I've only just come across this site, but a few days back you people were talking about the various 'old' carol traditions in England. You can find a lot about the Yorkshire/Derbyshire etc area at:

www.sgpublishing.co.uk/gm/vc/vcabout.html

we have a tradition down here in Somerset at Odcombe, near Yeovil ( going at least 150 years) and there are also traditions in Cornwall.

My Favourites: "While Shepherd's" with either the tune from Roadwater, Somerset, or from Thomas Hardy's manuscripts from Dorset.

Liland: Why so many "While Shepherd's"? - I've been told because it was one of the few lyrics allowed to be sung by the Puritans. And I've sung it to lots of diffrent local tunes, probably about 5 as a guess, but there are loads more!

re: Holly & Ivy: how long ago and/or in what dialect of English was "choir" rhymed with "deer"? Down this way, deer has two slurred syllables: 'dee' and 'or',which goes quite well with 'qwy' and 'or'. A lot of regional dialects use a similar two syllable word.