Well Henry, sounds like Cat out of Bag time to me. 19C Border Morris was deeply influenced by Minstrelsey.

From an article in ED&S:
The piece goes on to discuss the incorporation of blacking up into "traditional" events: "There would seem to be little doubt that the black faces of the traditional morris dance groups of the Welsh Border counties were at least influenced by minstrelsy. The occasional use of banjoes, bones and tambourines in these morris dances cannot be mere coincidence."

They dance dances they have made up, to tunes that were almost certainly never used for morris and on instruments sometimes invented in the 20C. They wear costumes sometimes unrelated to the custom they claim to be reviving. But they hang on to the bit of tradition that has one foot in 19C music hall racism.

To be fair many sides in The Border Tradition - Bollin here in Manchester - go and see them they are brilliant - use a range of colour on their faces

Best wishes