Elmore, have you read the Jack Tales? I just learned of them and now can't wait to lay my hands on a copy. They're Appalachian folk tales with Jack of the beanstalk fame in various other tales. Don't know if any take place at Christmas or if any music is spoken on in them, but I thought of you when one of my professors was talking about them to me earlier this evening. (We're not reading them for class; we're reading Song of Roland, the Kalevala and the Niebelungenlied instead.)