Twelfth Night

In some locations in the British Isles, the Epiphany aka 12th Night aka Three Kings Day was more of a big deal than Christmas Day. 
Shakespeare wrote about some of the customs in his titular stage play, including a Lord of Misrule, parties, and games.
However, many of the 12th Night celebrations had nothing to do with Jesus or the gifts of the Wise Men or the holy circumcision (yes, really) or any other Biblical event. Most Twelfth Night traditions came straight from the Pagans.
These included the Mari Lwyd, which I've written about in other entries, songs and dances, and Wassailing the Trees. For the latter, toast was soaked in apple cider, and placed in the branches of the oldest apple tree in the orchard. Homage was paid to this vital fruit source, and the spirit of the tree was asked to provide many apples in the following harvest season. Guns were shot off to scare away evil spirits. Wassailing was also a house-to-house singing tradition, similar to Christmas Caroling.
The Christmas season was considered to be over and done with on the Monday following 12th Night, which was called Plough Monday. It's time for working-class people to return to their chores, which in that climate, included plowing the fields.

---