanje - Om appelen van Oranje - Om peeren van den boom.'" - -In one of the versions of this children's song the supplication is -addressed to "Sinte Niklaes van Tolentyn," a saint quite distinct from -Saint Nicholas of Bari, the recognized patron of children, but the -heavenly postal arrangements seem to be effectively organized, for, so -far as known, the wrong address used, in no way prevents the desired -response from their special protector and friend. - -On the eve of his festival day, St. Nicholas makes his tour, visiting -palace and cottage. Frequently in the early evening he makes a -preliminary visit in bishop's robes, with pastoral staff and miter, at -each house making inquiries concerning the conduct of the children, -giving appropriate praise or warning, and promising on the following -morning to give more substantial reward. When he is gone, the children -place receptacles for the gifts which St. Nicholas is expected to let -fall down the chimney. The receptacle varies in different places. -Sometimes shoes are neatly polished for the purpose,[5] at other times -plates or baskets or stockings or specially made shoes of porcelain -are set on the bed, in the open chimney, before the door of a room, -or merely in the corner of a room. St. Nicholas' steed, variously -conceived of as gray horse or white ass, is not forgotten. For him -the children put water and hay or carrot or potato peeling or piece -of bread, in the shoe or basket or stocking. In the morning, from the -tipped-over chairs and general disarray in the room, it is evident that -St. Nicholas has been present. Replacing the oats or hay or carrot are -found sweets and playthings for children that have been good, obedient, -and studious during the year.[6] In the case of bad children, rods are -left, and the fodder is untouched. - -A recent writer has given a highly interesting account[7] of the -similar celebration at the present day in Holland, where St. Nicholas' -day has the same importance as in Belgium. - - St. Nicholas' eve is a time of great importance to children because - at that time they receive a visit from the saint, and his arrival - is looked forward to with trembling. A large white sheet is placed - on the floor in the middle of the room, and the children stand - about anxiously watching the slow movement of the hands of the - clock. In the meantime some of the elder members of the family - dress up so as to represent St. Nicholas and his black servant. At - five minutes before the expected time, for St. Nicholas generally - announces at what time he may be expected, they sing songs asking - him to give liberally as is his wont, and praising his greatness - and goodness in eloquent terms. The first intimation of his arrival - is a shower of sweets on the sheet spread on the floor. Then, - amid the ensuing scramble, St. Nicholas appears in full bishop's - vestments, laden with presents, while in the rear comes his black - servant with an open sack in one hand, for naughty boys and girls, - and in the other a rod which he shakes vigorously from time to - time. St. Nicholas usually knows the shortcomings of individual - children, and on his departure gives each an appropriate lecture, - promising to return later. Sometimes he makes the children repeat a - verse to him or asks about their lessons. - -The mysterious events of the ensuing night closely parallel those -recorded for Belgium. St. Nicholas' robe, his "beste tabbaerd," enables -him to pass from place to place instantaneously. But in his nightly -journey over the roofs of houses, he uses a horse which the children -of Holland, like those of Belgium, remember by leaving a wisp of hay -for his use.[8] If, for some reason, on account of lack of time or of -money, the parents have neglected to buy gifts, the children say, "St. -Nicholas' horse has glass legs; he has slipped down and broken his -foot."[9] - -But the joys of St. Nicholas' eve in Holland are not confined to -children. It is a time, like the Christmas season in England, for -family reunions and the renewal of old memories, also for the giving of -presents. But the manner of the Dutch gift-giving has its distinctive -features, for: - - St. Nicholas' presents must be hidden and disguised as much as - possible and be accompanied by rhymes explaining what the gift is, - and for whom St. Nicholas intended it. Sometimes a parcel addressed - to one person will finally turn out to be for quite a different - member of the family from the one who first received it. For the - address on each wrapper in various stages of wrapping, makes it - necessary for the parcel to change hands as many times as there are - papers to undo. Tiniest things are sent in immense packing cases. - Sometimes the gifts are baked in a loaf of bread or hidden in a - turf. The longer it takes to find the present, the greater the - surprise. - - Great delight is taken in concealing the identity of the giver as - long as possible. Even if the gift comes from a member of the same - household, before the parcel is brought in, the doorbell is rung by - a servant in order to create the impression that the parcel has - come from an outsider. For the same purpose a parcel for a friend's - house is often entrusted to a passer-by. - - On the evening of the celebration, after St. Nicholas has said his - adieux, promising to come again, the children are packed away to - bed, and the older people have their special amusement. They sit - about a table in the middle of the room and partake of tea and - "speculaas," a spice cake bearing a great picture of St. Nicholas, - until their own surprises begin to arrive. When this part of the - program is over, about ten o'clock, the room is cleared; the dust - sheet laid down for the children's scramble, is removed, the - papers, boxes, baskets, and the like, used in packing the presents, - are cleared away. The table is spread with a white tablecloth, and - when all have taken seats, a dish of boiled chestnuts, steaming - hot, is brought in and eaten with butter and salt.[10] - -Belgium and Holland have their special forms of cakes and sweetmeats -for the St. Nicholas season. In Holland these are the flat hard cakes -called "Klaasjes"[11] once made exclusively in the form of a bishop -in honor of the bishop St. Nicholas, but now made in forms of every -conceivable kind of beast, bird, or fish. In certain places on the -Rhine the figure of the saint himself, the "Klasmann," is baked in -dough with currant eyes, or an especially palatable little horse is -formed of honey cake dough and the "Klas" is inlaid on the horse. -Then there is the "Letterbanket" made in the form of letters so that -one may order his name in cake, and the "Marsepein," now made in a -great variety of forms, but formerly made only in heart-shaped sweets -ornamented with little turtle doves made of pink sugar or with a -flaming heart on a little altar. The "Marsepein" was formerly used as a -device in wooing. The young man sent "Marsepein"[12] with a "Vryer" of -cake to the young lady of his heart, and if she accepted, he knew his -cause was won. - -There are also various accounts of the way the cakes are made. In -Vorarlberg if, on the morning of St. Nicholas' day, mist is seen to -rise, one tells the children that St. Nicholas is baking his cakes, -"Zelten" or "Kloesse." All the different figures found on the "Zelten" -have been made by St. Nicholas' ass stepping on them with his shoes. -Another explanation of the origin of the cakes has more direct relation -with the life story of the saint. The story is told that the three -maidens rescued from shame by St. Nicholas--whose story remains to be -told in a later chapter--at their marriage, out of gratitude, baked -triple kneaded rolls and distributed them among poor children.[13] - -Outside the homes, the time about St. Nicholas' day in Belgium and -Holland is one of unusual life and gayety. - - The old-time St. Nicholas fairs are no longer held in the streets, - at any rate, not in the large towns of Holland, but exchange of - presents is as universal as ever, and the shops are as festive - in appearance as American shops at Christmas time.[14] New - attractions for children are offered each year. Life-sized figures - of St. Nicholas are frequent in front of shop windows, and some - establishments have a man dressed like the good saint, who goes - about the streets mounted on a white steed, while behind him - follows a cart laden with presents to be delivered. Crowds of - children, singing, shouting, and clapping their hands, follow.[15] - -An older authority records concerning Belgium that often in country -districts this or that peasant makes up as a long-bearded man or bishop -and rides through the dark streets on a gray horse, or an ass, or a -wooden horse, with a great basket at his side and a bundle of whips in -his hand.[16] - -[Illustration: St. Nicholas in East Frisia. - -Reproduced from Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Das festliche Jahr_.] - -In no countries besides Belgium and Holland is the celebration of St. -Nicholas' day so widely prevalent to-day. But, as already remarked, -in earlier times the celebration of St. Nicholas' day was popular in -many parts of Teutonic Europe, particularly in Austria, Switzerland, -and southern Germany. In various parts of these countries the old St. -Nicholas customs still maintain a vigorous existence. In Wuerttemberg -and Baden, children on St. Nicholas' day receive gifts from their -godparents. In Switzerland the gifts are brought by "Samiklaus," in the -Tyrol by the "Holy Man," in lower Austria by "Niglo," in Bohemia by -"Nikolo."[17] At Ehingen on the Danube, it is the custom to keep tally -on a stick of the number of prayers the children have said. The child -that can show many tallies is favored by Santiklos. Before going to bed -children place bowls under the bed and say the prayer: - - "St. Nikolaus, leg mir ein, - Was dein guter Will mag sein, - Aepfel, Birnen, Nuss und Kern - Essen die kleinen Kinder gern. - - (St. Nicholas put in for me - What thy good will may be, - Apple, pear, and good sweetmeat, - Little children love to eat.)" - -In the morning the bowls are found filled with the good things desired. - -In various places in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, the saint, -represented by some older member of the family, appears, or used to -appear, in person, in bishop's guise with staff and miter, and makes -inquiry concerning the behavior of the children, and hears the -children say their prayers. Before his coming the children have placed -shoes in the garden behind a bush, and when after his departure they -go out, they find the shoes filled with apples, nuts, and the like, if -their conduct has been good. But in the case of ill-behaved children, -the shoes are likely to be occupied by a whip. - -In Italy a similar custom was formerly observed among people of higher -social station. In the courts of princes, on St. Nicholas' day, it was -a custom to hide presents "in the shoes and slippers of persons whom it -was desired to honor, in such manner as to surprise them when they came -to dress. The custom was called Zopata from a Spanish word signifying a -shoe."[18] - -The function of St. Nicholas, it will have been observed, is a double -one, to bring pleasing rewards to good children, but also to bring fear -to children whose conduct has been bad. A Swiss dialect dictionary -published in 1806, defines "Samiklaus" as a "gift such as parents make -to their children through a disguised person named Samiklaus (corrupted -from St. Nicholas) in order to give them pleasure and encourage them to -duty and obedience or to frighten them through the strangely frightful -make-up of the bogey man who accompanies the Samiklaus."[19] As a -means of exciting fear in the ill-behaved children, the friendly -bishop was often accompanied on his rounds by a children's bugaboo, -a frightful figure with horns, black face, fiery eyes, and long red -tongue, variously called Klaubauf, Krampus, Rumpanz, and the like.[20] - -Further evidence of the earlier wider prevalence of St. Nicholas -customs is afforded by the objections[21] of seventeenth-century -Protestant preachers, quoted in a later chapter, who opposed the -attribution to St. Nicholas of gifts which, they asserted, came from -the Christ Child alone. In objections such as these, is to be found -one of the causes of the decay of distinctively St. Nicholas customs. -Or perhaps we may better say, here is an explanation why customs that -persisted, lost their association with the name of St. Nicholas. There -is apparent Protestant objection to saint worship. There is also in -evidence the rivalry of the celebration in honor of the birth of Christ -which had received the name Christmas. The Christmas celebration was in -its origin a church affair. Up to the fourteenth century the church had -tried in vain to convert it into a popular festival. It employed all -kinds of methods to attract the traditional customs and beliefs of the -beginning of winter to the church festival. But only after the beliefs -and practices earlier attached to Martinmas, to St. Andrew's day, and -to St. Nicholas' day were brought into association with the birth of -Christ, did the Christmas festival, after the end of the fourteenth -century, become a genuinely popular occasion. - -From this time on the customs distinctive of St. Nicholas' day became -more and more absorbed into the Christmas festival.[22] At times St. -Nicholas retains his association with the old customs, but the time -is shifted from St. Nicholas' day to Christmas time. In Catholic -Nuremberg, for instance, at the end of the seventeenth century, the St. -Nicholas gift-giving and the Christmas gift-giving customs were united, -and the St. Nicholas customs made dependent on the Christmas customs. -Children believed that St. Nicholas was the attendant of the Christ -Child and was made to carry the wares basket at the Christmas market, -and that St. Nicholas received sweetmeats as extras from the dealers. -As Christmas time approached, these were put under the pillows of the -children, who believed them to be the gifts of St. Nicholas.[23] - -In all north Germany, too, on Christmas eve, there goes about a bearded -man covered with a great hide or with straw, who questions children -and rewards their good conduct. His name varies with the locality. -In many places he is called "Knecht Ruprecht," a name probably going -back to a pre-Christian time before St. Nicholas became associated -with the children's festival. In other places the man is called "De -Hele Christ," Holy Christ, who later becomes the central figure of all -Christmas activities. In many of his names, however, such as "Ru Clas," -"Joseph Clas," "Clawes,"[24] "Clas Bur," and "Bullerclas," one will -recognize the juvenile derivative from the name Nicholas. This figure -often rides on a white horse. Not infrequently his relation to the -Christmas festival proper needs to be made clear by the presence of the -Holy Christ as a companion, represented by a maiden in white garb who -hears the children say their prayers. - -Saint Nicholas in the double role of children's benefactor and -children's bugaboo found his way to America. Among the Pennsylvania -Germans, or "Pennsylvania Dutch," as they are more familiarly called, -at least in the country districts, he continues to play his old part. -"You'd better look out or Pelznickel will catch you," is the threat -held out over naughty children about Christmas time. The nickel in -Pelznickel serves to show the relationship of this personage to -St. Nicholas. Pelznickel is a Santa Claus with some variations. "On -Christmas eve someone in the neighborhood impersonates Pelznickel by -dressing up as an old man with a long white beard. Arming himself with -a switch and carrying a bag of toys over his shoulder, he goes from -house to house, where the children are expecting him. - -"He asks the parents how the little ones have behaved themselves during -the year. To each of those who have been good, he gives a present from -his bag. But woe betide the naughty ones! These are not only supposed -to get no presents, but Pelznickel catches them by the collar and -playfully taps them with his switch."[25] - -Eventually, in many places, St. Nicholas became quite excluded from the -customs with which he was long associated. In Schleswig-Holstein, for -instance, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the old customs -were preserved but entirely separated from their earlier associations -with St. Nicholas and St. Nicholas' eve, and now connected with the -story of the Christ Child and His festival, Christmas. The custom was -for each child to borrow a plate or bowl from the kitchen and place -this in an appointed room or in a window. On Christmas eve, when the -tinkle of the bell summoned the children from the dark anteroom -into the room with the festal decorations, then each child found what -the Christ Child ("Kindjes") had brought him. On the plates lay cakes, -fruits, and playthings. Perhaps a rod was laid beside the other gifts, -but it counted as the most severe punishment when the plate remained -empty. - -[Illustration: Christkindchen (Kris Kringle) and Hans Trapp in Alsace. - -Reproduced from Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Das festliche Jahr._] - -Here and there also in the country, as late as 1865, there survived the -similar custom, for the children, before going to bed, to place the -plate before the window, for in the night the Christ Child took out -a pane of glass and laid his gifts on the plate so that on Christmas -morning it was evident that the "Kindjes" had been present. Here we see -St. Nicholas quite deprived of his old prerogatives and his place taken -by the "Christ Kindjes," or as he was called in some places "Christ -kindel," from whose name, by a process of popular etymology, presumably -was derived the name Kris Kringle. - -In various parts of the United States where Dutch and German customs -prevail, Kris Kringle appears in the combined role of the Christ Child -and Santa Claus, and the vigil of his festival is called "Christ Kinkle -eve." In certain parts of Germany children sing, on Christmas eve: - - "Christkindchen komm; - Mach mich fromm; - Dass ich zu dir im Himmel komm."[26] - -In the principality of Waldeck[27] down as late as 1830 there survived -a popular Christmas mummers' play custom originating in the sixteenth -century and bringing in not only Christ and St. Nicholas but other -personages grotesque in appearance, some of them survivals from folk -celebrations antedating St. Nicholas customs. In the play appear -Christ, Mary, an Angel, Peter, and Niklawes, all clad in white, and -Hansruhbart, Brose, who bears the sack, and the shepherd Pamphilius -with the noble steed, Zink. Hansruhbart and Brose are clad in pea -straw and wear frightful masks. Pamphilius has suspended from a strap -about his neck a box full of dirt with which he threatens to smear -the children. Each person in turn is summoned to speak. As the chief -offence in the case of children is reckoned the preference of small -beer to coffee. Peter distributes the gifts, which the children receive -only after they have been forgiven. He has a basket with apples and -nuts, which he throws on a table for the children. As the children -reach out for his gifts, he strikes them on the fingers with his rod. - -Mumming pieces like this were popular all over Germany, the personages -varying with the locality. Sometimes the Holy Christ went about alone, -and before him the children presented themselves. But the most striking -of all the personages in these plays was the one at Waldeck called -Hansruhbart, elsewhere Ruprecht and Knecht Ruprecht, at his earliest -recorded appearance called Acesto, probably a traditional figure that -originated in customs that antedate Christianity. - -In all this discussion of various customs associated with the name -of St. Nicholas there will have been seen little to connect with the -life story of a saintly person. The deeds of the children's friend, -St. Nicholas, to be sure exhibit beneficence, but the beneficence of -a capricious, fairy-like benefactor rather than of a holy saint. In -fact it is evident that the customs in question, in their origin, -had little, if anything to do with St. Nicholas, and as they exist -to-day show only in certain external features any relation with the -life story of the kindly Eastern saint. This impression of the earlier -independence of the popular customs in question from the story of St. -Nicholas, is confirmed by the fact that many of them are associated -with other names. St. Martin, as well as St. Nicholas, figures as a -giver of gifts to children, especially in the Netherlands. At Antwerp -and certain other cities, according to a report from a generation ago, -on St. Martin's day, as in the St. Nicholas' day celebration already -described, a man with bishop's vestments and crosier appeared in the -nurseries and made inquiries about the behavior of the children. -According to the nature of this report he threw on the floor from his -basket, either rods, or apples, nuts, and cakes. In Ypres children are -reported to hang stockings filled with hay in the open chimneypiece on -the eve of Martinmas. The next morning the stockings are found filled -with gifts from St. Martin who in the night has ridden over the chimney -and has been grateful for the attention paid to his gray (or white) -steed.[28] There is also an old custom in Flemish Belgium in which on -the eve of Martinmas the children are placed in the corner of a room -with their backs to the door and told not to look. The parents then -throw in at the door apples, nuts, peppercakes, and other sweetmeats of -various kinds, pretending that St. Martin has done it. If one of the -children turns around, St. Martin goes away without leaving anything. - -The bugaboo feature of St. Nicholas' day also was not lacking in the -Martinmas celebration. In several places in southern Germany, on St. -Martin's day, "Pelzmaerte," with blackened face and cowbells, went about -giving beatings or throwing apples into rooms, whichever the children's -behavior called for. - -Some of the Martinmas customs had less resemblance to St. Nicholas -customs. The convivial customs of Martinmas have given St. Martin a -reputation for drunkenness entirely undeserved by that zealous defender -of Christianity, St. Martin of Tours. But the ones singled out for -mention evidently belong jointly to St. Martin and St. Nicholas, -although in their origin probably as little connected with the one as -with the other. - -The celebration of St. Andrew's day, also, has features similar to -that of St. Nicholas' day. On St. Andrew's eve (November thirtieth), -in the neighborhood of Reichenberg, children are said to hang up their -stockings at the windows and in the evening find them filled with -apples and nuts.