The third is dark, solemn and scary, reflecting Scrooge’s fears of death and also the sadness that will emanate from him if he does not change, but also with an indistinct face and shape, perhaps suggesting the potential malleability of the future. Article – Protestant music". Archived from the original on 11 May 2013 . Retrieved 22 November 2010.

The image of the Holly and the Ivy is an ancient folkloric trope representing the male and the female, and fertility. Like many early carols it was orally preserved and passed down through the centuries before being ‘collected’ and published by Cecil Sharp. Each verse compares an aspect of the Holly to a virtue of the Virgin Mary. Cutolo, Cesare; Grosse, F (12 March 1866). The Victorian Christmas waltz. Melbourne: Ebenezer and David Syme – via Trove. There is humour too, such as observing that a coffin nail would be deader than the proverbial doornail.The book opens with wonderful bathos, “ Marley was dead, to begin with.” So right from the outset it is clear it is not a straightforward factual tale. Apart from the famous ghosts (of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come), which were not unusual in literature of the time, it has time travel and parallel worlds, where each significant choice leads to a branching of reality, which is a staple of much great sci fi. Not such a typical Victorian novel after all.

Almost all the well-known carols were not sung in church until the second half of the 19th century. [ citation needed] Hymns Ancient and Modern 1861–1874 included several carols.There are other links too: three people profiting from the spoils of the dead man (like the Roman soldiers at the cross, albeit they cast lots to decide who got what) and Peter Cratchit reading from the Bible in Christmas yet to come. The Adoration of the shepherds, for example the Czech carol "Nesem vám noviny" (translated into English as "Come, All Ye Shepherds") Ashley, Judith (1924). "Mediæval Christmas Carols". Music & Letters. 5 (1): 65–71. doi: 10.1093/ml/V.1.65. ISSN 0027-4224. JSTOR 726261.