Zwarte Piet

I was reading up on a little today on 'ol Sinterklaas (Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, Papa Noel, ...Santa Claus!), and ran across some information that's relatively new to me. According to Dutch folklore, Saint Nicholas has a companion by the name of Zwarte Piet, otherwise known as Black Pete. This person (some legends call him Santa's servant) helps St. Nick judge the children to figure out who's been good & who's been bad. Children would put hay or carrots in their wooden shoes for Black Pete to see when he comes down their chimneys. If a child was good, Pete would leave them small treasures and sweets. If they were bad, some stories tell how Zwarte Piet would leave a lump of coal in their shoes... or snatch them up in his sack and carried away!

I think if I'd heard that story as a child, I would've been striving really hard to be good as Christmas approached! Yikes!