les.{90} In him there is obviously more of the pagan mummer than the
Christian bishop.

In Belgium St. Martin is chiefly known as the bringer of apples and nuts
for children; in Bavaria and Austria he has a different aspect: a _gerte_
or rod, supposed to promote fruitfulness among cattle and prosperity in
general, is connected with his day. The rods are taken round by the
neatherds to the farmers, and one is given to each--two to rich
proprietors; they are to be used, when spring comes, to drive out the
cattle for the first time. In Bavaria they are formed by a birch-bough
with all the leaves and twigs stripped off--except at the top, to which
oak-leaves and juniper-twigs are fastened. At Etzendorf a curious old
rhyme shows that the herdsman with the rod is regarded as the
representative of St. Martin.{91}

Can we connect this custom with the saint who brings presents to
youngsters?[92] There seems to be a point of contact when we note that at
Antwerp St. Martin throws down rods for naughty children as well as nuts
and apples for good ones, and that Pelzmaerte in Swabia has blows to
bestow as well as gifts. St. Martin's main functions--and, as we shall
see, St. Nicholas has the same--are to beat the bad children and reward
the good with apples, nuts, and cakes. Can it be that the ethical
distinction is of comparatively recent origin, an invention perhaps for
children when the customs came to be performed solely for their benefit,
and that the beating and the gifts were originally shared by all alike
and were of a sacramental character? We shall meet with more whipping
customs later on, they are common enough in folk-ritual, and are not
punishments, but kindly services; their purpose is to drive away evil
influences, and to bring to the flogged one the life-giving virtues of
the tree from which the twigs or boughs are taken.{92} Both the flogging
and the eating of fruit may, indeed, be means of contact with the
vegetation-spirit, the one in |208| an external, the other in a more
internal way. Or possibly the rod and the fruit may once have been
conjoined, the beating being performed with fruit-laden boughs in order
to produce prosperity. It is noteworthy that at Etzendorf so many head of
cattle and loads of hay are augured for the farmer as there are
juniper-_berries_ and twigs on St. Martin's _gerte_.{94}

Attempts to account for the figures of SS. Martin and Nicholas in
northern folk-customs have been made along vari