I'm somewhat mystified by the Christmas song, which seems to be fairly well known in Britain, called THE FAIRY ON THE CHRISTMAS TREE. I assume it refers to the ornament at the very top of the tree. In the US, this would always (I think) be called an angel, not a fairy—unless it's something totally different, like a star.

What do fairies have to do with Christmas, anyway?

So, please tell me, what are your earliest memories of what sort of thing was put at the top of your Christmas tree? If it was a winged figure, were the wings birdlike, or butterfly-like, or ambiguous, or what? Did it have a halo? Did it have any distinguishing characteristics that would clearly identify it as either an angel or a fairy? What did you call it? How was its significance explained to you?

In my own childhood (in the US), we had a star, which I understood to represent the Star of Bethlehem. At some point I became aware that some other people's trees had an angel, which represented the angel that announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds. In either case, it seemed appropriate for such an ornament to be at the very top of the tree, because either a star or an angel would naturally be seen in the sky (or so we were told).

And please don't forget to tell me where you are. Phrases like "over here" don't help very much.

If you can provide links to pictures, that would be a bonus.