[29] - -The explanation of the origin of these customs is to be found in -practices long antedating the time of St. Martin or St. Nicholas or -even of St. Andrew. They seem to be practices rooted in pre-Christian -agricultural rites which have been superseded, or better expressed, -have survived with new meanings read into them. With the introduction -of Christianity, following the usual course of things, the older -modes of celebration were changed not so much in form as in name. -To St. Martin were devoted customs which coincided in time with the -celebration in honor of St. Martin, customs originally associated -with the first drinking of the new wine or with the autumn slaughter, -a connection not entirely lost in our own times, as indicated by the -"Martlemas beef" in Great Britain, the "St. Martin's geese" and "St. -Martin's swine" in Germany. With the shifting of the agricultural -practices to a later date, the customs came to be associated with the -celebration of saints' days later in the calendar. With St. Nicholas, -on December sixth, became associated customs and practices earlier -associated with St. Martin, on November eleventh, or with St. Andrew on -November thirtieth, but in their true nature as little appropriate to -one as to the other. - -There have been attempts to show points of connection between the -Christian worship of St. Nicholas and the earlier worship of the -Teutonic divinities. It has been attempted to connect the children's -bugaboo variously called Hansruhbart, Ruprecht, and Knecht Ruprecht, -with Odin, largely through a connection between the name Ruprecht and -one of the variety of names given Odin.[30] There has been pointed out -also the parallelism between the "beste tabbaerd" of St. Nicholas sung -about by children, and the magic robe which enabled Odin to pass from -place to place; between the gray horse of St. Nicholas on which he rode -over the roofs of houses, and Odin's horse, Sleipnir, on which he took -an autumn ride through the world; between the sheaf of grain in pagan -days left in the field for Odin's horse and the wisp of hay left by -children in their shoes for their friend St. Nicholas. But too much -stress must not be laid on these parallelisms. The customs associated -with St. Nicholas in their origin doubtless antedate Christianity but -also antedate the worship of Odin. Possibly the pre-Christian practices -were influenced by their temporary association with the Teutonic gods -as they afterwards were by the association with the Christian saints. -But in both cases this influence was only superficial. - -A rapid resume may clear up some of the obscure places in the preceding -mass of details. In the practices associated in our time with the name -of Santa Claus we have survivals of pagan sacred custom once regarded -as important in the furtherance of human welfare. Perhaps influenced -superficially by conceptions of the Germanic gods, eventually they -came to be connected with the honor of Christian saints. They afford a -remarkable illustration of the longevity of folk customs. With meaning -lost or changed, the older forms persist. Influenced, as remains to be -shown, superficially, by the life story of the saint with whose worship -they became associated, also to some extent with the Roman festivities -of the same season, above all converted to the use of providing -pleasure, as well as just reward, for children, they have survived -to our day. But owing in part to the effort of the Church in earlier -times to convert the church ceremony in honor of the birth of Christ -into a truly popular festival, in part to the later opposition to saint -worship on the part of Protestantism, the customs once associated with -the worship of St. Nicholas are now associated with the birth of Christ. - -Santa Claus, the name derived from St. Nicholas through the familiar -use of children in Teutonic countries, crossed to America. The exact -route followed by him is somewhat open to question. On the way he -traded his gray horse or ass for a reindeer and made changes in his -appearance. It is usually said, however, that he was brought to -America by the Dutch. In America he has made himself very much at home, -and according to the explanation most generally accepted, from America -he recrossed the Atlantic to England, whence he has journeyed to the -most distant parts of the British Empire, to India and to Australia, -where he is as familiarly known as in America. In England, however, -while the custom of giving gifts to children has been made a part of -the Christmas celebration, the gratitude of the children in some places -goes to Santa Claus, but in other places goes to another creation of -the popular fancy, a personage called Father Christmas. In parts of -the German-speaking countries also, as has been shown, the honors of -Christmas day are concentrated in the person of the Christ Child, and -the benefactor of children is the Christ Child himself, the "Kindjes" -or "Christ kindel," more familiarly known in America as Kris Kringle. -In France the place of the Christ Child as the purveyor of gifts had -been in part filled by "le petit Noel," in a manner like that in which -in England Father Christmas in part shares the role of Santa Claus. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -BIOGRAPHY AND LEGEND - - -It is quite apparent that the journeys of Santa Claus by night over the -housetops, and his various chimney escapades, are beneath the dignity -of the reverend Bishop of Myra, formally canonized by the medieval -church as St. Nicholas. In appearance, too, Santa Claus is more like an -elf, or one of the other beings of Teutonic mythology, than like the -Christian bishop whom early artists were fond of representing in full -episcopal vestments, with miter, pallium, and pastoral staff. In his -manners, too, he is more like a friendly fairy than a patron saint. In -reality, as has been seen, in his origin there is more of the pagan -than of the Christian. At the same time Christian legend has had its -influence. The name Santa Claus is a popular, or juvenile, derivative -from St. Nicholas, and the mysterious visit by night which wins for -Santa Claus the hearts of children, is closely associated with a famous -incident in the life story of the Christian saint. - -What then do we know about St. Nicholas? "Of all patron saints," -says Mrs. Jameson, "he is perhaps the most universally popular and -interesting. No saint in the calendar has so many churches, chapels, -and altars dedicated to him. In England, I suppose, there is hardly a -town without one church at least bearing his name." Both in Eastern -Church and Western Church he is the object of extreme veneration, to a -degree unequalled in the case of any other saint.[31] It is established -that veneration of St. Nicholas goes back to the early centuries in the -history of the Christian faith. The Emperor Justinian built a church -in his honor at Constantinople about the year 430, and he was titular -saint of four churches at Constantinople.[32] - -Yet with all this high esteem and veneration through so many centuries, -little is known concerning the facts of his life. Historical criticism -has demolished much of the story built up around his lovable -personality. One by one the cherished tales of his beneficence have -been questioned, because lacking the required corroboration of -historical evidence. There has even been raised doubt whether he ever -existed. In any case certain knowledge is extremely dim. The authorized -story of his life set as the _lectio_ or "reading" for the second -nocturn of St. Nicholas' day (Dec. 6th) in the Roman Breviary, makes -but a slight narrative. In brief paraphrase it runs as follows: - - An only child, in infancy he manifested singular piety. His youth - was characterized by deeds of charity, among them one that saved - three maidens from a life of shame. In youth, on a sea voyage, he - saved the ship in a fearful storm. In youth also he was elected - Bishop of Myra, a miraculous sign indicating him to be the divine - choice. In later life he succored the oppressed, in particular - saving three tribunes unjustly condemned to death. At the Council - of Nice he is said to have condemned the Arian heresy, and at his - death is said to have received miraculous sign of divine approval. - His remains are preserved with the greatest veneration at Bari in - Italy. - -This sober biography, so lacking in concrete detail, is the life of the -beloved saint as sanctioned by the Roman Church of to-day. As already -remarked, most even of its meager details have been questioned by -higher criticism. In earlier times, however, when the test of reality -was not as rigorously applied as is the wont to-day, there flourished a -luxuriant growth of stories about St. Nicholas as about other saints, -the objects of popular veneration and gratitude. - -Much is to be said in favor of the earlier, more imaginative, lives -of the saints, _legends_ as they were technically called. It has been -remarked, with much truth, that all of us lead double lives, a life -of our fancy, in a world of things as they should be, or as we should -like them to be, and a life in a world of things as they really are. -And this is as it should be. We can lift the level of real existence by -thinking of things as we should like them to be. It is well not to walk -with one's eyes always fixed on the ground. The uplift to be derived -from the contemplation of things as they should be as distinguished -from things as they are, is well exemplified in the case of the -legendary stories about St. Nicholas. The fact that these largely -imaginative stories existed in the belief of people served to influence -human action, leading to imitation which eventually crystallized into -some of the noblest of popular customs. In some of the beautiful -popular customs connected with the name of St. Nicholas we have the -projection into reality of fanciful stories once held worthy of -implicit faith. - -Much deserves to be said also in favor of the creators of legendary -story. One is sometimes disposed to look on such story uncharitably -and to regard it as the product of willful intent to deceive. Such -is by no means the real explanation of the origin of legendary tales. -Such tales are usually the product of intense emotional life, when -the imagination becomes heated by prolonged contemplation of any -subject. Thus we must explain the revelations to St. Francis and the -vivid scenes from the life of Christ attributed to St. Bonaventura. A -similar condition serves to explain the popular capacity for belief in -tales of the supernatural. We sometimes think of such legendary story -as the exclusive product of an earlier, uncritical age. That we are -mistaken in this opinion and that the conditions for the production of -legendary story continue to exist in our own time, is illustrated in a -striking manner by certain highly interesting stories that owe, if not -their origin, at least their circulation, to the intensity of feeling -aroused by the war in Europe. There has found wide circulation a story -concerning certain supernatural occurrences on the battlefield of Mons. -"The story goes that at the crisis of the fighting, when the French -and English were growing disheartened by their ineffectual efforts to -overcome the enemy, certain celestial beings, in the midst of whom was -St. George, suddenly appeared between the armies and by their timely -aid brought victory to the Allies".[33] The origin of this story has -been clearly explained. Its author, Arthur Machen, in a recent volume, -gives a circumstantial account of its creation. It "was conceived and -written by me," he tells us, "in prosaic London, on the last Sunday of -August, 1914," immediately after reading of the retreat from Mons, and -this story, for which he chose the title, "The Bowmen," was published -in _The Evening News_ of September 29th the same year. This story then, -an admitted fiction, has nevertheless found life in popular belief. It -has found not only oral circulation but has been reproduced in print -with variants and corroborative testimony. In its circulation it has -reached the outermost bounds of the British Empire. How a story which -under ordinary conditions would at once be recognized as fiction, now -finds ready credence, is revealed in the following extract from a -personal letter from far-away Sydney in Cape Breton: - - Rev. Mr. ---- preached in Falmouth Street Church on Sunday night on - the Angels at Mons. I had seen in the papers that the Allies had - seen three figures in the sky in the retreat from Mons and that - although the Germans pursued them, they never could catch up with - them. But I just thought it some Roman Catholic superstition. But - Mr. ---- thought otherwise. He said reliable people on both sides - had undoubtedly seen them, and he thought the age of miracles is - not yet past and that if anyone had told him two years ago that - he would have been preaching to justify this vision he would have - thought him crazy. I really never heard a more wonderful sermon. - Rev. Mr. ---- has enlisted and goes overseas with the 85th. - -The origin of such a miraculous tale and of others of the same kind, -such as that of the "Comrade in White," and the credence given in our -own time, by critical, skeptical Protestants, enable one to understand -the origin of earlier stories of the supernatural and how in less -critical times general credence could be attached to stories to the -unsympathetic now often seeming preposterous. - -[Illustration: Scenes from the Legend of St. Nicholas in the Stained -Glass (thirteenth century) of Bourges Cathedral. - -Reproduced from Paul Lacroix, _Science and Art of the Middle Ages_.] - -The Church, too, in earlier times was not rigorous in the exclusion -of extravagant features in the life history of its heroes. On the -contrary it permitted the fancy to play freely about the objects of -its veneration, was hospitable to the wonderful, the supernatural, -element in story. By various means it aimed to keep ever alive the -memory of the saints, not excluding the livelier details contributed -by popular tradition. Legendary stories in Latin prose formed a part -of the private reading of the clergy in their canonical hours, and in -vernacular prose or verse were read before popular congregations in -church on the days devoted to the honor of the particular saint. -Sometimes they found a place in the story repertory of secular -minstrels. Artists other than literary contributed their share toward -the perpetuation of the legendary story. The separate scenes in the -lives of the popular saints were presented in stained glass windows, -particularly in France,[34] in series of pictures on canvas, in wall -paintings adorning the chapels devoted to particular saints, especially -in Italy, or in sculptured series, in low or in high relief, as -architectural ornament or decorating the sides of baptismal fonts as -in the case of the St. Nicholas scenes represented in the fonts at -Winchester cathedral and elsewhere in England and on the continent. - -In even more effective ways the stories were kept alive when the -principal scenes were reenacted in dramatic entertainments, by towns or -guilds in honor of their particular patron saints, or by schoolboys in -honor of their patron Saint Nicholas. - -In all these ways the story of St. Nicholas was kept in memory. Of -Eastern origin, St. Nicholas became the object of general veneration -in the West, especially after the transfer of his remains to Bari in -Italy in the year 1087. The especial honor paid to him doubtless finds -its explanation in the nature of his life story and the particular -needs of earlier times. In the days when the idea that God is love had -not become the central feature of Christianity, when God was regarded -rather as a judge, just but therefore severe, suffering humanity -felt the need of a more approachable divine personality. This place -of intermediary between man and divine justice was taken in part by -Our Lady, the Divine Mother, and almost countless are the _Miracles -de Notre Dame_, the tales of aid afforded by her to human beings in -distress. A similar part was played to some extent by each of the -popular saints, but above all by St. Nicholas, who was the principal -agent in many stories of this kind. - -It is my purpose, then, to take up in detail the story of St. Nicholas -as found in these earlier records, which reflect so well the devotion -felt for the most thoroughly human of all the saints. Though many -elements pass the bounds of modern credulity, they serve to express -the loving reverence felt for the saint who, second only to Our Lady -herself, was looked to as the beneficent source of aid in times of -human distress, and at the same time serve to explain some of the most -interesting of popular customs. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE BOY ST. NICHOLAS AND ST. NICHOLAS THE PATRON SAINT OF SCHOOLBOYS - - -The legendary story of St. Nicholas has certain features that -distinguish it from the legendary stories of other saints. The story of -St. Nicholas is not a narrative of a single dramatic achievement, like -that in the life of St. George, nor of a glorious martyrdom, like that -of a St. Sebastian or a St. Cecilia. Nor is the name of St. Nicholas -associated with the diffusion of the Christian faith like that of St. -Augustine, St. Boniface, or St. Patrick, nor with the exposition of -Christian doctrine, like that of St. Jerome or St. Bernard. More like, -it is yet different from, that story of perfect exemplification of -the Christian life, the life story of St. Francis. The story of St. -Nicholas consists almost entirely of a series of beneficent deeds, of -aid afforded humanity in distress, accomplished either by St. Nicholas -during his lifetime or through his intervention after death. As a -benefactor he ranks almost with Divinity in his aid rendered, and even -lacks the severity of the justice that attends Divine awards. - -The conception of St. Nicholas, then, is almost that of beneficence -incarnate. The minor traits of his personality, however, the nature of -his parentage, the time details in his life history, the exact manner -of his death, are left in comparative obscurity. The very vagueness of -the information concerning him serves in great measure to explain the -remarkable variety of the roles he has assumed in the world's history. -Only the nebulous ideas that have prevailed concerning him have made -it possible that in Scandinavia his name should be connected with that -of a hostile water demon, known in English as the "Old Nick," while -in certain parts of Siberia he receives divine honor and is worshiped -as the "Russian god Nicolo." A similar reason explains how he comes -to be regarded as patron saint of classes of people as dissimilar -as schoolboys, parish clerks, unwedded maids, seamen, pirates, and -thieves, how it is possible to associate him with the whimsical -children's friend Santa Claus. - -[Illustration: Beato Angelico. Three Scenes from the Early Life of St. -Nicholas. - -Anderson] - -The story of the boyhood of St. Nicholas, reverent in tone and not -a little tinged with the supernatural, is of the kind that one -might well look for in the legendary account of one whose memory is -entirely associated with kindness and generosity. St. Nicholas was -born, the Golden Legend[35] tells us, 'in the city of Patras in Asia -Minor, of rich and holy kin. His father was Epiphanes, and his mother -Johane. He was begotten in the first flower of their age, and from -that time forthon they lived in continence and led an heavenly life.' -From the first the boy Nicholas manifested signs of extreme piety, -observing fasting periods even in earliest infancy. The story runs: -"Then, the first day that he was washed and bained, he addressed -himself right up in the bason, and he would not take the breast nor -the pap but once on Wednesday and once on Friday, and in his young -age he eschewed the plays and japes of other young children. He used -and haunted gladly holy church; and all that he might understand of -holy scripture, he executed it in deed and work after his power." Thus -he is represented in the narrative of the Golden Legend. Thus too he -is represented in the series of scenes painted by Beato Angelico and -preserved in the Vatican gallery. In these interesting paintings there -is a scene representing the infant Nicholas at the time of his birth -standing up in the basin, and a second scene where he is represented -in a flower-covered ground in front of a church, devoutly standing in -front of a group of worshipers listening to the words of a bishop who -preaches from above in an outside pulpit. Chaucer's Prioress, speaking -of the saintly boy murdered by the Jews, remarks: - - "But ay, when I remembre on this matere, - Seint Nicholas stant ever in my presence, - For he so yong to Christ did reverence." - -It is not hard to see why he should have been chosen as patron saint -of children, unless, indeed, the story of his pious childhood itself -originates from the fact that he was the patron saint of children. In -the words of the English _Liber Festivalis_, "his parents called him -Nycolas, that is a mannes name, but he kepeth the name of a child, for -he chose to kepe vertue, meknes, and simplenes, and without malice.... -And therefore, children don him worship before all other saints." - -But it is to be feared that the exemplary boyhood of St. Nicholas -would hardly in itself have sufficed to give him so firm a hold on the -affections of children. Children of our day, or shall we say of the day -that has just passed, in the stories provided them, not infrequently -read of boys almost equally exemplary, without being unduly moved to -love, reverence, or emulation. A more sure road to the affections of -children is through benefits received or at least stories of benefits -rendered. Children love and honor St. Nicholas because they conceive of -the spirit of St. Nicholas as a guardian angel, not only looking after -their safety and well-being, but bringing them substantial rewards, and -many of the stories told of him, led children to feel toward him the -warmest gratitude and at the same time to look to him as a semi-divine -protector in time of trouble. - -St. Nicholas was particularly the patron saint of schoolboys, and one -of the best known of the stories of protection afforded by him is thus -told in the Golden Legend:[36] - - A man, for the love of his son, that went to school for to learn, - hallowed, every year, the feast of S. Nicholas much solemnly. On - a time it happed that the father had to make ready the dinner, - and called many clerks [schoolboys] to this dinner. And the devil - came to the gate in the habit of a pilgrim for to demand alms; - and the father anon commanded his son that he should give alms - to the pilgrim. He followed him as he went for to give him alms, - and when he came to the quarfox the devil caught the child and - strangled him. And when the father heard this he sorrowed much - strongly and wept, and bare the body into his chamber, and began - to cry for sorrow, and say: Bright sweet son, how is it with thee? - S. Nicholas, is this the guerdon that ye have done to me because - I have so long served you? And as he said these words, and other - semblable, the child opened his eyes, and