I think the tradition of the peasants going around the big houses of the gentry, singing and performing in exchange for some coins or for food and drink, has largely died out in the UK now. Instead, many public performances of carols - even impromptu ones in the street etc - are done alongside a collection tin for some charity.

We used to do a folky "Carol Crawl" around the pubs of Steyning in Sussex, singing/playing a few carols and then moving on to the next pub. People tended to assume we were doing it to raise money for charity, or that if we weren't, we should have been. The idea of doing it just to share an enjoy the music was puzzling to some.

Marje