"melodies used were often taken from the Church,from hymn tunes that were already in the national consciousness"

The reverse is more often the case. An awful lot of those tunes were already folk tunes before the church got hold of them.... what do you think people sang or hummed before Christianity took hold? Even W A Mozart stole Austrian folk dances and re-wrote them. I know of many folk tunes used for hymns, but very few hymn tunes that became folk songs. There ARE a lot of tunes in the national consciousness but you may find that they are fading away. I have several song books that have lyrics but no music - not because it was too expensive to put the tune in, but because the tunes were considered so common and popular as to not require writing out again. The lyrics have been remembered (only partially in some cases) but the tunes lost.*

As for putting old words to new music - define your use of new. Do you mean newly composed or 'the words of one song to the tune of another'? If the latter, then the contestants on 'I'm Sorry I haven't a Clue' do it almost every week they're on. I've done it myself and it can bring a whole new force and meaning to a previously hackneyed and trite verse. Try singing 'Rudolph the Red nosed reindeer' to the tune of 'Lovely Nancy'... turns a children's bit of fun into a soulful song of lonliness and suffering.

If you mean newly composed - people do it every day. I'm presently learning a piece written by a living composer, a Mr Paul Patterson. He celebrates his 60th birthday this year and we're singing his arrangement of a song that can be dated back to before Christianity and used in churches since the 2nd Century AD. The song is Kyrie Eleison - Lord, have mercy. Composers have been making new tunes to that particular piece for about 1800 years and as I said in my first post here, some are more memorable than others.

* In cases where songs have been partially lost, it's usually the chorus that is remembered. How many people in the street, when asked, would even know there was more to 'My old man said "follow the van"' than just the chorus? Could it be the build up verse (We had to move away, cos the rent we couldn't pay) isn't remembered because the tune of it is nowhere near as catchy and singable as the chorus?

LTS