awoke like as he had been - asleep, and arose up before all, and was raised from death to life. - -The clerks assembled at the dinner in honor of St. Nicholas, the devil -in pilgrim guise seeking alms at the door, and later strangling the -boy who has followed him outside, and the boy on the bed being brought -to life through influence of his protector saint, all with entire -disregard to unity of time, are represented in one of the animated -scenes of the painting by Lorenzetti in Florence, in which in quaintly -primitive fashion is anticipated the method of the modern motion -picture. - -[Illustration: A. Lorenzetti. The Young Clerk Strangled by the Devil at -the Feast on St. Nicholas' Eve and Brought to Life by the Saint. - -Alinari] - -Another story with St. Nicholas in his favorite role is thus told in -the Golden Legend: - - There was another rich man that by the merits of S. Nicholas had - a son and called him: _Deus dedit_, "God gave." And this rich man - did do make a chapel of S. Nicholas in his dwelling place; and did - do hallow every year the feast of S. Nicholas. And this manor was - set by the land of the Agarians. This child was taken prisoner, - and deputed to serve the king. The year following, and the day that - the father held devoutly the feast of S. Nicholas, the child held a - precious cup tofore the king, and remembered his prise, the sorrow - of his friends, and the joy that was made that day in the house of - his father, and began to sigh sore high. And the king demanded him - what ailed him and the cause of his sighing; and he told him every - word wholly. And when the king knew it, he said to him; Whatsomever - thy Nicholas do or do not, thou shalt abide here with us. And - suddenly there blew a much strong wind, that made all the house - to tremble, and the child was ravished with the cup, and was set - tofore the gate where his father held the solemnity of S. Nicholas, - in such wise that they all demeaned great joy. - -A variant version of this story is included in the Golden Legend. It -runs as follows: - - And some say that this child was of Normandy, and went oversea, and - was taken by the sowdan, which made him oft to be beaten before - him. And as he was beaten on a S. Nicholas day, and was set in - prison, he prayed to S. Nicholas as well for the beating that he - suffered, as for the great joy that he was wont to have on that day - of S. Nicholas. And when he had long prayed and sighed, he fell - asleep, and when he awoke he found himself in the chapel of his - father, whereas much joy was made for him. - -Wace, the twelfth-century author of a life of St. Nicholas in French -verse, supplies the introductory part of this story only briefly -alluded to in the Golden Legend version. He tells of the rich merchant -of Alexandria named Getro, and his wife, Eufrosine, who have longed in -vain for children. Getro hears of St. Nicholas and goes to the city -where St. Nicholas lives, to seek his aid. But he finds the saint -dead and on his bier. He asks for some of the saint's clothes. These -he bears as holy relics to Alexandria and erects a church for them. -The next December, on St. Nicholas' day, a son is born and receives -the name Deudone. This son is carried off by robbers and sold to the -emperor, whom he serves as cup-bearer. On St. Nicholas' day the boy -weeps but is cruelly beaten for it. At the same time his father in -Alexandria is praying to St. Nicholas, and on rising from prayer, finds -his son, safely restored, standing before him. After that, naturally, -there is no neglect to worship St. Nicholas on his festival day. - -This story seems to be closely connected with the development of St. -Nicholas worship in western Europe following the removal of his relics -to Bari, Italy. General veneration of the saint, long popular in the -East, seems to increase in the West after that event. The particular -incident just recorded is followed in Wace by these words: - - Devant ceo ne trovons pas - qui si servist saint Nicholas, - -which may be translated, "Before this we do not find worshipers of -Saint Nicholas," and seem to indicate that the composition of Wace was -connected in some way with a newly instituted church festival. - -The story was one kept particularly in memory since, as remains to be -seen, it formed the subject of a schoolboy play enacted by the boys on -St. Nicholas' eve. It also forms the subject of two of the scenes in -fresco, possibly by Giottino, possibly by Giotto himself, as a young -man, in the church of St. Francis at Assisi. The first scene in these -frescoes represents a boy prisoner of a Saracen king in the act of -raising a cup to his lord seated at table, when St. Nicholas, hovering -above, grasps him by the hair to bear him away. The second scene -represents St. Nicholas, bringing back the boy, with the cup still in -his hands, and restoring him to the astonished father and mother seated -at table. The scene is an animated one. The father with both arms -embraces his son, and the mother stretches out her arms. A youth in -the group, with clasped hands looks to heaven, and a monk, astonished, -lifts his arms. Not least of all, a little dog betrays his recognition -of the restored boy.[37] - -Another story of this kind is thus told in the Golden Legend: - - Another nobleman prayed to S. Nicholas that he would, by his - merits, get of our Lord that he might have a son, and promised - that he would bring his son to the church, and would offer him - a cup of gold. Then the son was born and came to age, and the - father commanded to make a cup, and the cup pleased him much, and - he retained it for himself, and did do make another of the same - value. And they went sailing in a ship toward the church of S. - Nicholas, and when the child would have filled the cup, he fell - into the water with the cup and anon was lost, and came no more up. - Yet nevertheless the father performed his avow, in weeping much - tenderly for his son; and when he came to the altar of S. Nicholas - he offered the second cup, and when he had offered it, it fell - down, like as one had cast it under the altar. And he took it up - and set it again upon the altar, and then yet was it cast further - than tofore, and yet he took it up and remised it the third time - upon the altar; and it was thrown again further than tofore. Of - which thing all they that were there marvelled, and men came for - to see this thing. And anon, the child that had fallen in the sea, - came again prestly before them all, and brought in his hands the - first cup, and recounted to the people that, anon as he was fallen - in the sea, the blessed S. Nicholas came and kept him that he had - none harm. And thus the father was glad and offered to S. Nicholas - both the two cups. - -This story is represented in one of the frescoed scenes in the -Chapel of the Sacrament at Santa Croce in Florence and in the -Franciscan Church at Assisi. It also forms one of the scenes carved on -the Winchester baptismal font. - -[Illustration: Fresco at S. Croce, Attributed to G. Starnina. St. -Nicholas Restores to his Father the Son with the Cup lost at Sea. - -Brogi] - -Still another story in which St. Nicholas appears as the guardian angel -of schoolboys, is the one dealing with the resuscitation of the three -schoolboys murdered on their journey home. The story, which appears in -a number of variant forms, relates how three boys, on their journey -home from school, take lodging at an inn, or as some versions have it, -farmhouse. In the night the treacherous host and hostess murder the -boys, cut up their three bodies, and throw the pieces into casks used -for salting meat. In the morning St. Nicholas appears and calls the -guilty ones to task. They deny guilt, but are convicted when the saint -causes the boys, sound of body and limb, to arise from the casks. This -story, of repellent detail, is "not known among the Greeks, who are so -devoted to St. Nicholas."[38] It is also not included in the Golden -Legend nor in the Roman _Breviary_. It seems to have been one of the -elements added to the legend after the development of St. Nicholas -worship in the West. Its earliest record is said to be that in the -French life of St. Nicholas by Wace. With the incident in the story, -Wace connects the great honor paid to St. Nicholas by schoolboys. -"Because," says Wace, "he did such honor to schoolboys, they celebrate -this day [Dec. 6] by reading and singing and reciting the miracles of -St. Nicholas." - -Different attempts have been made to explain the origin of this, at -first, repellent story. One critic finds the explanation of the story -in the conventional methods of medieval art. He explains it as growing -out of a misinterpretation of an illustration representing one of -the incidents in the earlier story of St. Nicholas, the well-known -story of the succor lent by St. Nicholas to the three officers -condemned to death by Constantine. The three captives, after the -manner of the Middle Ages, were supposedly represented in a tower, -and in order to make the scene more visible, only the upper part of -the tower was represented. Then, too, in order to bring about the -desired subordination of human to divine, the medieval artist would -reduce the size of tower and prisoners in relation to the intervening -saint, so that the tower would become, in appearance, a cask, and -the three officers, little boys. From this pictorial representation -misunderstood, if we adopt this theory, arose the story of the three -boys brought to life from the packing cask.[38] - -[Illustration: L. di Bicci (?). St. Nicholas and the Murdered -Schoolboys. - -Metropolitan Museum of Art] - -Another explanation of the story is to be found in the association, -to be discussed later, between St. Nicholas and the northern water -demon known as "Nix" or "Old Nick." According to belief prevalent in -northern lands, the souls of drowned people are kept by Nix in pots. -When one remembers that souls were generally represented in the form -of children, one may see the close analogy between the pots of the -water demon and the tubs from which St. Nicholas resuscitated the -schoolboys.[39] - -Mrs. Jameson has still another explanation to offer. To use her own -words: "The story is sometimes treated as a religious allegory, -referring to the conversion of sinners or unbelievers. In some pictures -the host is represented as a demon with hoofs and claws." - -The explanations just offered, afford interesting illustration of the -ingenuity of the folk-lorist but seem superfluous. The tale could -hardly be improved on for the use it serves, to excite the gratitude of -young schoolboys. The details, repellent perhaps to the modern adult, -trained in the school of modern naturalism, are, if one stops to think, -features characteristic of the world's classic folk-tales for children. -The ogre-like ferocity of the host and hostess where the boys lodged, -is quite in keeping with the tone of little Red Riding Hood or of -Bluebeard. - -In any event we may infer popularity of this tale from its wide -prevalence. The central scene of the famous story is represented among -the sculptured scenes of the church of St. Nicholas at Bari, and among -the frescoed scenes at Santa Croce. It is pictured on the pages of the -Salisbury missal and forms the subject of several canvas paintings by -early artists. Up to within recent times a picture of St. Nicholas -standing by a tub from which were emerging three boys, was to be -seen painted on the side of a prominent house in Amsterdam, with the -inscription "Sinterklaes."[40] It was one of the stories dramatically -presented by medieval schoolboys on St. Nicholas' eve. Down to our own -day it has continued to be the subject of a song used in the popular -dances of the Faroee Islands. The youths rising from the cask became -a constant symbol used in representing St. Nicholas. In the churches -of Brittany, and doubtless elsewhere in France and Belgium, among the -images of saints occupying places on the pillars within the church, -or standing as sentinels on each side of the recessed portals, St. -Nicholas is frequently to be met with, always to be recognized by his -conventional pedestal formed by the tub from which are issuing the -three saved boys. - -[Illustration: F. Pesellino. St. Nicholas and the Murdered Schoolboys. - -Alinari] - -A charming version of the story appears in a French folk-song, -effectively rendered by Yvette Guilbert appropriately garbed in the -robes of the kindly bishop. Anatole France, too, has brought to bear -on this story, his gift of paradox in a highly diverting version -containing a sequel in which the innocent St. Nicholas suffers every -conceivable form of injury from the three rescued boys, who prove to be -incarnations of three varied forms of human depravity. - -St. Nicholas, the youth of exemplary piety, we may hope inspired -proper emulation on the part of schoolboys. St. Nicholas, the generous -protector, and friend, we may be sure was an object of schoolboy -gratitude and love. The memory of his kindly deeds was kept alive -not only in recited story, but in carved stone and painted wall. The -boys themselves sang about them in beloved songs and enacted them -in spirited plays. But the beneficence of the kindly saint was not -confined to the past. The gifts mysteriously bestowed on the saint's -festival eve have kept alive the feelings of gratitude, and through -the centuries boys have continued to look to St. Nicholas for aid and -protection. "St. Nicholas be thy speed," facetiously remarks Launce, -to Speed who is about to give an exhibition of his ability to read. -Even in his athletics the English schoolboy has continued to invoke -the assistance of his patron saint. According to Brand,[41] if a boy -is pursued and about to be caught, the cry of _Nic'las_ entitles him -to a suspension of the play for a moment. Or if he is not ready, or is -obliged to stop, to fasten his shoe or make other readjustment, the -same magic word affords him protection. One is reluctant to associate -St. Nicholas with the methods, not always above question, sometimes -used by the athlete in order to gain time or wind, but this continued -use of the name of Nicholas in sports bears eloquent testimony to the -place their saint has occupied in the hearts of schoolboys. - -[Illustration: A. Lorenzetti. St. Nicholas Providing the Dower for the -Three Maidens. - -Alinari] - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -ST. NICHOLAS AND THE DOWERLESS MAIDENS - - -Reference has already been made to the fact that after the introduction -of Christianity the name of St. Nicholas came to be associated with -a number of customs antedating Christianity and that to some extent, -mainly superficially, the earlier customs were influenced by the new -association. Thus the gift giving of apples and pears and nuts and of -rods to children, characteristic of the pre-Christian autumn festivals, -was brought into association with St. Nicholas, probably largely -because the pre-Christian festival coincided in time with the time of -the St. Nicholas celebration, December sixth. With the transfer of this -old custom to the Christmas celebration, the custom of giving gifts -to children coalesced with another, an adult custom of gift giving, -derived from the Roman _strenae_, a feature of the Roman celebration of -the Kalends of January, and surviving distinctly in Latin countries, -notably in the _etrennes_ of the French New Year's Day. With both of -these customs coalescing in the general gift giving of Christmas, in -America at least, is still associated the name of Santa Claus, or St. -Nicholas. - -Aside from the coincidence in time between the St. Nicholas festival -and the pagan children's festival, there was also a point of contact -in one of the best-known of the stories in the life of St. Nicholas, -which, associated with the earlier custom at first in a superficial -way, in time affected its character. The story in question is the -famous one of the young man St. Nicholas and his gifts to the dowerless -maidens. This story in the condensed, not too lively, version in the -Golden Legend, runs as follows: - - And when his father and mother were departed out of this life, he - [the young man Nicholas] began to think how he might distribute - his riches, and not to the praising of the world but to the honor - and glory of God. And it was so that one, his neighbour, had - then three daughters, virgins, and he was a nobleman: but for - the poverty of them together, they were constrained, and in very - purpose to abandon them to the sin of lechery, so that by the gain - and winning of their infamy they might be sustained. And when - the holy man Nicholas knew hereof he had great horror of this - villainy, and threw by night secretly into the house of the man a - mass of gold wrapped in a cloth. And when the man arose in the - morning, he found this mass of gold, and rendered to God therefor - great thankings, and therwith he married his oldest daughter. And - a little while after this holy hermit of God threw in another mass - of gold, which the man found and thanked God, and purposed to wake - for to know him that had aided him in his poverty. And after a few - days Nicholas doubled the mass of the gold, and cast it into the - house of this man. He awoke by the sound of the gold and followed - Nicholas, which fled from him, and he said to him: "Sir, flee not - away so but that I may see and know thee." Then he ran after him - more hastily and knew that it was Nicholas; and anon he kneeled - down, and would have kissed his feet, but the holy man would not, - but required him not to tell nor discover this thing as long as he - lived. - -[Illustration: Florentine School (Fifteenth Century). St. Nicholas and -the Three Maidens.] - -This is the story which in general has linked the name of St. Nicholas -particularly with the virtue of generosity. For instance, in Dante's -_Purgatorio_ the shade of Hugh Capet introduces the name of Nicholas in -this connection. - - Esso parlava ancor della largezza - che fece Niccolao alle pulcelle, - per condurre ad onor lor giovenezza. - - "It spoke further of the generosity of Nicholas toward the maidens - in order to conduct their youth to honor." - - Canto xx., vo. 31-33. - -Among schoolboys the story was particularly well known. It formed the -subject of one of the plays performed by them on St. Nicholas' eve. It, -also, more frequently than any other incident in his life story, forms -the subject of pictures by Byzantine and early Italian painters. The -pictures representing the dejected father and the daughters preparing -for bed, one of the daughters sometimes dutifully pulling off her -father's boots, and the youth St. Nicholas on the outside of the house -furtively casting through an open window his gifts of gold, inevitably -bring to mind the later methods of gift bestowing employed by Santa -Claus. That the connection was felt in earlier times is made clear from -earlier references to the custom, especially in the form of Protestant -objection. For instance, a preacher of Lauban in 1608, referring to -St. Nicholas' gifts to the maidens, remarks: "Hence comes the custom -that some parents lay something on the bed for children and say St. -Nicholas has given it, which is an evil custom since by it the children -are directed to St. Nicholas when we know that not St. Nicholas but the -holy Christ Child gives us everything good for body or for soul."[42] -Another Protestant preacher of the same period makes similar objection, -saying: "One had better tell the children that the dear Christ Child -sent such gifts; if they shall be good, better ones will follow on -Christmas day." The surreptitious manner of conveying the gifts to the -children must have been an old practice as may be inferred from the -incident recorded of the young man of the sixteenth century who, in -attempting to imitate St. Nicholas, fell through an opening left for -grain and nearly lost his life.[43] - -[Illustration: L. di Bicci (?). St. Nicholas and the Three Maidens. - -Metropolitan Museum of Art] - -That the association of St. Nicholas with gift giving was known in -England in the sixteenth century, is shown by the following lines -from Barnabe Googe's _Popish Kingdom_, a translation from the _Regnum -Antichristi_ by Naogeorgus: - - "Saint Nicholas money used to give to maidens secretly. - Who that be still may use his wonted liberality; - The mothers all their children on the eve do cause to fast, - And when they every one at night in senseless sleep are cast, - Both apples, nuts, and pears they bring, and other things beside, - As caps, and shoes and petticoats, with other things they hide, - And in the morning found, they say, 'Saint Nicholas this - brought.'"[44] - -Down to within recent times in the church of S. Nicola in Carcere at -Rome, the generosity of St. Nicholas was annually commemorated, by the -giving of gifts to poor children in the sacristy after the memorial -Mass on St. Nicholas' day. This custom at Rome seems to have been -discontinued, but the memory of it, and the attending hopes for gifts, -are not extinct, as the present writer had opportunity to observe when -attending services in honor of St. Nicholas at this church on St. -Nicholas' day, in 1914. After the Mass a throng of expectant parents -and children followed the officiating priest into the sacristy and -were permitted to kiss the ring on the hand of the officiating priest, -but in their hope for the customary presents, met with keenly felt -disappointment. - -But although in modern times deprived somewhat of the gratitude once -felt for him as a giver of gifts, St. Nicholas for centuries has been -honored on account of another phase of his kindly art, the procuring -of husbands for marriageable girls. Reference has already been made to -the fact that in the Netherlands the special cakes of the St. Nicholas -festival are said to perpetuate a custom originated by the three -daughters in the story, who on their marriage day are said to have -baked such cakes and distributed them among poor children as a sign of -gratitude. - -Honor paid to St. Nicholas by unwedded maids goes back a great many -centuries. Among Normans of the twelfth century he was regarded as the -peculiar saint of spinsters, who invoked him in order to procure speedy -marriage.[45] - -The same idea is in evidence in English popular carols, in which St. -Nicholas is praised particularly as a provider of husbands. One song of -seven stanzas recites the story of how St. Nicholas saved the maidens, -and ends with the stanza: - - "Seynt Nicholas, at the townys ende, - Consoylid the maydens hom to wynde, - And throw Godes grace he xulde hem synde - Husbondes thre, good and kind." - -The refrain is: - - "Alle maydenis for Godes Grace, - Worchepe ye seynt Nicolas."[46] - -One of the most important of marriages in English history is associated -with this St. Nicholas custom. In one of Bishop Fisher's sermons it is -recorded of Margaret, Countess of Richmond, mother of Henry VII., "that -she prayed to St. Nicholas, the patron and helper of all true maydens, -when nine years old, about the choice of a husband; and that the saint -appeared to her in a vision and announced the Earl of Richmond."