Stocking fillers are as much a part of Christmas as mistletoe and wine, to badly misquote the perennial Cliff Richard favourite. Doesn't rhyme too well either! The stocking filler is on a par with the tree, of course, and tinsel, Christmas crackers, mince pies, Santa, Christmas cards, turkey... And so it goes on, year after year, with hardly a pause to consider the true meaning of the holiday. I suppose we shouldn't be too surprised, and maybe even be forgiven, given that the festive shenanigans we enjoy so much, and which we take so easily for granted, are shrouded in such mystery.

I mean, stocking fillers, where did that much-loved tradition come from? The honest answer is we simply don't know. But it's been around for almost as long as Santa's reindeer, maybe even longer. And although the sources consulted may all be different, likely as not they'll tell a similar story. Wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the sources are all based on the self-same story, with a few words changed here and there, with the setting similarly varied down the years. There's usually an old guy involved, and he's depressed because he's worried about the future of his three young daughters. He's broke, so he's got no money for their marriage dowries. Sometimes the old guy comes from peasant stock. Other times he's part of the nobility.

Take your pick. What happened to his wife is never properly explained, although some accounts say she died of an illness. Where the story takes place, too, is anyone's guess. Probably somewhere in a village in central Europe sounds about right. Enter Saint Nicholas who happens to be passing through. How he gets to hear of the old man and his plight is never made clear. But somehow he does, and he's overcome with a desire to help him out. Knowing the old man is proud, and so wouldn't accept charity, he waits until night and secretly climbs down the chimney. He's got three little bags of gold coins with him, and as he's wondering where to put them, spots three pairs of stockings hanging by the fire drying. The stockings belong to the old man's daughters. Saint Nicholas places a bag of coins into each one and then sneaks out of the house. Naturally, in the morning, when the old man and his daughters discover the golden gifts, they're over the moon.

Now the daughters can all marry, which they do, and they and the old man live happily ever after. That's the story of how the Christmas stocking came about. Wouldn't it be nice to wake up on Christmas morning to find a little bag of gold coins in the stocking? What a stocking filler. Hey, where's Saint Nicholas when you need him! Seriously, it's a nice Christmas tale and one which has been enthusiastically adopted by millions of children around the world. And, of course, the stocking has changed somewhat over the years. Now they come ready-made in all colours and sizes, sometimes filled with rather expensive gifts. So next time you rip open a Christmas stocking filled to the brim with all manner of Christmas stocking fillers , spare a thought for good old Saint Nicholas, the man who started it all.