I danced with a mixed dance team with black faces, in our area the dancers used to dance through peoples houses and take soot of the fire back to wipe on their faces, so that when at the end of the night when high jinks took place anonimity was assured. The are reports of the dancers performing for the local nobility and being provided with supper in the servants hall.The local history suggests that in the main it was driven by one family and they were "vagabonds". Keith