[47] - -From another ancient authority we have similar testimony,[48] as -follows: - - St. Nicholas was likewise venerated as the protector of virgins; - there are, or were until lately, numerous fantastical customs - observed in Italy and various parts of France, in reference to that - peculiar tutelary personage. In several convents it was customary, - on the eve of St. Nicholas for the boarders (_sic_) to place each - a silk stocking at the door of the apartment of the abbess with - a piece of paper enclosed, recommending themselves to "great - St. Nicholas of her chamber," and the next day they were called - together to witness the saint's attention, who never failed to fill - the stockings with sweetmeats and other trifles of that kind, with - which these credulous virgins made a general feast. - -If the kindly saint, in this case, was not in position to provide -husbands, he at least provided agreeable consolation. - -The conception of St. Nicholas as the protector of maidens and the -provider of husbands and the association of this idea with the story -of his generous act toward the three maidens in distress, is by no -means extinct in our own times, as is shown by the following account of -English customs recorded in a recent newspaper:[49] - - In the mining districts of the North of England they still - maintain the pleasant custom of collecting "maidens' purses" on - Christmas eve. - - These purses, in most cases subscribed for by the mining folk - themselves, are intended as marriage portions for girls undowered - with worldly wealth, who are expecting to be led to the altar. On - Christmas eve the full purse is stealthily thrown in at the girl's - window to avoid any possibility of wounding her feelings. - - In one parish four purses are provided every Christmas eve by - a woman now rich, who makes no secret of the fact that her own - wedding day was brightened by the gift thrown in at the window when - she was a miner's lass. - -[Illustration: L. di Bicci. Madonna and Child and Various Saints with -their Conventional Emblems. - -Alinari] - -Among the images of saints in France and other northern countries of -Europe, as has already been remarked, the tub with the three saved -youths is the conventional sign of St. Nicholas. Italian artists, -on the other hand, represent St. Nicholas in bishop's garb and with -three golden balls, commonly on a book which he holds in his hand, -but sometimes in his cap or at his feet.[50] This conventional symbol -of the three balls is sometimes explained as alluding to the Trinity, -or to the loaves of bread used by the saint in feeding the poor in a -famine, but is more usually associated with the three gifts to the -three maidens, the balls of gold corresponding in appearance to the -handfuls of gold tied up in a handkerchief thrown in at the window by -St. Nicholas, in the representations of the scene. - -Remote as at first thought may appear the connection between St. -Nicholas and pawnbrokers, it seems possible also to connect the three -balls, the conventional sign for St. Nicholas, with the more modern use -of the three balls as the sign of the professional money-lender. The -pawnbroker's three balls have been sometimes explained as derived from -the arms of the Medici. A more generally received explanation is that -the three balls were used as a sign before their houses by the Lombard -bankers. "The three blue balls," says Brand,[51] "prefixed to the doors -and windows of pawnbrokers' shops (by the vulgar humorously enough said -to indicate that it is _two to one_ that the things are ever redeemed) -were in reality _the arms of a set of merchants from Lombardy_, who -were the first that publicly lent money on pledges. They dwelt together -on a street from them called Lombard Street, in London." It has been -said that "the golden balls were originally three flat yellow effigies -of byzants, or gold coins, laid heraldically upon a sable field, but -that they were presently converted into balls the better to attract -attention."[52] - -A plausible explanation, which, however, remains to be proved, would -be found in the association of the three balls of the pawnbroker with -the three golden balls, the symbol of St. Nicholas, whom the Lombard -bankers might well have chosen as their patron saint. If one were -disposed to be uncharitable, one might call attention to the fact that -St. Nicholas was the patron saint not only of schoolboys and unwedded -maids, and as remains to be shown, of mariners, but also of pirates -and thieves, between whom and the kindly saint the connection is not, -at first thought, obvious, and one might try to show a relationship -between the pawnbroker who lends money on pledges, and the pirate -or thief who borrows money without a pledge. The suggestion is not -intended seriously, but it is seriously believed that the association -with St. Nicholas is not more unlikely in one case than in the other. -Confirmatory evidence is afforded by the legend of the saint, in -which is included an episode that seems to establish St. Nicholas as -the protector of the money-lender as firmly as the stories already -discussed associate him with the protection of boys and of maidens. In -the Golden Legend the story is told as follows: - - There was a man that had borrowed of a Jew a sum of money, and - sware upon the altar of St. Nicholas that he would render and pay - it again as soon as he might, and gave none other pledge. And - this man held this money so long, that the Jew demanded and asked - his money, and he said that he had paid him. Then the Jew made him - to come before the law in judgment, and the oath was given to the - debtor. And he brought with him an hollow staff, in which he had - put the money in gold, and he leant upon the staff. And when he - should make his oath and swear, he delivered his staff to the Jew - to keep and hold whilst he should swear, and then sware that he had - delivered more than he ought to him. And when he had made the oath, - he demanded his staff again of the Jew, and he nothing knowing of - his malice, delivered it to him. Then this deceiver went his way, - and anon after, him list sore to sleep, and laid him in the way, - and a cart with four wheels came with great force and slew him, and - broke the staff with gold that it spread abroad. And when the Jew - heard this, he came thither sore moved, and saw the fraud, and many - said to him that he should take to him the gold; and he refused it, - saying, But if he that was dead were not raised again to life by - the merits of St. Nicholas, he would not receive it, and if he came - again to life, he would receive baptism and become Christian. Then - he that was dead arose, and the Jew was christened. - -This story forms the subject of three spirited scenes in the frescoes -at Santa Croce, which represent the borrowing of the money, the oath on -the book before the altar of St. Nicholas, a place detail neglected in -the Golden Legend version, and the street scene where the sharper is -run over. - -[Illustration: Fresco at S. Croce, Attributed to G. Starnina. Three -Scenes from the Story of St. Nicholas and the Jew Moneylender. - -Brogi] - -The singular reversal of the role usually assigned to the Jew in -medieval story is striking. The main purpose of the story seems to -be not so much to show the lack of appreciation on the part of St. -Nicholas of the sharp trick played, the kind of trick that medieval -story loved to record, especially when a Jew was the sufferer by the -chicanery, as to show the justice of St. Nicholas and perhaps, if we -are disposed to be skeptical about the truth of the story, owes its -origin to the desire to establish a relation of protectorship between -St. Nicholas and the money-lending class, as other stories established -him as the protector of schoolboys, of maidens, and of mariners. - -Another of the best known stories of St. Nicholas, which tells of the -protection afforded a Jew on another occasion, remains to be recorded -in another connection.[53] In any event there seems to be good evidence -in the story of St. Nicholas for associating the three balls, his -conventional sign, with the three balls of the pawnbroker, and thus -establishing a connection, at first thought so far-fetched, between the -pawnbroker class and the story of the dowerless maids. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE BOY BISHOP, OR NICHOLAS BISHOP - - -In all the representations of St. Nicholas, painting or image, -except those pictures dealing with his childhood, he appears with -the robes and insignia of a bishop. St. Nicholas is preeminently the -bishop-saint. Concerning his boyhood elevation to the episcopal rank, -legend has an interesting story to relate. Once more let us turn to the -Golden Legend, which relates the story as follows: - - After this the bishop of Mirea died and other bishops assembled for - to purvey to this church a bishop. And there was, among the others, - a bishop of great authority, and all the election was in him. And - when he had warned all for to be in fastings and in prayers, this - bishop heard that night a voice which said to him that, at the - hour of matins, he should take heed to the doors of the church, - and him that should come first to the church, and have the name of - Nicholas they should sacre him bishop. And he showed this to the - other bishops and admonished them for to be all in prayers; and he - kept the doors. And this was a marvelous thing, for at the hour of - matins, like as he had been sent from God, Nicholas arose tofore - all other. And the bishop took him when he was come and demanded - of him his name. And he, which was simple as a dove, inclined his - head, and said: I have to name Nicholas. Then the bishop said to - him: Nicholas, Servant and friend of God, for your holiness ye - shall be bishop of this place. And sith they brought him to the - church, howbeit that he refused it strongly, yet they set him in - the chair. And he followed, as he did tofore in all things, in - humility and honesty of manners. He woke in prayer and made his - body lean, he eschewed company of women, he was humble in receiving - all things, profitable in speaking, joyous in admonishing, and - cruel in correcting. - -This episode is the most celebrated in the life of St. Nicholas. It -is represented in a number of Italian paintings. The early morning -appearance of the boy Nicholas at the church and his surprise as he -learns of his election are presented in particularly lively manner in -one of the scenes from his life by Lorenzetti preserved at Florence.[54] - -Interesting in itself, the story of the elevation of the boy Nicholas -to the rank of bishop also possesses interest because associated with -some of the most interesting of early church customs, those centering -about the personage of the Boy Bishop, or Nicholas Bishop as he was -sometimes called. The explanation of this interesting personage and the -customs associated with him, like that of Santa Claus, is a complex -one. In the case of the Boy Bishop customs once more we have probably -to do with the survival of pre-Christian customs with which the Church -associated new names and new meaning. - -The spirit that dominated the Christian December celebration and many -details of the external form of celebration are to be found in the -Roman pagan customs of December and early January. The early winter -season in Roman times was a period of general relaxation and merry -making. In the week beginning December 17th and ending December 23d, -the ancient god Saturn resumed once more, for a limited period, the -benign rule of which he had been deprived by his more strenuous, shall -we say more efficient, son Jove. The week of the rule of Saturn, the -_Saturnalia_, was a time of revelry and riot. The serious was barred. -No business was allowed; drinking and games and noise prevailed. All -men were to be equal, rich and poor, slave and free. There was chosen -a mock king who could impose forfeits. The Roman New Year's feast had -a similar character. As at the _Saturnalia_, masters drank and gambled -with slaves.[55] In the words of the Greek sophist, Libanius: "From the -minds of young people it (the New Year's feast) removes two kinds -of dread: the dread of the schoolmaster and the dread of the stern -pedagogue." - -[Illustration: A. Lorenzetti. The Boy Nicholas Indicated as the Divine -Choice for Bishop. - -Alinari] - -The attitude of the Christian church toward pagan custom is well known. -Since it could not hope to extirpate old practice, it endeavored to -adapt it to Christian use, giving to it Christian meaning and, as far -as possible, Christian character. It aimed to make the birth of Christ, -and the associated events, the dominating idea in its celebration at -the beginning of winter. In spite of this intention, in the popular -customs of the Christmas season, even in the ceremonies of the Church, -there is apparent a survival of many features of pagan practice. -Especially in the practice of the week following Christmas, there -is to be observed the leveling or inversion of rank, the election -of a mock ruler, and the general relaxation of discipline that were -features of the pagan celebrations of the same season at Rome. Thus -in the three days immediately following Christmas, church discipline -was sufficiently relaxed to permit of revels in turn, by the lower -orders of clergy and by the choir boys. December 26th, St. Stephen's -day, was the day for the deacons, since St. Stephen was a deacon. For -this day the deacons supplanted the higher dignitaries and took the -preeminence in the divine services. On Christmas night, the eve of St. -Stephen's day, after vespers, the deacons formed a pompous procession -dressed in silk copes like priests. On St. Stephen's day the deacons -performed the parts of the divine service. There was also a great deal -of mock ceremonial, and drinking and processions in the streets, with -visiting of houses and levying of contributions.[56] On the following -day, the day of St. John the Evangelist, the priests had their innings. -Features of their celebration were mock blessings and the proclamation -of a ribald form of indulgence. On the eve of Innocents' day (Dec. -28th), the priests gave way to the choir boys, "the children," for -the celebration of Childermas. On Circumcision Day (Jan. 1st), the -sub-deacons, the "rookies" among the priestly orders, took their turn -at occupying the places of the higher clergy. - -The day of the sub-deacons, possibly because of its coincidence with -the Roman Kalends, was celebrated in a particularly mad fashion. In -the words "_Deposuit potentes de sede: et exaltavit humiles_" sung in -the _Magnificat_ at Vespers, was found the suggestion for a general -inversion in rank. For the time, the places of rank and honor were -taken by the lowly sub-deacons. The sacred services were burlesqued in -most shocking fashion varying in different places. In Paris[57] in -the fifteenth century, "priests danced in the choir dressed as women, -panders, or minstrels. Wanton songs were sung. Black puddings were -eaten at the horn of the altar while mass was being celebrated, and -the altar was censed with ashes or by the smoke from the soles of old -shoes." Performers without the church were even more irreverent and -riotous in character. - -The choir boy customs of Holy Innocents' day were somewhat like those -described, although more restrained in character, since, as Mr. -Chambers has remarked, boys were more amenable to discipline than -the older clergy. There was a similar inversion of rank and, within -limit, a similar burlesque of custom, on this day the choir boys taking -precedence in rank, presided over by one of their number, usually -elected on St. Nicholas' day, with the title of Boy Bishop, or Nicholas -Bishop. - -A central feature of the celebration was a pompous church procession -following vespers on Childermas eve. In this procession the inversion -of rank was a feature. The book, the censer, and the candles, usually -borne by boys, on this occasion were borne by reverend canons, and -when at the end of the ceremony the procession returned to the choir, -the boys took the places of dignity in the higher stalls, with the Boy -Bishop in the stall of the bishop or dean. Then followed a feature -doubtless in the estimation of the boys not less important than the -procession, namely a supper provided by one of the church dignitaries. - -On Innocents' day all the services, including the Mass, were performed -by the boys with their "Bishop," also in many places the "Bishop" -preached a sermon. Nor were the honor and dignity of the Boy Bishop -confined to the ceremonies within the church. In mounted procession, -with attendant boy prebends, he visited other religious houses and -houses of neighboring people of prominence, singing songs and imparting -blessings in the expectation of festal entertainment and of money gifts -as well. In the year 1555 the "chylde byshope" of St. Paul's with his -company visited Queen Mary at St. James's and sang a song before her -both on St. Nicholas' day (Dec. 6th) and on Innocents' day (Dec. 28th). -The amounts collected on these occasions were considerable. Robert de -Holme,[58] who was "Bishop" at York, received from the choirmaster, who -served as treasurer, in 1369, the sum of L3 15s. 1-1/2d. But this was only -a part of the receipts, for at intervals during the fortnight following -Christmas, the "Bishop" with his troupe made trips in the neighborhood -which netted handsome profit, the countess of Northumberland alone -contributing twenty shillings and a gold ring.[59] In Aberdeen the -master of the grammar school was paid by a collection taken when he -went the rounds with the "Bishop." That this source of revenue was not -a matter of trivial importance may be inferred from the interesting -statement in the municipal registers that "he hes na uder fee to leif -on." - -Some interesting details regarding French observance of the Boy Bishop -custom have been garnered by Mr. Chambers from the records for Toul. At -that place - - the expenses of the feast, with the exception of the dinner on - the day after Innocents' day, which came out of the disciplinary - fines, are assigned by the statutes to the canons in the order of - their appointment. The responsible canon must give a supper on - Innocents' day, and on the following day a dessert out of what - is over. He must also provide the "Bishop" with a horse, gloves, - and a _biretta_ when he rides abroad. At the supper a curious - ceremony took place. The canon returned thanks to the "Bishop," - apologized for any shortcomings in the preparations, and finally - handed the "Bishop" a cap of rosemary or other flowers, which was - then conferred upon the canon to whose lot it would fall to provide - the feast for the next anniversary. Should the canon disregard - his duties the boys and sub-deacons were entitled to hang up a - black cope on a candlestick in the middle of the choir _in illius - vituperium_ for as long as they might choose. - -The elaborateness, too, of the manner of celebration, as well as the -constant association with St. Nicholas, may be inferred from the -following Northumberland inventory of robes and ornaments belonging to -one of these Boy Bishops:[60] - - Imprimis, i. myter, well garnished with perle and precious stones, - with nowches of silver and gilt before and behind. Item, iiii. - rynges of silver and gilt, with four ridde precious stones in them. - Item, i. pontifical with silver and gilt, with a blue stone in - hytt. Item, i. owche, broken, silver and gilt, with iiii. precious - stones, and a perle in the mydds. Item, a croose, with a staff of - coper and gilt, with the ymage of St. Nicolas in the mydds. Item, - i. vestment, redde, with lyons, with silver, with brydds of gold in - the orferes of the same. Item, i. albe to the same, with starres in - the paro. Item, i. white cope, stayned with tristells and orferes, - redde sylke, with does of gold, and whytt napkins about the necks. - Item, iiii. copes, blew sylk with red orferes, trayled, with whitt - braunchis and flowers. Item, i. steyned cloth of the ymage of St. - Nicholas. Item, i. taberd of skarlet, and a hodde thereto lyned - with whitt sylk. Item, a hode of skarlett, lyned with blue sylk. - -The earliest known reference to the Boy Bishop custom is from St. -Gall in the year 911. King Conrad I. was visiting Bishop Solomon of -Constance and heard so much of the Vespers procession at St. Gall that -he determined to visit the monastery at the time of the revels. He -found it "all very amusing and especially the procession of children, -so grave and sedate that even when Conrad bade his train roll apples -along the aisle, they did not budge."[61] In later years the custom -lost much of its early sobriety, although doubtless a great deal of -dignity, real or assumed, persisted in the church procession. The -custom pervaded most of the countries of Europe in the following -centuries. - -In France it was not abolished until 1721. At Mainz, in Germany, it was -not wholly extinct in 1779.[62] In Belgium in the nineteenth century -there survived a number of popular customs showing for the celebration -of Innocents' day of the present the same kind of inversion of -authority that characterized the Boy Bishop customs of earlier times. -Innocents' day is in Belgium more than in other countries a popular -festival, making up somewhat for the fact that in Belgium, Christmas -is less of a children's celebration than in other Teutonic countries, -or perhaps owing to the greater importance of St. Nicholas customs in -the Netherlands than in other countries. In any event, in Belgium, -Innocents' day is a real children's festival: children are masters in -the house, and parents must obey them. At Antwerp, in Brabant, and in -some parts of the county of Limbourg, little boys and girls dress up -for the day as papas and mammas. Usually the youngest of the family -receives the key to the pantry and orders in the kitchen the meals for -the day.[63] - -In England the Boy Bishop custom, which came to an end in the sixteenth -century under Reformation influence, once prevailed throughout the -length and breadth of the land--at first in cathedrals, collegiate -churches, and schools, later "in every parish church where there -was a sufficient band of choristers to furnish forth the Boy Bishop -ceremonial, or sufficiently well-to-do parishioners to be worth laying -under contribution."