I don't doubt for a moment that you posted in good faith; uncritically, however. The road to hell, as you know, is paved with good intentions; and it is unwise to hold your breath while walking it.

Beyond supporting Greg's well-made point (though of course unpopular; the truth is usually unpopular when it spoils cosy fantasy) I might add, for example, The Yule Days. It's a Scottish form of The Twelve Days of Christmas; a reciting-game rather than a song, but it does have the merit of being more than a century old and not re-invented last week.

It's generally the case that "Yule" doesn't appear much in song between the middle ages and the 19th century, when it became fashionable again; it's a perfectly good Old English word (geol, and Old Norse jol) but not greatly used in popular culture until revived in Victorian times.

I for one would like to apologise to Sarah for becoming involved in an unseemly quarrel in the middle of her thread. I'm afraid that we do get involved in arguments here, sometimes. It's one of those things that you don't grow out of when you get to be "grown-up", as it turns out. For what it's worth, it does at least prove that we care passionately about the subject!