ZAPATA, a kind of feast or ceremony held in Italy, in the courts of certain princes, on St. Nicholas's day; wherein people slide presents in the shoes or slippers of those they would do honour to, in such a manner as may surprise them on the morrow when they come to dress; being done in imitation of the practice of St. Nicholas, who used in the night-time to throw purses of money in at the windows, to marry poor maids withal.