[64] - -The relation of the Boy Bishop to St. Nicholas customs offers a -number of difficulties to explain. Mr. Chambers leans to the view -that the custom was originally associated with St. Nicholas' day, -an opinion supported by the fact that the "Bishop" was elected -on the eve of St. Nicholas. But he believes that, like other St. -Nicholas customs, the Santa Claus custom for instance, it was later -transferred to the Christmas season. Something, however, may be said -for a contrary explanation. It is an established fact that medieval -schools and universities had their origin in the song schools of -the Church; consequently in schools and universities there survived -customs originally appropriate only to choir boys. In this way might -be transferred a custom observed by choir boys on the festival at -Holy Innocents' day (Dec. 28th), to St. Nicholas' day (Dec. 6th), -the festival day of schoolboys, and the Boy Bishop of Innocents' day -get the name of _Episcopus Nicholatensis_, "Nicholas Bishop," or by -an admirable Latin pun at Eton, "_Episcopus Nihilensis_," "Bishop of -Nothing." There is evident relationship between the custom of the Boy -Bishop and the story of St. Nicholas elected bishop when a boy. Did the -custom grow out of the story, or as is so often the case, did the story -originate as an explanation of an established custom? - -Oliver Wendell Holmes, on the occasion of a visit paid, late in life, -to Westminster Abbey, singles out from "amidst all the imposing -recollections of the ancient edifice," one that impressed him "in the -inverse ratio of its importance, ... the little holes in the stones, -in one place, where the boys of the choir used to play marbles." In -a similar way it may be remarked that among all the magnificent -ceremonies in the history of the Church, few are more impressive than -those associated with the Boy Bishop, or Nicholas Bishop. The choir -boy, exercising his rule over his fellow boys, riding with them in -parade about the city or surrounding country, or for the nonce lording -it over his pompous superiors and indulging in playful parody of the -ceremonies in which throughout the year he has taken a not always too -patient part,--all this affords us a glimpse at natural boy nature -centuries ago. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -VARIED BENEFICENT ACTIVITY - - -It will have been noted that St. Nicholas is not only the patron saint -of youths, but is himself a youthful saint. His most distinctive -deeds, at least the deeds about the memory of which have most been -interwoven popular customs, are deeds performed by him as a young man. -The distinctive feature about his election as bishop was that he was -elected when a mere youth. But before his election as bishop he had -already distinguished himself by his act of generosity in saving the -three daughters of the impoverished nobleman. Also, according to the -account of his life in the Roman Breviary, the act upon which is based -his reputation as protector of seamen was accomplished by him as a -young man when on a pious pilgrimage, on the return from which he was -miraculously directed to Myra, there to be chosen bishop. In a way, -then, the election as bishop forms a kind of climax to a series of -youthful accomplishments. - -But the life story of St. Nicholas differs from the typical saint's -legend in that it is not the record of one single achievement that -absorbed all the energies of the story's hero and whose accomplishment -formed a dramatic close. On the contrary, as already remarked, his -legend is made up of a series of beneficent acts, in part accomplished -by the living saint, in part accomplished by him after death serving -as a protecting spirit. Besides the youthful deeds already discussed, -there remain to be recorded a number of others, some of them hardly -less well known than the ones already considered, others not so widely -known but of interest, not only in themselves, but as revealing the -varied aspects of the kindness of St. Nicholas and showing the enduring -character of his fame. - -[Illustration: A. Lorenzetti. St. Nicholas Saving a City in Time of -Famine. - -Alinari] - -First there remain in the Golden Legend two well known stories that -deserve to be included here. One of these, in which St. Nicholas -accomplished an ultra-modern function, that of "Food Comptroller," will -make clear why he was popular as the patron saint of cities. The story -goes: - - It was so on a time that all the province of S. Nicolas suffered - great famine, in such wise that victual failed. And then this holy - man heard say that certain ships laden with wheat were arrived in - the haven. And anon he went thither and prayed the mariners that - they would succor the perished at least with an hundred muyes of - wheat of every ship. And they said: Father, we dare not, for it - is meted and measured, and we must give reckoning thereof in the - garners of the emperor in Alexandria. And the holy man said to - them: Do this that I have said to you, and I promise, in the truth - of God, that it shall not be lessened or minished when ye shall - come to the garners. And when they had delivered so much out of - every ship, they came into Alexandria and delivered the measure - that they had received. And then they recounted the miracle to the - ministers of the emperor, and worshiped and praised strongly God - and his servant Nicholas. Then the holy man distributed the wheat - to every man after that he had need, in such wise that it sufficed - for two years, not only for to sell, but also to sow. - -The art of the early Italian painters in handling narrative subjects is -once more admirably illustrated in the animated presentation of this -story in the paintings by Lorenzetti and by Fra Angelico. - -In another of the stories included in the Golden Legend, St. Nicholas -twice appears in his favorite role as the protector of human life. The -story, with double catastrophe, goes as follows: - - And in this time certain men rebelled against the emperor; and - the emperor sent against them three princes, Nepotian, Ursyn, and - Apollyn. And they came into the port Adriatic for the wind, which - was contrary to them; and the blessed Nicholas commanded them to - dine with him, for he would keep his people from the ravin that - they made. And whilst they were at dinner, the consul, corrupt by - money, had commanded three innocent knights to be beheaded. And - when the blessed Nicholas knew this, he prayed these three princes - that they would much hastily go with him. And when they were come - where they should be beheaded, he found them on their knees, and - blindfold, and the righter brandished his sword over their heads. - Then S. Nicholas, embraced with the love of God, set him hardily - against the righter, and took the sword out of his hand, and threw - it from him, and unbound the innocents, and led them with him all - safe. And anon he went to the judgment to the consul, and found - the gates closed, which anon he opened by force. And the consul - came anon and saluted him: and this holy man having this salutation - in despite, said to him: Thou enemy of God, corrupter of the law, - wherefore hast thou consented to so great evil and felony, how - darest thou look on us? And when he had sore chidden and reproved - him, he repented, and at the prayer of the three princes he - received him to penance. After, when the messengers of the emperor - had received his benediction, they made their gear ready and - departed, and subdued their enemies to the empire without shedding - blood, and sith returned to the emperor, and were worshipfully - received. And after this it happed that some other in the emperor's - house had envy on the weal of these three princes, and accused them - to the emperor of high treason, and did so much by prayer and by - gifts that they caused the emperor to be so full of ire that he - commanded them to prison, and without other demand, he commanded - that they should be slain that same night. And when they knew it by - their keeper, they rent their clothes and wept bitterly; and then - Nepotian remembered him how S. Nicholas had delivered the three - innocents, and admonested the others that they should require his - aid and help. And thus as they prayed S. Nicholas appeared to them - and after appeared to Constantine, the emperor, and said to him: - Wherefore hast thou taken these three princes with so great wrong, - and hast judged them to death without trespass? Arise up hastily, - and command that they be not executed, or I shall pray to God that - he move battle against thee, in which thou shalt be overthrown, - and shalt be made meat to beasts. And the emperor demanded: What - art thou that art entered by night into my palace and durst say to - me such words? And he said to him: I am Nicholas, bishop of Mirea. - And in like wise he appeared to the provost, and feared him, saying - with a fearful voice: Thou that hast lost mind and wit, wherefore - hast thou consented to the death of innocents? Go forth anon and do - thy part to deliver them, or else thy body shall rot, and be eaten - with worms, and thy meiny shall be destroyed. And he asked him: Who - art thou that so menacest me? And he answered: Know thou that I - am Nicholas, the bishop of the city of Mirea. Then that one awoke - that other, and each told to other their dreams, and anon sent for - them that were in prison, to whom the emperor said: What art magic - or sorcery can ye, that ye have this night by illusion caused us - to have such dreams? And they said that they were none enchanters - ne knew no witchcraft, and also that they had not deserved the - sentence of death. Then the emperor said to them: Know ye well a - man named Nicholas? And when they heard speak of the name of the - holy saint, they held up their hands toward heaven, and prayed our - Lord that by the merits of S. Nicholas they might be delivered of - this present peril. And when the emperor had heard of them the life - and miracles of S. Nicholas, he said to them: Go ye forth, and - yield ye thankings to God, which hath delivered you by the prayer - of this holy man, and worship ye him; and bear ye to him of your - jewels, and pray ye him that he threaten me no more, but that he - pray for me and for my realm unto our Lord. And a while after, the - said princes went unto the holy man, and fell down on their knees - humbly at his feet, saying: Verily thou art the sergeant of God, - and the very worshipper and lover of Jesu Christ. And when they - had all told this said thing by order, he lift up his hands to - heaven and gave thankings and praisings to God, and sent again the - princes, well informed, into their countries. - -This story, although, so far as known, it does not form the subject -of any of the St. Nicholas plays presented by medieval schoolboys, -certainly possesses dramatic quality. The first intervention by the -protecting saint provides suspense like that before the arrival of -a reprieve on the stroke of twelve in a modern melodrama. The scene -is strikingly presented in one of the Santa Croce frescoes. One of -the young men is represented kneeling blindfolded awaiting the death -stroke. The executioner holds his sword lifted, while St. Nicholas -from behind grasps it by the point. - -Also both this scene and the second scene in the story are represented -in the celebrated Giottesque frescoes at Assisi. In the second scene -there is represented a hall with straight ceiling supported by slender -columns. In this hall the Emperor Constantine is lying asleep. Nicholas -with uplifted hands approaches and commands him to free the three -imprisoned princes. The latter, one sees below, behind a barred window, -before which stands a great wooden cage.[65] - -[Illustration: Norman Baptismal Font at Winchester Cathedral, with -Sculptured Scenes from the Life of St. Nicholas.] - -The twelfth-century life of St. Nicholas by Wace, written, as the -reader is told in the opening lines, for the sake of the unlettered, -to explain to them the purpose of the St. Nicholas festival newly -instituted in the West, contains a number of episodes not included in -the more or less official account in the Golden Legend. There is one -story which seems like a variant version of that of the three murdered -schoolboys, which itself is also included by Wace.[66] A merchant is -on his way to visit the saint. On the journey he takes lodgings at an -inn and in the night is murdered by the treacherous landlord. His body -is cut to pieces and packed in a cask and salted like edible flesh. In -the night St. Nicholas restores the merchant to life with his body -entirely sound. In the morning the merchant appears, naturally to the -astonishment of the landlord, who confesses and worships St. Nicholas. - -Wace also includes a short story of how St. Nicholas freed a child -possessed by the devil,[67] and still another incident, one more than -usually filled with human interest, recorded in connection with the -election of St. Nicholas as bishop. The story goes that the hostess at -an inn where the youthful bishop-elect had stayed, was so overjoyed at -the election, that she left her baby in a bath pan by the fire. In her -absence the water boiled. The mother returned in fright but found her -child safe and happy. - -[Illustration: F. Pesellino. St. Nicholas Saves the Knights about to be -Beheaded. - -Alinari] - -St. Nicholas in origin was an Oriental saint. In the Eastern Church at -the present day his worship is more active than in western Europe. In -countries like Greece of to-day there survive the conditions amid which -St. Nicholas worship had its origin and amid which legendary stories -of him were propagated. His ability to work miracles is still believed -in by many a Greek peasant. The following remarkably circumstantial -account of an incident supposed to have taken place on May 25, 1909, -will illustrate the faith in the goodness and power of St. Nicholas -still alive in certain parts of Greece.[68] - - In a romantic situation, one quarter of an hour from the village of - Sparta in Elis, stands a fine monastery dedicated to St. Nicholas. - Every year on the 10th of May--the anniversary of the finding - of the saint's ikon--there come to the monastery thousands of - worshipers from all parts of the Peloponnese, who bring various - offerings to the saint and remain several days in the romantic - monastery, worshiping the wonder-working ikon and celebrating the - annual festival. - - Amongst this year's worshipers' was a peasant, John Doulos, from - the village of Bezaite, who invoked the help of the saint on behalf - of Kyriakula, his young daughter, who was blind. He brought her to - worship at the shrine. The unfortunate girl had lost her sight on - Easter day, when she thought she saw a great fire before her eyes - and fell to the ground. From that moment she could see nothing. All - medical skill was of no avail, and the despairing Doulos determined - to take his daughter to the saint. They arrived at the monastery on - the Wednesday before the festival. Thursday and Friday, days and - nights, they spent inside the church kneeling before the ikon in - prayer and supplication. Suddenly about dawn on the Saturday, when - the worshipers in the church were numerous, Kyriakula arose, and - crossing herself, cried: - - "Father, father, I see! There are the saint's candles! There is the - ikon!" - - A thrill of emotion ran through those present, and all joined with - the girl, whose sight had been restored, in worshiping the ikon of - the wonder-working saint. After remaining many hours to bless the - name of the saint, the healed girl left the church with her father - and joined in the festival. Then she returned to her village, and - her restored eyesight told better than words the saint's miracle. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -ST. NICHOLAS PLAYS - - -In our time the celebration of St. Nicholas' day has lost much of the -ceremony that was once associated with it. Even in countries like -Belgium and Holland, where the day is a great folk festival, there is -little to connect the day with the story of the beloved bishop-saint. -"Sinterklaes" is better known than St. Nicholas. In early days the case -was different. Particularly in the centuries immediately following the -transfer of the St. Nicholas relics to Italy, the time when the vogue -of the eastern saint reached its height in the countries of western -Europe, in many ways his story was kept fresh in the popular memory. -Not only did the Boy Bishop custom commemorate, in somewhat extravagant -fashion to be sure, the elevation of the boy Nicholas to the rank of -bishop, but stories of the life of the saint formed an important part -of the _lectiones_, or "readings," for the day in the church; and more -important still, some of the principal episodes in his life formed the -subject, in church schools, for hymns which later developed into little -plays.[69] In the election of the Boy Bishop was reenacted with a great -deal of adventitious detail one of these episodes. In more strictly -dramatic fashion were reenacted the four episodes: (1) of the maidens -saved from a life of shame; (2) the three murdered schoolboys restored -to life; (3) the kidnapped boy restored to his parents; and (4) the Jew -that put his treasures in charge of the image of St. Nicholas. - -These little St. Nicholas plays have genuine significance in the early -history of the modern drama. At a time when the classical drama was -dead, when the works of Plautus and Terence were valued as repositories -of sententious expressions and their dramatic character apparently -not suspected, when the names tragedy and comedy were almost entirely -dissociated from dramatic meaning, by one of the strange ironies of -life, under the auspices of the Church, which had been hostile in its -attitude toward earlier drama, there was created, seemingly without -being realized, the germ from which developed the modern drama. The -St. Nicholas plays go back to an early stage in the new dramatic -development. Little dramatic scenes from scriptural story began to find -a place in the liturgy of the Church as early as the tenth century. -St. Nicholas plays are not much later, and are the earliest ones -handling scenes drawn from outside the biblical story. They begin not -later than the first of the twelfth century. St. Nicholas may almost -be regarded as the patron saint of the modern drama, since he seems to -have watched over its birth. - -The St. Nicholas plays were represented apparently by the choir boys in -connection with the celebration of the festival of their patron saint. -The language used was Latin, of a schoolboy variety, but vernacular -elements soon began to appear. Forming, as they did, a part of the -school service, and presented, as they were, by choir boys, as might be -expected, they were for the most part sung or chanted. Their purpose to -provide entertainment and their dissociation from the older drama are -indicated by the names applied to these primitive dramas. _Miracula_ -was the name given them when the subject-matter was in mind; when their -character and purpose were in mind the name applied to them in Latin -was _ludus_, in French, _jeu_. The actors at a comparatively early time -in English were called players before the word 'play' had yet acquired -its later definitely dramatic meaning. - -The subjects from the St. Nicholas story used in these little plays -have been mentioned. One should notice what a range of interest is -comprised in these four stories. They afford opportunity for the use -of many of the cant phrases of the modern dramatic critic. There was -a melodrama of crime, a primitive detective play, with St. Nicholas -playing the part of detective in discovering the crime of the innkeeper -and his wife. There was a play dealing with the rough road to -matrimony, ending in a triple marriage, hardly surpassed in modern love -comedy. There was a sentimental comedy, with gripping heart interest, -in the story of the boy abducted and restored. There was a screaming -farce in the story of the Jew that was robbed. It should be noted, too, -that the modern "tired business man" would find the endings in all four -as happy as could be wished. - -One of the early St. Nicholas plays also is of interest because it is -one of three plays composed by the earliest determinable personality -in connection with the authorship of modern drama. The name of the -author, Hilarius, seems to have been no misnomer. He was probably an -Englishman,[70] or an Anglo-Norman, who went to France to study under -Abelard. He is the author of a number of innocent love poems, playful -in tone, addressed to an English Rose and to his nun friends, Bona -and Superba. From his writings we learn that he was not only lively, -but fat. Along with a number of other students, on account of some -misbehavior, he seems to have suffered a kind of rustication and been -obliged to leave the monastery where he was studying and to take up -residence in a neighboring village. In a mock elegy he feigns despair -at being deprived of the privilege of hearing lectures. Altogether -the character of this medieval student is easy to associate with the -farcical little Latin play which he wrote, back in the twelfth century, -presenting the story of the Jew who committed his valuables to the care -of the image of St. Nicholas. - -This play,[71] or operetta, for it was intended for song and chant -by the choir boys, is composed in rimed Latin stanzas, practically -impossible to reproduce in form and in spirit with any degree of -literalness in English, although Professor Gayley has accomplished the -miraculous with one or two of them. - -The _dramatis personae_ in the play are: Barbarus (a Heathen), owner of -the treasure, corresponding to the Jew in the Golden Legend version of -the story, four or six robbers, and St. Nicholas. At first the Heathen, -having assembled his treasures, approaches an image of St. Nicholas -(represented by a man standing in a shrine) and puts them in care of -the image, saying (probably in song): - - "Nicolae, quidquid possideo, - hoc in meo misi teloneo; - te custodem rebus adhibeo; - serva quae sunt ibi: - meis, precor, attende precibus; - vide, nullus sit locus furibus! - Pretiosis aurum cum vestibus - ego trado tibi." - -The thought of which may be rendered freely: - - Nicholas, all that I possess, I have put in this chest. I leave - it to you in charge; keep what is here. I pray you, listen to my - request. See to it that no thief gets in. I am putting in your - charge gold and precious raiment. - -In a second like stanza Barbarus expresses the security that he feels -now that his valuables are in the charge of the image of St. Nicholas -and at the same time warns the image that there will be trouble if -anything happens to his property. - -When Barbarus has gone, tramps, noticing the house open and without -guardian, carry off everything. When Barbarus returns, he finds his -treasure gone and expresses his feelings in song. His song consists of -three Latin stanzas, each with a French refrain probably joined in by -the other members of the boy choir. It begins: - - "Gravis sors et dura! - Hic reliqui plura, - sed sub mala cura; - Des! quel domage! - qui pert la sue chose, purque n'enrage?" - -The rime scheme of which may be reproduced something like this: - - Hard luck and sad! - I left all I had, - But the care was bad. - Gad, what a shame! - If I am mad, I'm not to blame. - -Two stanzas with the same refrain follow. Then Barbarus turns to the -image and lays on it the blame in two additional stanzas with the -threatening French refrain: - - "Ha! Nicholax, - se ne me rent ma chose, tu ol comparras." - - (If you don't