This is the generally understood origin story for A Christmas Carol https://youtu.be/cTHAN3_P7uE?si=cPIEF-F5dCErNoSS You have made an interesting case for plagiarism here: https://youtu.be/2c53mXnukb8?si=uFPS3_y2rNkfxkDP I am unconvinced but I think that others should make up their own minds. I would say, though, that the source origin is not the crucial element in perhaps the most influential novel of in the English language in terms of its broader social impact.

Why is A Christmas Carol so central to the modern (secular) celebration of Christmas? Surely it is Dickens genius for vivid story telling. In Stave One, for example, we have essentially a fairly cliched character conflict - grumpy old man v pious nephew. But who can forget 'Bah humbug' or 'an excuse to pick a man's pocket' or 'Out upon Christmas' or 'Christmas a humbug, Uncle?' Similarly the whole Malthus debate (population surplus theory etc.) is summarised in that single brilliant scene with the charity collectors. Dickens, for all his faults - the sentimentality, the verbosity etc - is still up there with Shakespeare in his ability to express the human condition.