The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1913-12-20
Ancestry Of Santa

NXYHAT is Santa Claus, age?
~ The jolly, roistering. pot
y bellied. ever young old fell
low that we know has made
his appearance on earth in so many
guises that the secret Of his first com
ing threatens to remain forever yelled
In the midst Of antiquity No one can
say with any certainty just when he
first made his appearance among pre-
historic men. for merry old Santa in
one form or another delighted chill
dren's hearts in many a pagan house
hold centuries before the commence
ment Of the Christian era and prior to
any recorded history.
The name of Santa Claus, by which
he is known In America, Is the Dutch
Kriss Kringle, by which he is known
in England, is a corruption Of Christ
Kindlein or the Christ Child But the
festivities that distinguish Christmas
existed long before Christianity, and
jolly god Of good cheer appears as the
personiticaHon of the period from the
earlier pagan times. Now the Santa
Claus Of today is simply that old jolly
god sobered up. washed and purified
The Dionysia Of the Greeks. the Sat
urnalia of the Romans. the Twelve
Nights of the old Norsemen and of the
Teutons all celebrated the coming of
the winter solstice People then gave
themselves up to all sorts of revelry
and excess In the Dionysia the repre-
sentative figure was not the young
Dfonysus or Bacchus, but the aged.
CHEEKY and disreputable Silenus, the
chief Of the Satyrs and the god of
drunkards In the Saturnalia it was
Saturn: in the Germa mic feasts it was
Thor, both long bearded and white.
haired gods like Silenus,
% Now, although the central figure of
the Christian festival is the child God.
the Christ Kindlein. the influence of
long pagan custom was too strong
within the breasts of the early Chris.
tians to be easily superseded. The ira
dition of hoary age as the true repre-
sentative Of the dying year and its at
tendant Notifications still remained
smoldering under the ashes of the
past 1t burst into new fame when
the past was too far back to be looked
upon with the fear and antagonism of
the church and there seemed no longer
any danger of relapse into paga nism.
At first, however. the more dignified
representa- tive was chosen .as more in
keeping with the occasion Saturn
was unconsciously rebaptized as st
Nicholas, the name of the saint whose
festival occurs in December and who
as the patron Of young people is espe-
cially fitted for the patronage Of the
festival which has come to be looked
upon as especially that Of the young.
At first st. Nicholas did not supersede
the Christ Child. but accompanied him
In his Christmas travels, as. indeed, he
still does in certain rural neighbor-
hoods of Europe where the modern
spirit has been least felt
st. Nicholas. according to the hagi-
ologtst, was bishop of Myra. who
flourished early in the fourth century.
He is the patron Of children and
schoolboys.
1t is strange that everywhere St
Nicholas Is most honored and his feast.
day most observed the most pious and
instructed among the common people
know little Of the legend of the saint
He is treated with that mixture of Sc
robustness and frivolity which becomes
a dying myth.
In southern Germany and Austria
youth CARRIED as st. Nicholas and ac-
companied by two angels and q whole
troop of devils in hideous masquerade,
with blackened faces and clanking
chains, on Dec. (St Nicholas festal
day. makes round Of certain houses
where the little ones of the village
have been collected. To the good chill
dren he brings gifts of nuts and APP
pies. while the naughty ones are left
to the devices of the satanic followers
in his train
In many places the bugbear over
shadows In Importance both the Christ
SAlius luu 5I1C adppCdlS
under different names and in different
gutses. In Lower Austria be is the
frightful Krampus with his clanking
chains and horrible DEVILS mask. who,
Notwithstanding his gilded nuts and
apples. gingerbread and toys. which
he carries in his basket. is the terror
OF the nursery. In Hanover Holstein
and Mecklenburg he is known as Clas.
In Silesia his name Is Joseph
Sometimes the bugbear was female
In Lower Austria she was called the
sBndelfran In Sna bia it was the
sBerchtel who chastised children. that
did not spin diligently. with rods, but
the Industrious with dried
pears. apples and nuts
The. female bogy survives especially
in Russia and in Italy n the former
place she is known as he Rabonshka.
in the latter as the Refana Refana is
a corruption of Epiphania or Epipha-
ny. for It is on Epiphany. Jan 6. that
the Italians make presents to their
children in eemmemorat ton OF the gifts
given by the three wise men to Christ
on that date.
7 u