Anglo

This is what I have - more what it isn't than what it is - and it seems you are right!

It should perhaps be noted that this event has no place in the Bible, nor even in the (known) apocryphal gospels (though it reminds one of various events in the "Infancy Gospel of Thomas," which also contains some rather nasty miracles). The bridge of sunbeams is a commonplace in religious art.

The song has been collected mainly in W. England (earliest collected 1905).

It has the same plot as "The Holy Well" (earliest collected 1833)

By "Not usually sung" I was meaning that it's not one of your run-of-the-mill Christmas carols rather than it's sung any other time. That's the trouble with a negative like that, it's easy to make assumptions about what it means.

I'm still looking for more information about this one, so let me know if you get any more!

Cheers!
Ian