Black faces and being covered in ribbons (or tatters) are methods of disguise (or guise - pronounced geeze) and were used so that if you muffed it up or as things got rowdier, played a trick on your host for not giving you the decent beer, you wouldn't be recognised the next day (except maybe by the bits of soot stuck to your ears...) The tatters were old clothes torn into strips and sewn to a jacket, to disguise the shape of the person, their everyday clothes (in an era when most people were sewn into their only shirt in September and didn't take it off until May [ne'er cast a clout {cloth} till the may be out] and it was recognisable by all), and to keep them warm - a tatter jacket is much warmer than an ordinary one.... try it!

The ribbon masks were hoods with stiffened tops that had strips of cloth or ribbons sewn on to disguise the features but still allow space for breathing and playing instruments. There's a bit in one of the Thomas Hardy novels where a girl takes over as one of the mummers - not a seemly thing for a girl, as it involved wearing boys' clothes. Apparently it was OK for a bloke to dress as a girl but not vice versa..... I think it is 'Return of the Native'.

LTS

PS Malcom, I've just got back from a weekend in Sheffield, parading a giant and playing with Sheffield City Morris - they are a superb team, you're very lucky to have them!! (OK so I fancy at least 3 of them......)