Saint Nicholas, like those other Christmassy Saints, Wenceslas and Lucia, was a real person. He lived in what is now Turkey from around 270 to 310 AD and was Bishop of Myra. He was imprisoned for his faith by the Roman Emperor Diocletian and was fortunate to survive, but although he was released when Diocletian died, his health was broken and he died at a relatively young age. His feast day is December 6th because he is believed to have died on that date in 310.

During his lifetime Nicholas gained a reputation for generosity particularly towards children, but he was also known for his strictness with children who misbehaved. Many legends rose around him: one which has given rise to one of our Christmas traditions is the story of how he helped three young sisters whose parents were so poor that they did not have enough money for their daughters to have a dowry and so were unable to get married. Their father was so desperate that he was actually considering selling one of his daughters to provide a dowry for the others, but when Nicholas heard about this he set out to help them. He didn't want anyone to know that he was the one who was helping them, so he climbed up on their roof three nights in a row and threw bags of gold coins down their chimney, one of which landed in one of the girls' stockings, which had been hung by the fire to dry. After two of his daughters had been able to marry because of the money mysteriously appearing in their stockings, the father was determined to find out who was helping them, so he hid behind the chimney the next night. He saw Bishop Nicholas with another bag of money, but when he realised he was discovered, Nicholas asked the father not to tell anyone else. Needless to say, the girls' father couldn't keep a secret and so told everyone he knew and the story got passed down, evolving into the tradition of hanging stockings by the fire for gifts.

Whatever the truth of this story - and it is certainly more credible than the legend of Saint Nicholas and the Pickled Boys, which tells how the saint miraculously resurrected two children who had been murdered and their bodies hidden in a barrel of brine! - Saint Nicholas became the patron saint of children and unmarried girls, and also seafarers, scholars, bankers, pawnbrokers, jurors, brewers, coopers, travellers, perfumiers, brides and thieves, and he is also the national patron saint of Russia and Greece.

St. Nicholas as portrayed
in an early Orthodox icon

Because of his connection as patron saint of children and his legendary generosity, Saint Nicholas's feast day on December 6th became an occasion for the giving of gifts to children, and St. Nicholas was usually depicted in bishop's robes and carrying a bishop's crozier; in northern Europe, however, this image tended to get mixed up with Nordic deities and St Nicholas - or Sinter Klaas - often wore green robes and a crown of holly and other evergreens. This is the image which was carried down the centuries until fairly recently : then, in America in 1823, the New York Sentinel published a poem by C.C.Moore entitled "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" in which he flies through the air on a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer, and comes into the house down the chimney. By this time the custom of giving presents had been moved to Christmas itself, although in some European countries children continue to put their shoes out on December 6th so that St. Nicholas can fill them with sweets and presents.

It wasn't until 1866 that Santa Claus wore red : an illustration for "Santa Claus And His Works" drawn by Thomas Nast gave him a reddish brown outfit, trimmed with white fur, but his image remained variable right through the 19th century and into the 20th, sometimes wearing red but sometimes in green or blue. The image of Santa Claus that we now think of as traditional actually dates from 1931, when the Coca-Cola company commissioned a series of Christmas advertisements featuring Santa. Green or brown robes didn't fit with their corporate image and so Haddon Sundblom created the jolly, round Santa with his red suit and white beard we all know so well and the alternative green and blue robes disappeared for good.

The American "Kris Kringle" is unknown in Great Britain - the name Kris Kringle is a corruption of Christkindlein, the Christ Child, who is the bringer of gifts in many European countries, but is not a British tradition.

France has Pere Noel and in the UK we too are visited by Father Christmas on Christmas Eve. Father Christmas is very similar to Santa Claus in appearance, although his hooded red robes are long and flowing rather than a two-piece suit, and he is probably much nearer to his pagan origins. Certainly Father Christmas appears as a character in the mediaeval Play of St. George (which derives from oral tradition from as far back as 1000 or even earlier) and is related to The Green Man, a pagan nature figure, as well as Father Time who makes his appearance at the New Year.

The British Father Christmas also makes his entry down the chimney and has absorbed the tradition of travelling by sledge and flying reindeer - I did come across a website that informed me that "in Britain Father Christmas rides on the back of a white donkey," but that's news to me! He leaves presents for all the good children, and coal and/or cinders for all the naughty ones. In return the children will have left him a drink - in our house we believe him to be partial to a nice drop of sherry - and a mince pie, and some carrots and oats for his reindeer.