January: The tradition of Wassail. Cakes, Ale & the appointment of a Lord of Misrule
The tradition of wassailing is one of having cakes and ale on Twelfth Night or Epiphany the following day.
However traditions are quite flexible so you can do this at any time up to Shrove Tuesday
This time of year is that of few hours of daylight and scarcity of fresh produce so things like cake and ale were and are welcome.
A tradition was to bake a cake with a bean, or possibly a pea or a coin in and the person discovering it in their piece of cake became the Lord of Misrule for Twelfth Night
The traditional Wassail was to go house to house with the following cry:
we are not daily beggars that beg from door to door
But we are friendly neighbours whom you have seen before.
There is also a case I think for attempting to reclaim a radical tradition of the Lord of Misrule. A giant model of a naked Nigel Farage paraded through the streets sitting backwards on a donkey would add something to the sum of human jollity.
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