give me back my things, I'll make you pay for it.) - -Barbarus then takes up a whip and vents his feelings in two additional -stanzas of the same sort, the form and spirit of which Professor Gayley -has admirably caught in English[72]: - - By God, I swear to you - Unless you "cough up" true, - You thief, I'll beat you blue, - I will, no fear! - So hand me back my stuff that I put here! - -The amount of whipping and other stage "business" to accompany this -recitative might safely be trusted to choir boy impromptu. The Latin -text of the play at this point gives the following simple directions: -"Then St. Nicholas shall go to the thieves and say to them:" - -In four Latin stanzas he tells the thieves that he has been whipped -because he cannot restore the things left in his charge, and threatens: - - "Quod si non feceritis - suspensi eras eritis - crucis in patibulo; - vestra namque turpia, - vestra latrocinia, - nuntiabo populo." - - (If you don't do this, you will be hanged to-morrow on a gibbet, - for your misdeeds and thievery, I will proclaim abroad.) - -The threats have the desired effect on the thieves, who in fear return -the goods, with no accompanying words provided by the playwright. - -When Barbarus finds his treasures again, in a series of three -macaronic stanzas, Latin and French, he expresses his joy and surprise, -ending with praise for the guardian: - - "Quam bona custodia - jo en ai; - qua redduntur omnia! - De si grant mervegle en ai." - - (What a good watch I have had! it returns everything. I am quite - surprised.) - -The alternating lines in French form a refrain in which, as in the -other songs, the other choir boys have a chance to join. - -Then Barbarus approaches the image and in three like stanzas, Latin and -French, expresses his gratitude. - -At this point St. Nicholas in person makes his appearance. He disclaims -any credit to himself, and bids Barbarus praise God alone, through Whom -his things have been restored. - -Barbarus in reply renounces heathen faith and praises God, the maker of -heaven and earth and sea, Who has forgiven his sin. - -The printed text of the little play is simple enough, but the easy -swing of the series of Latin songs and the French refrains offering -opportunity for choral participation, the beating of the image, and -the impromptu comedy "business" which choir boys might be counted on -to supply, would provide as much entertainment at a church festival -to-day as they doubtless did in the St. Nicholas' eve celebration of -the twelfth century. - -In a single manuscript there are preserved four St. Nicholas plays -of a century later. The stories presented in these plays are the -four mentioned above. The play of the abducted son of Getro may here -represent the series. - -This Latin play,[73] almost entirely in rimed couplets, is more serious -in tone and in general a more elaborate production than the little -play by Hilarius. It was staged in characteristic medieval fashion, -with simultaneous set; that is to say, there were a number of prepared -stations, side by side, all visible, and the action shifted from one -station to another. A rubric in the manuscript indicates the stage -arrangement. - - In order to represent how St. Nicholas freed the son of Getro from - the hands of Marmorinus, King of the Agarenes, King Marmorinus - shall appear, surrounded by armed servitors and seated on a - high seat as if in his own kingdom. In another place, shall be - represented Excoranda, the city of Getro, and in it Getro, with his - consolers, his wife Euphrosina and their son Adeodatus. East of the - city of Excoranda shall be the church of St. Nicholas in which the - boy is taken captive. - -The action shifts from one of these stations to the other, all the -stations and all the characters, however, being constantly visible. - -In the opening scene the servitors approach King Marmorinus, and, -"either all together, or the first one speaking for all," say: - - Hail prince, hail greatest king. Do not delay to declare thy will - to thy servants; we are ready to do what thou dost wish. - -These words apparently are sung, since they are in rimed verse and -since song alone would be appropriate for speech in unison. The king -replies: - - Go then, do not delay, and subject to my rule whatever people you - can; kill any that resist. - -With this the action shifts to another station. - -"In the meantime Getro and Euphrosina with a band of schoolboys," the -stage directions tell us, "shall go to the church of St. Nicholas, -to celebrate his festival, and shall bring with them their son; and -when they shall see the armed servitors of the king coming there, they -shall flee to their own city, in their fright forgetting the boy. But -the servitors of the king shall seize the boy and bring him into the -presence of the king, and either the second of them or all in unison -shall say," apparently in song: - - We have done, O king, what thou didst order; we have subjected many - people to thee and of the things acquired, we are bringing to thee - this boy. - -Then the third one, or all in unison, shall say: - - The boy is fair of face, of active mind, and noble race; it is - fitting, in our opinion, that he enter thy service. - -The king: - - Praise be to Apollo who rules all, and thanks to you who have made - so many countries subject and tributary. - -And then, addressing the boy: - - Good boy, tell us, what is thy land, what thy race; what is the - faith of the people of thy country; are they gentile or Christian? - -The boy: - - My father, Getro by name, is prince of the people of Excoranda; - he worships God, who rules the seas, who made us and thee and all - things. - -The king: - - My god, Apollo, is the god that made me. He is true and good. He - rules the land, he reigns in the air; him alone we ought to believe - in. - -The boy: - - Thy god is false and evil; he is stupid, blind, deaf, and mute. - Thou shouldst not worship such a god, who cannot rule even himself. - -The king: - - Say not such things; do not offend my god; for if thou dost make - him angry, thou canst not in any way escape. - -In the meantime, the directions tell us, Euphrosina shall discover that -her son has been forgotten and shall return to the church. And when she -shall not find the boy, she shall sing the following _Miserere_: - - "Heu! heu! heu mihi miserae! - Quid nunc agam? Quid quaem dicere? - Quo peccato merui perdere - natum meum, et ultra vivere? - - Cur me pater infelix genuit? - Cur me mater infelix abluit? - Cur me nutrix lactare debuit? - Mortem mihi quare non praebuit?" - -The consolers shall come to her and say: - - In what way does this grieving aid? Cease to weep, and pray for thy - son to the highest Father, and he will give him aid. - -Euphrosina, not heeding the words of consolation, shall continue: - - Dear son, most beloved child; child, the great part of my soul; now - thou art to us the cause of sadness who wert the cause of joy. - -Comforters: - - Do not despair of the grace of God. He whose great mercy gave thee - this boy, will return to thee either him or another. - -Euphrosina: - - My soul is disturbed within me. Why should death delay? When I am - not able to see thee, my son, I prefer to die rather than to live. - -Comforters: - - Struggle, grief, and despair injure thee and do not profit thy - son; instead, from thy wealth give to schoolboys and to the poor. - Ask the kindness of Nicholas that he may pray for the mercy of the - Father on high for thy son, that thy prayer may not fail. - -Euphrosina (praying to St. Nicholas): - - Nicholas, most holy father, Nicholas most dear to God, if thou - wishest that I should worship thee longer, cause my son to return. - Thou that didst save many in the sea, and three men from the bonds - of death, listen to the prayer of me, a suppliant, and assure - me that it will be granted. I will not eat of flesh longer, nor - partake of wine, nor enjoy anything more until my son shall return. - -Getro: - - Dear sister, cease to mourn: thy tears avail thee nothing. But - seek the propitiation of the Father on high for our son. To-morrow - is the festival of St. Nicholas whom all Christianity ought to - worship, to venerate, to bless. Hear, then, my counsel. Let us go - to his festival. Let us praise his greatness and seek his support. - Perhaps it is an inspiration of God that admonishes me on account - of our son. With the grace of God we must pray for the great - kindness of Nicholas. - -Then they shall get up and go to the church of St. Nicholas. And when -they have entered, Euphrosina shall stretch her hands out toward heaven -and say: - - Highest Father, king of all kings, sole king, and sole hope of - mortals, make to be returned to us our son, the solace of our life. - Hear the prayers of us suppliant. Thou that didst send thy Son - into the world to make us citizens of Heaven, to save us from the - bars of hell. Father God, thou whose power dost supply everything - good, do not cast off me a sinner, but let me see again my son. - Nicholas, whom we call a saint, if all is true that we believe - concerning thee, let thy prayers go forth to God for us and our son. - -"After these words," the directions tell us, "she shall leave the -church and go home and there prepare a table with bread and wine for -the entertainment of schoolboys and the poor. When these have been -invited and have begun to eat, Marmorinus (at the other end of the -stage) shall say to his servitors": - - My beloved, I want to tell you that I have never in my life felt - such hunger as I have to-day. I can't stand it. Make ready what I - ought to eat and save my life. Why delay? Go quickly, prepare at - once something for me to eat. - -The servitors then shall go and bear food to the king and shall say: - - We have prepared the food as thou didst command and here it is. Now - if thou dost wish, thou mayst grow fat in extinguishing thy hunger. - -Then water is brought, and the king washes his hands and begins to eat -and says: - - I was hungry, now I am thirsty. Bring me wine, and no delay about - it, my servant, son of Getro. - -The boy, hearing this, shall sigh deeply, saying to himself: - - Alas! Alas, poor me! I should like to die, for as long as I live, I - shall never be free. - -The king, addressing the boy: - - Why dost thou sigh so? What ails thee? What dost thou want? - -The boy: - - I was thinking of my misery, of my father and my native land. I - began to sigh, and said to myself, "It is a year to-day since I - entered this country, and was made a miserable slave, subject to - royal power." - -The king: - - Poor wretch, why dost thou think about it? What good does thy - grieving do? None can take thee from me as long as I do not care to - lose thee. - -"In the meantime," the directions tell us, "some one in the likeness of -Nicholas shall take up the boy holding in his hand the cup with fresh -wine, and shall place him before his father's city and, as if not -seen, shall depart. Then one of the citizens shall say to the boy": - - Boy, who art thou, and where goest thou? Who gave thee the cup with - the fresh wine? - -The boy: - - I am here and am not going farther. I am the only son of Getro. - Glory and praise to Nicholas whose grace brought me back here. - -Then that citizen shall run to Getro and say: - - Be glad, Getro. Weep no more. Outside stands thy son. Praise be to - Nicholas whose grace restored him. - -"When Euphrosina hears this message, she shall run, and after kissing -and embracing her son many times, shall say": - - To our God be glory and praise. Whose great mercy, turning our - grief to joy, has released our son. To our father Nicholas be - enduring praise and thanks, whose prayer to God aided us in this - affair. - -The play ends with the choral singing of the Latin hymn to St. -Nicholas, beginning with the words "_Copiosae Caritatis_." - - * * * * * - -As already remarked, these Latin plays of St. Nicholas are the -earliest plays handling subjects outside the scriptural narrative, -also one of the St. Nicholas stories is the subject of one of the -group of plays by the earliest medieval dramatist known by name. In -another way the name of St. Nicholas is associated with the beginnings -of the modern drama, in that one of the St. Nicholas stories provides -the theme for one of the earliest of plays in a vernacular tongue and -produced under secular control. The play in question is the famous -one by Jean Bodel produced at Arras in the very first years of the -thirteenth century. The time of production was probably the eve of St. -Nicholas' day, and the producing actors were the members of a secular -fraternity of which St. Nicholas was the patron saint, possibly, Gaston -Paris[74] suggests, the famous minstrel brotherhood at Arras that had -for its palladium the famous candle, said to have set itself on the -viol of one of the brotherhood while he played before the altar. - -The story told in this play is one already well known as a subject -for dramatic rendering in Latin, one of three handled by Hilarius, -the story of the image of St. Nicholas and the robbers. But in this -vernacular play St. Nicholas himself is overshadowed by the new -elements that have been joined to the story. The Jew, or pagan, of -earlier versions of the story, here appears as a Saracen king at war -with the Christians. The thieves are tavern revelers who steal in order -to pay their tavern score. - -In condensed summary, following largely the summary by Creizenach,[75] -the story runs as follows: - -After a prolog in which the content of the story is related, the -messenger Auberon appears and announces to the king that the Christians -have invaded his land. The king is enraged at his idol Tervagant -that this has been possible in spite of the fact that the image has -recently been richly gilded. Auberon is sent forth to summon the -emirs with their armies. There follows a scene between the Christians -and Saracens, which is imbued with all the ardor and spirit of the -crusading times. The Christians show divinely inspired bravery and -are visited by an angel which encourages them in the fight. They are -defeated in battle, but the angel announces that they have won a place -in Paradise. The Saracens find on the battlefield only one Christian -alive, and he is kneeling before an image of St. Nicholas. The man with -his image is brought before the Saracen king, who in ridicule asks what -the ugly old chap is good for. The Christian announces that the image -is excellent as a protector of treasure. The king determines to test -the image and causes his herald Connart to proclaim that the treasure -will be left open, guarded only by the image of St. Nicholas. The -Christian prisoner is given over to the hangman Durand to die if his -patron saint does not live up to his reputation. - -The scene shifts to a tavern. The innkeeper has his man servant -announce that he has a fine wine for the epicure, a wine which he -describes in most eloquent fashion. The rogues assemble, and in a -drawn-out scene manifest their appreciation of the good wine, but at -the end are unable to pay their score. They determine to steal the -unguarded royal treasure, and the innkeeper agrees to receive the -stolen goods. They enter the treasure chamber, and with great labor, -which affords much comedy, get away with the heavy chest. - -The theft is discovered, and the Christian prisoner is ordered to be -hanged, but gets a suspended sentence of one day, and cheered by an -angel, awaits the intervention of the saint. - -The thieves, in the meantime, have brought the treasure to the tavern -and continue their revelry until they fall asleep. Hardly has sleep -overtaken them, when the saint appears and in gruff language demands -the return of the treasure, with the gallows as the alternative. -The thieves, panic-stricken, carry the treasure back. One of them -proposes that each take a handful of gold pieces, but they are too much -terrified, and in the end the ringleader must leave his mantle with the -innkeeper in settlement. - -The king, delighted at the protection afforded, takes the Christian -into high favor, naturally to the disappointment of the hangman. He -also decides to abjure his old faith, and his emirs feel it their -feudal duty to follow his example, with the exception of one, who, -however, is compelled to kneel before the saint's image. In the midst -of all this the image of Tervagant utters a frightful shriek, but -is, by command of the king, cast out of the "Synagogue" in shame and -disgrace while the Christian starts a _Te Deum_, in which the actors, -and, perhaps, the spectators, join. - -In this play it will be observed that the old story is made to serve -a new purpose. St. Nicholas is made an exponent of the virtue of -Christianity as opposed to the Saracen faith. The story is developed -with much supporting detail. The struggle between Christian and Saracen -is represented with true crusading zeal, in the spirit which pervaded -the contemporary romances of Charlemagne and his paladins. On the -other hand, balancing with these scenes, noble in tone, were the low -comedy scenes provided by the tavern revelers, drinking, casting dice, -quarreling, and speaking a slang often unintelligible to the modern -reader, in general affording remarkable genre pictures of French life -in the early thirteenth century. - -In his two-sided development of the dramatic values in this story, -the author established a method which one might have expected to be -followed by his contemporaries, a method actually followed, a little -later, in the development of the native English drama. In reality, -however, the play occupies a solitary position in its own day and age. -To the author must be given the credit of original creation, of being -ahead of his time. But this credit the author must share with the story -of his play, for has not the name of St. Nicholas through all the -centuries, down to our own time, been constantly associated, not only -with the idea of noble beneficence, but with a peculiar quality of good -nature and fun? - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -ST. NICHOLAS AS PATRON SAINT - - -Anyone brought up in a Protestant country, in the Protestant faith, -will not find it easy to form an adequate conception of the nature of -saint worship. Such a person, however, if he should visit certain of -the less progressive provinces of Catholic Christendom, would find -surviving in much of its pristine vigor, with much of its original -_naivete_, the saint worship once universal in the Christian world. In -Sicily, for instance, he would find each city with its patron saint -revered and honored very much as in the earlier days. If he should -happen to be in Catania on one of the two days in the year devoted to -the honor of Catania's patron saint Agatha, he would see the image -of St. Agatha surrounded by native offerings of extravagant value, -in a resplendent car drawn by white-robed men, and he would hear -enthusiastic shouts of "Viva Sant' Agatha!" whenever a new candle for -the car was offered by one of the votaries of the saint. In Palermo -he would find like honor paid on her festival day to St. Rosalia, -the patron saint of Palermo; in Syracuse he would find St. Lucy; in -Taormina, St. Pancras, similarly honored. These Sicilian celebrations -of saints' days, featured as they are by the presence of such modern, -ultra-secular inventions as fireworks, nevertheless retain not only -much of the form but to some extent the spirit of earlier celebrations. - -[Illustration: Triumphal Car of St. Lucy used in the Annual Procession -in Honor of the Saint at Syracuse in Sicily.] - -Nor is the Sicilian worship of saints entirely one-sided. On the one -hand honors are paid, but on the other hand benefits are supposed to -be received. An idea of the nature of the protection afforded by the -saints and of the intimate relation existing between saint and votary -may be gained by a visit to the church of San Nicola at Girgenti. There -one will find the picture of the saint surrounded by representations, -in silver, or more often in wax or carved and painted wood, of swollen -limb, cancerous breast, goitered throat, injured eye, carbuncle, and -the like, healed through the intervention of the saint. Even more -specific, more living, record of protection received is afforded by the -votive offerings on one wall of the church in the form of naive little -paintings illustrating the aid afforded by St. Nicholas, one "showing -a spirited donkey running away with a painted cart, the terrified -occupant frantically making signals of distress to S. Nicola in heaven -who is preparing promptly to check the raging ass, others showing S. -Nicola drawing a petitioner from the sea, or turning a mafia dagger -aside, or finding a lost child in the mountains."