This programme revealed only how little the participants and the critics know about the origins of this traditional festival.

Controversy is caused by the name Darkie Day - now changed to Mummers Day - blacked-up faces and the words of the minstrel song;

Old Uncle Ned Written & Composed by Stephen C. Foster
New York: Millet's Music Salon, 1848

Den lay down de shubble and de hoe,
Hang up de fiddle and de bow:
No more hard work for poor Old Ned-
He's gone whar de good Niggas go,
No more hard work for poor Old Ned-
He's gone whar de good Niggas go.

If there is now a link with black slaves, it may have been introduced from the strong Methodist movement in Cornwall which supported the abolition of slavery. However, the roots of the tradition are likely to go back well beyond the date of this song.

BBC Radio 4 The Untold - Darkie Day: Michael and the Mummers

Grace Dent presents untold stories of 21st century Britain. Young black film director Michael Jenkins is making a film about Padstow's Darkie Day. It's a long standing tradition where local residents black up their faces and process through the streets singing and dancing. The locals are defensive about their celebration which is part of their Cornish identity.

Despite what outsiders think they say it has no racial overtones, but they did change the name to Mummers Day after complaints prompted MP Diane Abbott to call for the festival to be stopped. As a young Black British man Michael wants to experience it for himself and capture it on film.

Will any of the town's residents accept his invitation to sit down and have an honest conversation with him about Darkie Day's origins and meaning? Is political correctness making it worse? This is a story where modern Britain meets medieval history in a clash of cultures.