nd, and Austria St. Nicholas is
mimed by a man dressed up as a bishop.{38} In Tyrol children pray to the
saint on his Eve and leave out hay for his white horse and a glass of
_schnaps_ for his servant. And he comes in all the splendour of a
church-image, a reverend grey-haired figure with flowing beard,
gold-broidered cope, glittering mitre, and pastoral staff. Children who
know their catechism are rewarded with sweet things out of the basket
carried by his servant; those who cannot answer are reproved, and St.
Nicholas points to a terrible form that stands behind him with a rod--the
hideous Klaubauf, a shaggy monster with horns, black face, fiery eyes,
long red tongue, and chains that clank as he moves.{39}

In Lower Austria the saint is followed by a similar figure called Krampus
or Grampus;{40} in Styria this horrible attendant is named Bartel;{41}
all are no doubt related to such monsters as the _Klapperbock_ (see
Chapter VII.). Their heathen origin is evident though it is difficult to
trace their exact pedigree. Sometimes St. Nicholas himself appears in a
non-churchly form like Pelzmaerte, with a bell,{42} or with a sack of
ashes which gains him the name of Aschenklas.{43}

|220| Not only by hideous figures is St. Nicholas attended. Sometimes,
as at Warnsdorf near Rumburg, there come with him the forms of Christ
Himself, St. Peter, an angel, and the famous Knecht Ruprecht, whom we
shall meet again on Christmas Eve. They are represented by children, and
a little drama is performed, one personage coming in after the other and
calling for the next in the manner of the English mummers' play. St.
Nicholas, St. Peter, and Ruprecht accuse the children of all kinds of
naughtiness, the "Heiliger Christ" intercedes and at last throws nuts
down and receives money from the parents.{44} In Tyrol there are St.
Nicholas plays of a more comic nature, performed publicly by large
companies of players and introducing a number of humorous characters and
much rude popular wit.{45}

Sometimes a female bogey used to appear: Budelfrau in Lower Austria,
Berchtel in Swabia, Buzebergt in the neighbourhood of Augsburg.{46} The
last two are plainly variants of Berchte, who is specially connected with
the Epiphany. Berchtel used to punish the naughty children with a rod,
and reward the good with nuts and apples; Buzebergt wore black rags, had
her face blackened and her hair hanging unkempt, and carried a pot of
starch which she smeared upon p