[76] - -In Catholic Brittany, too, one will find similar forms of saint -worship. One will find the so-called "Pardons," or pilgrimages on -different days of the year to different ones of the famous shrines of -Brittany, occasions celebrated with festal processions accompanying -the image or the relics of the saint honored. In the Breton churches -also one will find the same form of testimony, as in Sicily, to the -protection offered by the various saints. In the church of St. Sauveur -at Dinan, in the chapel of St. Roch, one will find a representation of -the saint over the altar and on the wall a framed _voeu_, to the effect -that St. Roch confers many benefits, especially in case of pestilence, -that he saved the city from pestilence in 16--, and that the _voeu_ is -for the sake of preserving the memory of his goodness to the city. On -the wall also are framed litanies to St. Roch and individual votive -offerings with dates, many in the form of hearts, others framed -inscriptions with "_Merci Bon St. Roch_," accompanied by the date of -the benefit received. Over the door of a house in Brittany also one -often finds the image of the patron saint of the occupant. - -In Brittany down to our own time honor continues to be paid to a -great number of saints not known elsewhere, never canonized by the -Roman church and probably in their origin having little of Christian -character, more than likely Christian representatives of earlier, -local, pagan divinities. The functions of these local Breton saints -are specialized to an extent hardly found elsewhere at the present -time. Ailments are subject to the cure of particular saints. The -specialization is hardly equalled even by that in the modern practice -of medicine. Saint Mamert is invoked in case of pains of the stomach, -Saint Meen for insanity, Saint Hubert for dog bites, Saint Livertin for -headache, Saint Houarniaule for fear, Saint Radegonde for toothache. - -There is a certain beauty in the intimate relations existing between -simple people and their divine representative, but the naive character -of the practice, in a striking manner, brings to one's realization -the superstitious mode of thought prevalent in medieval times. The -Reformation, in the sixteenth century, did much to dispel these older, -superstitious forms of religious thought. As already remarked, among -Protestants the old reverence of the saints is hardly understood. In -the modern Catholic church, too, the extravagant features of saintly -legend and of saint worship have been largely eliminated, only vestiges -surviving in those provinces little affected by modern progress. - -[Illustration: Images of Breton Saints, Preserved at -Moncontour-de-Bretagne.] - -Evidence of similar specialization in earlier forms of saint worship, -and of Protestant ridicule of it, is to be found in Barnabe Googe's -sixteenth-century translations from Naogeorgus[77]: - - To every saint they also doe his office here assine, - And fourtene doe they count of whom thou mayst have ayde divine; - - * * * * * - - Saint Barbara lookes that none without the body of Christ doe dye, - Saint Cathern favours learned men, and gives them wisdome hye; - - * * * * * - - Saint Appolin the rotten teeth doth helpe, when sore they ake; - Otilla from the bleared eyes the cause and griefe doth take; - - * * * * * - - Saint Gertrude riddes the house of mise, and killeth all the rattes; - The like doth bishop Huldrich with his earth, two passing cattes; - Saint Gregerie lookes to little boys, to teach their a, b, c, - And makes them for to love their bookes and schollers good to be; - Saint Nicolas keepes the mariners from daunger and diseas - That beaten are with boystrous waves and tost in dreadfull seas. - -Not only were the saints invoked for protection against particular -ills, but the guilds, or craft fraternities, had each its patron saint. -Cities and nations also had each its particular saintly guardian, and -individuals, by assuming the names of particular saints, aimed to -establish a protective relationship. Variations in these relationships -existed, but some ones widely recognized were that between St. Agatha -and nurses, St. Catherine and St. Gregory and studious persons, St. -Cecilia and musicians, Saints Cosmas and Damian and physicians, St. -Luke and painters, St. Sebastian and archers, St. Valentine and lovers, -St. Ives and lawyers, Saints Andrew and Joseph and carpenters, St. -George and clothiers, and so on. Of countries Scotland comes under -the care of St. Andrew, England under that of St. George, Ireland -under that of St. Patrick, Wales under that of St. David. St. Anthony -belongs especially to Italy, St. Denis to France, St. Thomas to Spain, -St. Mary to Holland, St. Sebastian to Portugal. Of cities Venice is -under the protection of St. Mark, Florence of St. John, Paris of St. -Genevieve, Vienna of St. Stephen, Cologne of the Holy Magi.[78] - -As compared with some of the other saints in affording protection St. -Nicholas is less the specialist and more the general practitioner. -He certainly has his share of duties assigned him. With St. Mary and -St. Andrew he shares the guardianship of Russia, with Olaf that of -Norway,[79] with St. Julian of Rimini, that of the whole eastern coast -of Italy. Of cities he is the patron saint: in the North, of Moscow and -Aberdeen, in the South, of Bari and Corfu, in intermediate countries, -of Amiens, Civray (Poitou), Ancona, Fribourg (Switzerland), and several -places in Lorraine.[80] - -The guardianship of St. Nicholas over schoolboys and unwedded maids -has already been discussed. Mention has also been made of St. Nicholas -as patron saint of various crafts in the towns of the Netherlands. To -the list of occupations protected, may be added those of butchers, -fishermen, pilgrims, brewers, chandlers, and coopers,[81] with all -of which St. Nicholas is more or less closely associated as patron -saint. It remains to consider in more detail the part played by St. -Nicholas as the protector of mariners and the less prominent, but not -the less interesting, relationship between St. Nicholas and thieves. - -[Illustration: Beato Angelico. St. Nicholas Saves the City in Time of -Famine. - -Anderson] - -Throughout the Christian world, everywhere, the devotion of sailors to -St. Nicholas is much in evidence. In Greece, where St. Nicholas is one -of the most popularly honored saints, at the present day, according -to a recent authority,[82] "everyone connected with seafaring appeals -to him for protection and relief. All ships and boats carry his ikon -with an ever-burning lamp, and in his chapels, models of boats, coils -of cables, anchors, and such things, are given as votive offerings. -Pirates even used to give him half their booty in gratitude for favors -received. On account of this worship, St. Nicholas has been said to -have supplanted Poseidon, for the cults lie along the same lines. -During a recent strike at the Piraeus the seamen swore by St. Nicholas -not to yield, and they would not break their vow although they wished -to compromise. The Archbishop had to come specially to release them -from their oath." - -In Russia, as in Greece, an ikon of St. Nicholas is carried in every -merchantman.[83] In other countries there is plentiful record of -similar association of St. Nicholas with the protection of the sea. In -the Island of Minorca, in the eighteenth century, near the entrance -to the harbor, stood a chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas, to which, -according to an old account, "the sailors resort that have suffered -shipwreck, to return thanks for their preservation, and to hang up -votive pictures (representing the dangers they have escaped), in -gratitude to the saint for the protection he vouchsafed them, and in -accomplishment of the vows they made in the height of the storm."[84] - -In Teutonic countries St. Nicholas played a similar part. In Germany it -was formerly customary for sailors escaped from shipwreck to dedicate -a piece of old sail to St. Nicholas.[85] In every Hanseatic city there -was a church to St. Nicholas, and in Hanseatic cities favorite personal -names were Nicolaus, Claas, Nickelo, and other popular derivatives from -St. Nicholas. There were also churches dedicated to St. Nicholas in -places threatened by injury from water, for instance at Quedlingburg. -In Switzerland, too, St. Nicholas is the patron of travelers by water. -Sailors on the Lake of Lucerne are said to make vows and votive -offerings to him, and by Swiss waters formerly there were everywhere to -be found St. Nicholas chapels.[86] - -The association of St. Nicholas with the sea is found in one of the -best known of the incidents in his legend, although, in this case, -even more than the case of the other incidents of his life story, there -is room for question whether he is to be regarded as the protector of -seamen because of the incident in his story, or the incident in the -story originated as an explanation of the veneration paid St. Nicholas -by seamen. - -The incident in question is thus recorded in the Golden Legend: - - It is read in a chronicle that the blessed Nicholas was at the - Council of Nice; and on a day as a ship with mariners were in - perishing on the sea, they prayed and required devoutly Nicholas, - servant of God, saying: If those things that we have heard of thee - be true, prove them now. And anon a man appeared in his likeness - and said: Lo! see ye me not? ye called me, and then he began to - help them in their exploit of the sea, and anon the tempest ceased. - And when they were come to his church, they knew him without any - man to show him to them, and yet they had never seen him. And then - they thanked God and him of their deliverance. And he bade them to - attribute it to the mercy of God, and to their belief, and nothing - to his merits. - -It is worthy of note that the mariners of this story, when in distress, -already know of the reputation of St. Nicholas for efficacy in such -situations, which seems to indicate that in this case story grew from -belief rather than belief from story. - -The story of the rescue at sea accomplished by the intervention of the -saint forms a favorite subject for Italian painters, particularly those -of the earlier period. The picture by L. Monaco represents the scene in -a manner delightfully primitive. - -The aid afforded by St. Nicholas to mariners in distress also forms the -subject of a story sung in a popular Servian carol,[87] in which there -is much in evidence the peculiar charm of the folk-tale. The story goes -that all the saints, festively assembled, were drinking wine. When the -cup, out of which each drank in turn, was passed to St. Nicholas, he -was too sleepy to hold it, and let it drop. St. Elias shook him by the -arm and aroused him. "Oh! I beg the pardon of the company," said the -sleepy saint, "but I have been very busy and I was absent from your -festival. The sea was rough, and I had to give my help to three hundred -ships that were in danger." - -[Illustration: L. Monaco. St. Nicholas Rescues the Seamen. - -Brogi] - -It is not easy to associate St. Nicholas with the thought of severity. -One can hardly conceive of him as a stern judge. Was he open to the -charge of being what is popularly called "easy"? Certain it is that -his beneficence had a wide scope. The universality of his guardianship -can hardly be better illustrated than by the fact that he not only -afforded protection from robbers and shielded the unjustly condemned, -but at the same time shared with St. Dismas the questionable honor of -being the protector of pirates and thieves. - -This protective relationship, in Elizabethan times, formed the subject -of a stock jest. Robbers and thieves were facetiously called "St. -Nicholas' clerks." - -"Sirrah," says Gadshill, "if they meet not with St. Nicholas' clerks, -I'll give thee this neck." - -"No," rejoins the Chamberlain, "I'll none of it; I pr'ythee keep that -for the hangman; for I know thou worshipp'st Saint Nicholas as truly as -a man of falsehood may."[88] - -How did St. Nicholas get into such evil associations? It will be -remembered that the seamen protected by him included pirates, and -that Greek pirates are said to have shared their booty with him. -Have these evil associations corrupted his good manners, and has he -thus been brought into association with thieves and robbers? Perhaps -so. But other explanations have been offered. His name has become -associated with that of the "Old Nick" in a way that remains to be -explained. Perhaps in this way he has come to acquire the function of -the "Old Nick," as the protector of evil. A more plausible explanation -accounts for his association with thieves by the popularly known story, -which formed the subject of one of the St. Nicholas plays, that of -the thieves who had stolen goods left under the guardianship of St. -Nicholas' image and who were compelled by the saint to restore the -goods and thus brought "to the way of trouth." - -Whatever the cause, the association was one well established. St. -Nicholas' clerks were well known in Elizabethan times,[89] and are -frequently referred to in literature. There were also lively popular -stories on the subject, one of which forms the subject of a stanza in a -merry St. Nicholas carol.[90] - - "Another he dede sekyrly, - He saved a thief that was ful sly, - That stal a swyn out of his sty, - His lyf than savyd he." - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -PAGAN HERITAGE OF ST. NICHOLAS - - -It is well known that when paganism was superseded by Christianity, the -older religion was by no means obliterated. In Greece the pagan temples -often were converted into Christian churches. At Athens, the Parthenon, -a temple of the Virgin Pallas, became a church of the Virgin Mary; the -temple of Theseus became a church devoted to a Christian hero, also -a dragon-slayer, St. George of Cappadocia. In the structure of new -churches, material from the older temples was freely used. In many of -the churches of Rome may be seen beautiful classical columns taken -from the earlier pagan structures. A fine instance of the mingling of -elements, old and new, in Christian architecture, is to be seen at -Syracuse in Sicily, where the older classical temple of Minerva has -been transformed into a renaissance cathedral. The columns of the Doric -temple are built into the wall of the church but are too thick to be -concealed. On the outside they may be seen, at times a protruding Doric -capital, at times a whole Doric column; within the church, they form -a line of magnificent weathered columns bordering the outer side of -each aisle. In this church, to the Christian and pagan combination, -is superadded a third element, in the form of rounded Saracenic -battlements. - -The hybrid nature of this Christian architecture in the countries -pervaded by classical civilization finds a striking parallel in the -Christian practices and Christian beliefs of these countries. In these, -too, there is evident a mingling of elements new and old, Christian -and pagan, with here and there a tinge taken on from later forms of -non-Christian religion, corresponding to the Saracenic element in the -architecture of the cathedral at Syracuse. Just as the graceful classic -columns survive as beautiful features in the Christian churches, -so, many fair products of the poetic imagination belonging to the -earlier faith have found a place in the Christian religion. This is -particularly true in the case of the saints, who continue to exert over -the forces of nature the same control in the interests of man that the -minor gods and demi-gods had done before. - -In modern Greece there is to be found ample illustration of Christian -appropriation of the old. When gods have not been directly transformed -into saints, at least many of their attributes have been taken over. -In the island of Naxos, St. Dionysios is widely worshiped, and like -the god of similar name, is connected in popular story with the origin -of the wine. There is a story of the journey of the saint from Mt. -Olympos to Naxos, in which there is assuredly more of the pagan than -of the saintly quality. "He [St. Dionysios] noticed an herb by the way -and planted it in the bone of a bird, then in the bone of a lion, and -lastly in the bone of an ass. At Naxos he made the first wine with -its fruit. The intoxication which followed the drinking of this wine -had three stages: first, he sang like a bird; then, felt strong as a -lion; and lastly, became foolish as an ass."[91] In a similar way, St. -Demetrios, as the popular patron of Greek husbandmen and shepherds, -and the protector of agriculture in general, assumes the functions of -the Earth-Mother, Demeter,[92] and St. Artemidos, as patron of weakly -children, has taken over some of the attributes of Artemis, to whom -belonged protecting powers over children, animals, and vegetation.[93] -Still better known is the case of St. Elias, who has acquired many -of the attributes of the sun-god, Helios. "It would be difficult to -find any spot in Greece from which one could not descry on a prominent -hilltop a little white chapel dedicated to him, where at least once a -year, on the 20th of July, a service is held. This hilltop saint is -believed by the peasants to be lord of sunshine, rain, and thunder."[94] - -Venus, too, finds her place in Christian worship under the name of St. -Venere. In West Albania, where the practice has been imported from the -south of Italy, "she is invoked by girls as patroness of marriage."[95] -In the territory of St. Sophia, in Calabria, her festival is celebrated -on the 27th of July, and the girls sing a song, in substance "a -prayer to St. Venere not to leave them husbandless now that all their -companions are married and gone."[96] St. Merkurios, also, has many -of the attributes of the pagan god Mercury. There is an ancient story -in which the saint plays the role of messenger formerly assigned to -the god. Basil, Bishop of Caesarea, in a vision, saw the heavens open, -revealing Christ enthroned. "Then Christ called, 'Merkurios, go and -slay Julian the King, the persecutor of the Christians.' And St. -Merkurios stood before Him wearing a gleaming iron breastplate, and -on hearing the command, he disappeared. Then he reappeared and stood -before the Lord and cried, 'Julian the King has been slain as Thou -didst command, O Lord.'"[97] - -In many other cases, where the direct pagan inheritance is not so -easily traced, saints in modern Greece accomplish functions precisely -similar to those accomplished in ancient times by minor deities. St. -George is regarded as the protector of the crops, probably on account -of the etymology of his name (_Ge_="earth," _ergein_="work"). For a -similar reason, apparently, St. Maura is invoked in case of ulcers or -smallpox. Other saints with similar functions are St. Madertos invoked -in case of pestilence among beasts, St. Blasios in case of sore throat, -and St. John in cases of fever. - -People accustomed to seek divine aid in this way, in case of trouble, -are not easily to be deprived of their recourse. If they are forbidden -to worship their pagan divinities, then substitutes must be found. -Thus seamen deprived of Poseidon as source of aid, had recourse to St. -Phokas and later turned to St. Nicholas, possibly, as has been pointed -out, due to the story, in the legend of St. Nicholas, of aid rendered -by him to the ship in distress. The connection once established, St. -Nicholas came more and more to occupy the place formerly held by -Poseidon. Hence probably the position held by St. Nicholas in popular -belief, especially in eastern Christendom, as the guardian of sailors. - -There is one modern Greek story of St. Nicholas as patron saint of -seamen which deserves to be told because it shows the occasional -survival, in the popular worship of saints, of pagan elements which -the Christian Church could not countenance. The story, as told by an -old Greek man, is to this effect: "At the time of the Revolution a -number of Greek ships assembled off Kamari. There was great excitement -and trepidation. So they thought things over and decided to send a -man to St. Nicholas to ask him that their ships might prosper in the -war. They accordingly seized a man and took him to the large hall at -Kamari. There they cut off his head and his hands, and carried him -down the steps into the hall." This was a pagan rite obviously not to -be tolerated by the Christian God, for the story goes, "thereupon God -appeared with a bright torch in his hand, and the bearers of the body -dropped it, and all present fled in terror."[98] - -It is evident that St. Nicholas inherited some of the attributes of -Poseidon, or Neptune. But that does not sum up the extent of his pagan -heritage. Probably earlier than the association of St. Nicholas with -Poseidon is that with Demeter, or Diana, whose cult was particularly -in vogue in Lycia, the scene of the principal events in the story of -St. Nicholas. - -In the Eastern Church there were two celebrations in honor of St. -Nicholas, not only the one on the 6th of December, but one on the 9th -of May. The May celebration, which is still kept up by Italians, even -in America, is usually said to be in honor of the removal of the relics -of St. Nicholas to Bari, but not unlikely is the continuation of the -Rosalia, a local pagan spring festival at Myra, the Lycian home of -St. Nicholas. Not only in Lycia, but elsewhere, the St. Nicholas cult -supplanted the earlier worship of Artemis. In AEtolia "at the village of -Kephalovryso, there is a little ruined temple of St. Nicholas which, -according to an inscription built into the church, stands on the site -of a temple of Artemis. Another instance of the same transference -occurs at Aulis, where a little Byzantine church of St. Nicholas has -replaced the Artemisium."[99] - -Following the substitution of the Christian worship of St. Nicholas for -the pagan worship of Artemis, there were two natural consequences. In -the first place the pagan deity, formerly revered, came to be regarded -as an evil spirit. In the second place this evil spirit was supposed to -be particularly hostile to the Christian saint that had replaced her -in popular worship. This hostility is reflected in the well-known story -of the devil's plot against the church of St. Nicholas. The Golden -Legend version of the story is as follows: - - And in this country the people served idols and worshiped the false - image of the cursed Diana. And to the time of this holy man, many - of them had some customs of the paynims, for to sacrifice to Diana - under a sacred tree; but this good man made them of all the country - to cease then these customs, and commanded to cut off the tree. - Then the devil was angry and wroth against him and made an oil that - burned, against nature, in water, and burned stones also. And then - he transformed him in the guise of a religious woman, and put him - in a little boat, and encountered pilgrims that sailed in the sea - towards this holy saint, and areasoned them thus, and said: I would - fain go to this holy man, but I may not, wherefore I pray you to - bear this oil into his church, and for the remembrance of me, that - ye anoint the walls of the hall; and anon he vanished away. Then - they saw anon after another ship with honest persons, among whom - there was one like to S. Nicholas, which spake to them softly: What - hath this woman said to you, and what hath she brought? And they - told to him all by order. And he said to them: This is the evil - and foul Diana; and to the end that ye know that I say truth, cast - that oil into the sea. And when they had cast it, a great fire - caught it in the sea, and they saw it long burn against nature. - Then they came to this holy man and said to him: Verily thou art he - that appeared to us in the sea and deliveredst us from the sea and - awaits of the devil. - -But the victory over the pagan deity was not a complete one. Constant -association of St. Nicholas custom with earlier worship of Artemis was -not without its influence on the popular conception of the Christian -saint. One is tempted to assume the malevolent and insidious work of -the pagan deity aiming to corrupt the character of the benevolent -bishop. In any event from Artemis as well as from Poseidon St. Nicholas -inherited attributes which serve to explain some of the elements in his -complex personality. It is to be remembered that Artemis of Ephesus was -not only a spring deity but also in part a sea and a river goddess. -Hence her epithet, "Potamia." Both associations, that with spring, and -especially that with the sea, Artemis shares with St. Nicholas.[100] -Artemis-Cybele is often represented as a sea monster with the tail of -a fish. There are traces of a similar grotesque popular conception -of St. Nicholas in the Sicilian popular legend with the hero named -Nicolo-Pesce. This conception of St. Nicholas is much in evidence in -western Europe and serves to explain the connection of St. Nicholas -with a conception widely prevalent there, of a water spirit or god. -Among Teutonic peoples, particularly, this water spirit is widely -known with various names, such as Nix, Nickel, Nickelman, Nick, Noekke. -Millers are said to be particularly afraid of this spirit and to -throw different things into the water on the sixth day of December, -St. Nicholas' day, to propitiate it.[101] In the character of Nikur, -a Protean water sprite (Edda, _Doemesaga_, 3), he inhabits the lakes -and rivers of Scandinavia, where he raises sudden storms and tempests -and leads mankind into destruction.