Thanks, Little Robyn for your response and for your links. Yes, I gathered from the pm I got from another Mudcat and from Cats and your comment that the author of that book was using quite a bit of creative license.

Robyn, your link to the celebration mentioned the Hal-and-Tow. Has there ever been any connection made to Hal and Tow and the American "heel and toe" plantation dance that became famous (maybe I should say "infamous") as the performance of the song "Jim Crow" or is this just a coincidence that those phrases sound the same?

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Also, [and I ask this with all due respect' is there only one Obby Oss during the Padstow celebration, or could there be more than one man dressed up like Obby Oss?