And, yes; much as some people might like to believe that these things were survivals from "Pagan Times", it does seem much more likely that they were, in the main, mostly about getting a few drinks.  When Cecil Sharp discovered Morris Dancing, for example, it was because the weather was bad and there wasn't any work to be had in the building trade, so William Kimber got a scratch team together to go out and dance to see if they could make a bit of money to tide then over.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Malcolm