User talk:MarkEliotMcKinney

God rest ye merry, gentlemen
Mark: Greetings.

As I understand it, Wikipedia is supposed to provide attributable, encyclopaedic information, citing reliable sources. So I don't quite understand your changes to "God rest ye merry, gentlemen".

Now for a carol such as "God rest ye ...", this is tricky because of the huge variety of different forms in which it has existed over the years. But that emphasises all the more the desirability of citing sources.

Version 185729565 cites (accurately I hope) a widely used and respected version in the UK (the country of origin of the carol). The text above states that source, and the citation within the quotation box also confirms that source. So what existed just now is manifestly inaccurate (text and citation inconsistent). Therefore I'm reverting it.

What overall vision do you have for this article?

Perhaps there is scope for adding a second (probably quite different) version, so that the reader can see the range of possibilities. But that, of course, should also be cited and attributed. (But note that a modern version could well breach copyright.)

It would be tempting to give a thorough history of various versions. But the history of this carol is so complex, that this would be a major undertaking. Besides, I think we would be hard-pressed even to approach, let alone surpass, an already existing and thorough history at The Hymns and Carols of Christmas.

You obviously have access to a variety of sources, including some modern paraphrases. Your resources, your knowledge and your research could be very useful to building a high quality article.

Perhaps you could build a section about recent developments in the text of the carol. And perhaps base it on an older, longer version of the carol (such as a nine-verse variant), with side notes (a little like the couple that exist at version 185729565.

What do you think?

Could you come over to the talk page Talk:God_Rest_Ye_Merry%2C_Gentlemen to discuss it?

Thanks. Feline Hymnic (talk) 23:37, 29 January 2008 (UTC)