40 years before the time Derek Schofield was writing in EDS "morris" was almost exclusively Cotswold, although there were some North West sides around, mostly in that region. Neither tradition involves blacking up. The revivals of Molly and Border were only just beginning.

The Cotswold and North West traditions are the dogs that didn't bark. They would have been exposed to minstrelsy just as much as anyone else in the population at the time, and some minstrel tunes were used for Cotswold, but they didn't adopt blacking up. The obvious explanation was that as there was no tradition of blacking up there was no crossover between Cotswold morris and minstrelsy. To me this also suggests that the traditions which most readily absorbed minstrel influences were those which already involved blacking up. I would guess that the same applies to Padstow, and that minstrel influences were tacked onto an existing tradition of blacking up.

Minstrelsy undoubtedly complicates any consideration of this topic, not least because our modern attitude to blacking up is inevitably seen through that prism. Ignoring blacking up, there is nothing in morris to suggest that it is imitating, let alone denigrating, black people, whereas a minstrel show even without blackface would be undoubtedly racist. Darkie Day appears to be rather different, but I wonder whether Padstonians would be more receptive to change if they didn't feel they were being pressured by outsiders.

Minstrelsy was of its time. Of course it had an influence on folk traditions just as other aspects of popular culture had, and continue to have. I don't think we need be ashamed that many of our folk traditions involve blacking up because I don't believe these had racist origins. I fully understand those sides which have decided to adopt different colours - it is the pragmatic approach and seeks to avoid misunderstandings and possible offence - but I also understand those which take a stand and continue to black up.