St nick

This festivity may be slightly quaint in this country, but is not across much of Europe, where St Nick rides a white horse through the streets of cities such as Amsterdam, Brussels and Vienna, and children receive elaborate chocolate models of a jolly bearded bishop.

In much of Europe, where the veneration of saints remains part of popular culture, St Nick appears in a variety of forms - in some cities he rides through the streets on a horse - and children receive models of a jolly bearded bishop.

In the latter part of the 19th century, St Nick was engaged by Lewis's department store in Liverpool to entertain children in its Christmas Fairyland.