I never denied that the majority of minstrels were Irish and later Jewish. You stated that NONE were English, I was simply trying to point out that some were. I also stated that my use of Celtic was not the best.

As far as mumming goes, before I enter into any further points on this matter, please read Dale Crockrell's book. His evidence seems better than most that I have seen. The fact that characters with black faces do show up very early on and in many documentable ways needs to be investigated. I am NOT saying that modern mumming has not been influenced by minstrelsy, I only state that evidence exists that would show us that the basic tradition is older than minstrelsy. Much of the better scholarship on this subject has been done in the last 10 years. You might want to look into this new evidence and then decide if it does or does not meet your requirements for good scholarship.

I do agree that this should be taught in the schools. I do teach this in school and have for the last five years. I know of at least 15 other college level courses taught on the subject. I wish it were closer to 150. I do not advocate the revival of these shows as a form of entertainment. I do, however, think that we should perform these shows in limited venues, for academic purposes, since there are no extant films of these early shows. Much can be learned from accurate portrayals on stage.

If we agree that the shows are not to be brought back, then what of the music. Do we stop singing O Susanna? Do we continue as we are, or do we use this and other tunes to educate the public?

Last thing--- I really hate it when I do not know who I am talking to, could you please give us a name Guest? To show you that I am willing to give mine as well, I close

George C. Wunderlich (Butch to all who have known me since childhood)