[102] Danish peasantry, in earlier -times, conceived of the Noekke (Nikke) as a monster with human head, -dwelling both in fresh and in salt water. Where anyone was drowned, -they said, _Noekken tag ham bort_, "the Noekke took him away." The -Icelandic Neck, a kelpie or water spirit, appears in the form of a fine -horse on the seashore. If anyone is foolish enough to mount him, he -gallops off and plunges into the water with his burden.[103] - -In France there is known a similar water monster, and there, -paradoxical as it may seem, it has taken the name of the benevolent -St. Nicholas. It is a terrible monster that seizes fishermen who walk -without permission by the water side at nightfall. It has claws and -tears the faces of the children that remain too late on the beach.[104] - -The water monster under discussion was known in England. Back in the -eighth century, in the story of Beowulf, there are introduced water -monsters, apparently conceived of as like walruses or sea-lions, but -malevolent in character. These are called _niceras_. The "Old Nick," -a name familiar since the early seventeenth century, seems to have -originated in the conception of this water monster once prevalent in -the North of England. The conversion of the name of the water demon -into a name for the Devil is not an unusual phenomenon. The process is -illustrated in the history of the Greek word "demon" itself, which, at -first meaning "spirit," in no evil sense, with the hostile attitude -assumed toward earlier religious conceptions following the introduction -of Christianity, came to be used as a name for an evil spirit or devil. -The same conversion of an old name to a new use is to be seen in the -case of the "Old Nick," in the beginning the name of a water spirit, -later a name for the Devil. In this case the malevolent character of -the water spirit made the conversion one easy to comprehend. - -What, then, is the relation of this well known, usually malevolent, -water spirit to St. Nicholas? An attempt has recently been made to -show that the Eastern conception of St. Nicholas as a water spirit, -originating in the older mythical beliefs concerning Artemis, was -carried by seamen to the West of Europe and that in this way the name -St. Nicholas is the base of the different forms for the name of the -water spirit.[105] This theory can hardly be sustained, since there -is no proof of the popularity of St. Nicholas in the West so early -as the earliest reference to the water spirit, that is to say, in -the case of the _niceras_ of the English _Beowulf_, and because in -popular contraction of the name Nicholas, it is the second part of the -name, the -clas, that usually survives. A more likely explanation is -that the confusion between the water spirit, variously known as Nick, -Neck, Nicor, Noekke, Nickel, Nickelmann, and St. Nicholas, is explained -by a well-known process of popular etymology. St. Nicholas with his -attributes as controller of the waters, inherited from the mythical -Poseidon and Artemis, when in the eleventh century he became known in -the West, became confused with the more and more vaguely conceived -pagan water spirit of similar name, and in the end, in certain places, -became identified with him, thereby inheriting some of his qualities, -and influencing the form of his name. - -Over in Russia also St. Nicholas has fallen heir to similar attributes. -In this way he has come to figure in an interesting episode in recent -musical history, an episode which illustrates in a most interesting -way how the influence of St. Nicholas has penetrated to affairs of -our own time. Rimsky-Korsakoff, in his opera, _Sadko_, composed in -1896, made use of an old Novgorod folk-tale of the Volga. This story -centers about a river deity said to be something like the Old Man of -the Sea in the Arabian Nights Tales. Under Christian influence this -tale has been converted into a story of St. Nicholas, one of many told -of him in Russia, where he is one of the most popular of the saints. -Both versions of the popular story persist, the earlier, pagan form -and the one where St. Nicholas has inherited the prominent part. -Rimsky-Korsakoff, after some hesitation which of the two versions to -use, finally made choice of the later, St. Nicholas, version. But here -he came into conflict with Russian orthodox bureaucracy, which would -not permit such irreverent use to be made of the Russian patron saint -Nicholas. The composer, therefore, made a change, substituting the -names of the older version. But in his opera he had made free use of -musical themes derived from the liturgy of the St. Nicholas festival, -and this music he retained, making a humorous incongruity between the -sacred music and the pagan story. A quarrel with officialdom resulted, -which is said to have been one of the reasons why Rimsky-Korsakoff lost -his position as Director of the Conservatoire at Petrograd. - -Attempt has been made to connect St. Nicholas, through his relationship -to the Teutonic water spirit, with Odin, who in one of the Edda poems -is given the name Hnikar. This particular link between St. Nicholas and -Odin has not been successfully established. It is certain, however, -that a relationship exists. The time of the St. Nicholas festival, -December 6th, and of Christmas, where St. Nicholas has come to play -an important part, coincides in part with the season of the year when -Odin, as god of the air, made his nightly rides, or, as god of the -dead led through the air the troops of spirits of departed ones. The -coincidence in time, under Christian influence, led to the transfer -to St. Nicholas of some of the functions of Odin. The heritage of St. -Nicholas from Odin has been discussed in an earlier chapter. From Odin -St. Nicholas inherited his gray horse, which in some Germanic countries -he uses in his nightly rides, but which he traded for a reindeer before -coming to America. For this horse of St. Nicholas children in parts -of Europe leave the hay and oats once left for the horse of Odin. From -Odin, too, Santa Claus inherited certain details of his appearance, -most notably his long white beard as distinguished from the kind of -beard familiar in pictures of the bishop-saint. - -From others of the Teutonic gods St. Nicholas received legacies. In him -various scholars[106] have recognized attributes of Fro and of Niordhr, -the father of Fro. The task of purveying gifts for children, for which -St. Nicholas uses the horse of Odin, is a function sometimes attributed -to the spirits of the dead, who, with or without Odin as a leader, in -the time of the shortest days of the year are supposed to revisit their -earthly homes.[107] - -From this discussion one will see that the Christian saint Nicholas -has the same perplexing variety of aspects that make it so difficult -to form any single unified conception in the case of one of the pagan -gods. At Bari, in Italy, where his relics are preserved, on his -festival day, he receives the honors of a water god not necessarily -malevolent in character. His image is borne by sailors in procession -out to sea and at nightfall is escorted back to the cathedral with -torches, fireworks, and chanting.[108] In parts of France he has -inherited different qualities; his name is given to a water spirit, a -veritable ogre in its malevolence. In many other countries, including -our own, he has inherited the pleasant role of children's benefactor. -If one wishes to gain a realization of how popular heroic conceptions -are formed, one should compare the many-sided St. Nicholas known in our -own day in the various countries of Christendom with the simple figure, -as clearly as one may distinguish it, of the kindly youth that was born -at Patras in Asia Minor in the early days of Christianity. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -ST. NICHOLAS, DEFENDER OF THE FAITH - - -Throughout the present discussion of St. Nicholas the fact has been -kept constantly prominent that St. Nicholas is more famed for deeds -than for doctrine. His role was not in general that of the apostle -extending the boundaries of Christendom nor that of the expounder of -creed. His fame rests on his kindly acts. But it was inevitable that -the authority of so beloved and so influential a personage should be -invoked in support of orthodoxy. In the Golden Legend mere mention -is made of the presence of St. Nicholas at that meeting of critical -importance, the Council of Nice. But in the Roman Breviary it is -recorded that just before his death he was present at the Council of -Nice and there, "with those three hundred and eighteen church fathers, -condemned the Arian heresy." - -Controversy, particularly religious controversy, has its pitfalls even -for those of most gentle nature, and connected with this momentous -occasion and the part in it played by St. Nicholas, there is a -legendary story[109] which exhibits a side to his character, if less -saintly, at least, more human. The story goes that St. Nicholas at Nice -struck an Arian bishop who spoke against the faith and that, for this -too violent zeal, he was deprived of the right of wearing bishop's -robes. But, the story adds, in celebrating the mass, he saw angels -bearing him the miter and the pallium as a sign that Heaven had not -blamed his wrath. - -The orthodoxy of St. Nicholas is thus put beyond question. If he was a -foe to heresy, he was still more a foe to paganism. In the story from -the Golden Legend already quoted is recorded his activity in uprooting -the worship of Diana in Lycia and the particular hatred of the goddess, -or devil as she was conceived of, that he incurred thereby. Concerning -his zeal in this work, Wace[110] has the following additional details -to offer. "Before the time of St. Nicholas," he tells us, "devils had -power. People worshiped gods and goddesses: Phoebus, Jupiter, Mars, -Mercury, Diana, Juno, Venus, Minerva. They had painted images with -names written on the foreheads. Diana in particular was a she-devil. -St. Nicholas broke her image and delivered the people from idolatry." - -[Illustration: St. Nicholas Represented (Byzantine style) in the -Mosaics of St. Mark's in Venice. - -Naya] - -But it is particularly in the conflict between Christianity and -Mohammedanism that St. Nicholas is prominent as defender of the faith. -The time when St. Nicholas worship was introduced in the West was a -time when this conflict was at its height, the time of the Crusades. -It will be remembered how Jean Bodel in his play, written about the -year 1200, made new use of the story of the image of St. Nicholas set -as the guardian of treasure. It will be remembered that the setting -for the story provided by Bodel was in the wars of Christian against -Saracen, and that the central feature of the story in the play is the -way in which the Christian image of St. Nicholas proved his power to -be greater than that of the Mohammedan idol of Tervagant, and thus led -the Mohammedan king with his seneschal and all his emirs to adopt the -Christian faith. - -In Eastern countries the conflict between Christianity and -Mohammedanism, so much alive in Western Europe in the time of the -Crusades, continues in active form in our own time. It must be -remembered, too, that in Eastern countries St. Nicholas occupies a -place even higher than that occupied by him in the West in our time. -It is not unnatural, then, that there he should be looked to as the -defender of the Christian faith. How well he is thought to be able to -represent the Christian cause is well brought out in a naively humorous -Albanian folk-tale.[111] The story goes as follows: Mohammed was the -guest of St. Nicholas. When the time to eat came around, Mohammed asked -where were the servants. St. Nicholas replied that no servants were -needed, that at a word from his mouth or a stroke on the table, the -edibles would be ready. He then proceeded to demonstrate that what he -said was entirely true, causing to appear on the table everything that -one could desire to eat and drink. - -Mohammed, not to be outdone, on his return home caused his servant to -construct a table which would turn and could thus be closed into the -wall leaving no visible sign. He commanded his servant to make ready -food of every kind, and when he heard a rap, to push the laden table -through the wall. He then invited St. Nicholas to his house, intending -to exhibit powers as great as those shown by St. Nicholas. - -But St. Nicholas made all his plans go awry. He made the servant deaf, -so that there was no response to the rap of Mohammed, and St. Nicholas -himself had to get up and bring in through the wall the table laden -with food, naturally to the discomfiture of his host. - -The next day Mohammed invited St. Nicholas again, promising to work -a miracle before him. He caused a great number of jugs and cans and -dishes of various kinds to be taken to the top of a hill. At a sign -from Mohammed, these were to be rolled down the hill and a cannon -fired. When St. Nicholas arrived, he bade Mohammed work his miracle. -Mohammed raised his hand, and the expected noise followed. St. -Nicholas, however, gave no sign of fear. Mohammed then bade him work a -miracle. St. Nicholas clapped his hands, and immediately the thunder -rolled and the lightning flashed, overwhelming Mohammed with terror. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -CONCLUSION - - And when it pleased our Lord to have him depart out of this world, - he prayed our Lord that he would send him his angels, and inclining - his head, he saw the angels come to him, whereby he knew well - that he should depart, and began this holy psalm: _In te domine - speravi_, unto _in manus tuas_, and so saying: "Lord into thine - hands I commend my spirit," he rendered up his soul and died, the - year of our Lord three hundred and forty-three, with great melody - sung of the celestial company. - -This is the Golden Legend account of the end of the earthly life of -the kindly bishop-saint. His body was placed in a tomb of marble, and -in the year 1087 was discovered by Italian merchants and borne by them -to the city of Bari in Italy. There his tomb is a famous center for -pilgrimages. On his festival day, many thousands bearing staves bound -with olive and pine honor his memory.[112] It is said that when his -tomb at Myra was opened, the body was found swimming in oil, and that -to this day there continues to issue from his body a holy oil "which is -much available to the health and sicknesses of many men." - -St. Nicholas, the guardian of so many things, also keeps guard over his -own remains. Wace relates the story of a man carrying off a supposed -tooth of the holy saint. In the night St. Nicholas appeared and -admonished the thief, and in the morning the tooth was gone. - -St. Nicholas was mortal. But his deeds are immortal. His beneficent -acts have flowered in legendary story and have found fruition in -universal popular customs animated by the same spirit of kindness that -pervaded the whole life of the saint. Probably the life history of no -other person, save that of the Founder of Christianity himself, has -been so intimately woven about human custom and human life as that of -St. Nicholas. In certain parts of Siberia he is worshiped as a god. -Even in our own country, although we are supposed to have outgrown -idolatry, representations of Santa Claus about Christmas time, in shop -windows and on street corners, are objects of worship little short of -idolatry. To Santa Claus also at Christmas time are addressed the most -sincere, even if not the most unselfish, supplications. - -We may well conclude our present consideration of St. Nicholas and -his works with an invocation to him, using the words composed by the -recluse Godric, back in the twelfth century, which form one of the very -earliest of English lyrics: - - Sainte Nicholaes, godes druth, - Tymbre us faire scone hus-- - At thi burth, at thi bare-- - Sainte Nicholaes, bring us wel thare. - - - - -NOTES - - -CHAPTER I - -[1] Manchester _Guardian_. - -[2] A. Tille, _Die Geschichte der Deutschen Weihnacht_, Leipzig, 1893, -p. 30. - -[3] O. von Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Traditions et Legendes de la -Belgique_, p. 302. - -[4] Do., p. 323. - -[5] Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Das festliche Jahr der germanischen -Voelker_, Leipzig, 1863, pp. 360 ff. - -[6] Do., pp. 362, 363. - -[7] P.M. Hough, _Dutch Life in Town and Country_, London and New York, -1901, pp. 116 ff. The present account of St. Nicholas customs in -Holland is based on notes from the book by Hough, but is not quoted -exactly in order of details nor in wording. - -[8] Do., p. 121. - -[9] I. von Zingerle, _Zeitschrift fuer Volkskunde_, ii., 329 ff. - -[10] Hough, _op. cit._, p. 117. - -[11] Do., p. 125. - -[12] Do., p. 125. - -[13] I. von Zingerle, _op. cit._, p. 343. - -[14] Hough, _op. cit._, p. 125. - -[15] Do., p. 126. - -[16] Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Das festliche Jahr_, p. 362. - -[17] Tille, _op. cit._, p. 35. - -[18] Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, i., p. 420. - -[19] Tille, _op. cit._, p. 299. - -[20] Do., p. 36. - -[21] Do., p. 33. - -[22] Do., p. 36. - -[23] Do., p. 202. - -[24] Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Das festliche Jahr_, p. 382; C. A. Miles, -_Christmas_, London, 1912, p. 231. - -[25] _St. Nicholas, Our Holidays_, New York, 1916, p. 64. - -[26] W. A. Wheeler, _Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction_, Boston, -1883. - -[27] Tille, _op. cit._, p. 119. - -[28] Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _op. cit._, p. 342. - -[29] Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, quoted by Miles, _op. cit._, p. 277, -footnote. - -[30] Hough, _op. cit._, p. 120. - - -CHAPTER II - -[31] G. de Saint Laurent, _Guide de l'Art Chretien_, 1874, v., p. 349. - -[32] A. Butler, _Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and other Principal -Saints_, London, 1838. - -[33] New York _Times_, Oct. 24, 1915. - -[34] Mrs. Jameson, _Sacred and Legendary Art_, vol. ii. - - -CHAPTER III - -[35] _The Golden Legend_, Caxton translation, Temple Classics series, -vol. ii., pp. 109-122. - -[36] Do., pp. 119, 120. - -[37] Mrs. Jameson, _op. cit._; also H. Thode, _Franz von Assisi_, -Berlin, 1904. - -[38] C. Cahier, _Caracteristiques des saints dans l'art populaire_, -Paris, 1867, vol. i. - -[39] E. Anichkof, "St. Nicholas and Artemis," _Folk-Lore_, v., pp. 108 -ff. - -[40] Hough, _op. cit._, p. 122. - -[41] Brand, _op. cit._, i., p. 417. - - -CHAPTER IV - -[42] Tille, _op. cit._, p. 32. - -[43] Do., p. 300. - -[44] Brand, _op. cit._, i., p. 420. - -[45] R. T. Hampson, _Medii Aevi Kalendarium_, London, 1841, ii., p. 76. - -[46] T. Wright, _Songs and Carols_, Warton Club, 1856, p. 4. - -[47] Brand, _op. cit._, i., p. 421. - -[48] Brady, _Clavis Calendaria_, quoted by W. Hone, _The Every-Day -Book_, London, 1838. - -[49] New York _Times_, April 18, 1915. - -[50] Mrs. Jameson, _op. cit._ - -[51] Brand, _op. cit._, ii., p. 356. - -[52] _Encyclopedia Britannica_, article "Pawnbrokers." - -[53] _Cf._ the story of the Jew who left his property under the -protection of the image of St. Nicholas. - - -CHAPTER V - -[54] Galleria antica e moderna. - -[55] C. A. Miles, _op. cit._, p. 168. - -[56] A. F. Leach, "The Schoolboy's Feast," _Fortnightly Review_, vol. -lix., pp. 128-141. - -[57] E. K. Chambers, _The Mediaeval Stage_, London, 1903, i., p. 294. -The total amount of the debt to Chambers's work it has not been -possible to indicate in these notes. - -[58] Do., p. 357. - -[59] Do., p. 348. - -[60] Brand, _op. cit._, i., p. 423. - -[61] Chambers, _op. cit._, p. 338. - -[62] Tille, _op. cit._, p. 31, quoted by Chambers. - -[63] Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Traditions et Legendes de la Belgique_, p. -348. - -[64] Leach, _op. cit._ - - -CHAPTER VI - -[65] H. Thode, _Franz von Assisi_, Berlin, 1909. - -[66] Verses 1080-1143. - -[67] Verses 208-216. - -[68] M. Hamilton, _op. cit._, pp. 47, 48. - - -CHAPTER VII - -[69] G. R. Coffman, _A New Theory concerning the Origin of the Miracle -Play_, Univ. of Chicago _diss._, 1914. - -[70] Henry Morley, _English Writers_, 1889, vol. iii., pp. 105-114. - -[71] E. Du Meril, _Les Origines Latines du Theatre Moderne_, new -edition, Paris, 1897, pp. 272-276. - -[72] C. M. Gayley, _Plays of our Forefathers_, New York, 1907, p. 64. - -[73] Du Meril, _op. cit._, pp. 276-284. - -[74] Gaston Paris, _La litterature francaise au Moyen-Age_, Paris, -1890, Sec.167. - -[75] W. Creizenach, _Geschichte des neueren Dramas_, Halle, 1893, i., -pp. 139-141. - - -CHAPTER VIII - -[76] E. Bisland and A. Hoyt, _Seekers in Sicily_. - -[77] Brand, _op. cit._, pp. 363, 364. - -[78] Do., pp. 363, 364. - -[79] H. F. Feilberg, _Jul_, Copenhagen, 1909, i., p. 105. - -[80] C. Cahier, _op. cit._ - -[81] This additional list is derived from somewhat scattered references -in works cited above by Brand and by Cahier. - -[82] M. Hamilton, _op. cit._, pp. 29, 30. - -[83] E. Anichkof, _op. cit._, pp. 108 ff. - -[84] Brand, _op. cit._, i., p. 419. - -[85] Anichkof, _op. cit._ - -[86] Zingerle, _op. cit._, p. 334. - -[87] Anichkof, _op. cit._, p. 109. - -[88] First part of _Henry IV._, Act II., scene i. - -[89] Brand, _op. cit._, i., p. 418. _Cf._ also the Oxford Dictionary -under Nicholas. - -[90] T. Wright, _op. cit._, p. 99. - - -CHAPTER IX - -[91] M. Hamilton, _op. cit._, p. 16. - -[92] Do., p. 13. - -[93] Do., p. 18. - -[94] Do., p. 20. - -[95] Do., p. 33. - -[96] Do., p. 34. - -[97] Do., p. 31. - -[98] J. C. Lawson, _Modern Greek Folk-Lore and Ancient Greek Religion_, -Cambridge, 1910, p. 135. - -[99] M. Hamilton, _op. cit._, p. 30. - -[100] E. Anichkof, _op. cit._, p. 114. - -[101] Do., pp. 115, 116. - -[102] Hampson, _op. cit._, p. 68. - -[103] Keightley, _Fairy Mythology_, i., pp. 234, 235, quoted by -Hampson, _op. cit._, p. 75. - -[104] _Revue des traditions populaires_, i., p. 7, quoted by Anichkof. - -[105] This is the main thesis of the article by Anichkof. - -[106] J. W. Wolf, Hocker, and Al Kaufmann, quoted by Zingerle, _op. -cit._, p. 331. - -[107] A. Tille, _Yule and Christmas_, London, 1899, p. 115; H. -Feilberg, _Jul_, Copenhagen, 1904, ii., p. 179. - -[108] C. A. Miles, _op. cit._, p. 221. - - -CHAPTER X - -[109] C. Cahier, _op. cit._ - -[110] Wace, _op. cit._, vv. 342 ff. - -[111] J. V. Jarnik, _Zeitschrift fuer Volkskunde_, ii., pp. 348, 349. - - -CHAPTER XI - -[112] Miles, _op. cit._, p. 221. - - - - - Transcriber's notes: - - The following is a list of changes made to the original. - The first line is the original line, the second the corrected one. - - Belgian children, exiled in France for more that two years, - Belgian children, exiled in France for more than two years, - - paintings there is a scene respresenting the infant Nicholas - paintings there is a scene representing the infant Nicholas - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of St. Nicholas, by George H. McKnight - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ST. 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