Christmas traditions and customs God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen : The story behind the oldest Christmas Carol (reading). Even Charles Dickens gave it a prominent place in his classic novel, A Christmas Carol . Ebenezer Scrooge showed a depth of his sad self in this paragraph from Dicken's classic: “...at the first sound of 'God bless you merry, gentlemen, May nothing you dismay!’ Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action that the singer fled in terror, leaving the keyhole to the fog and even more congenial frost”. New Year's quiz... about Scotland : Test your knowledge on Scot's Hogmanay! Shall I jog your memory?