In my faint memory is a reference from D. Easby (now posting under "The Borchester Echo") about (I think?) her grandfathers recollections of 'reddening up' so to speak, in Yorkshire Morris tradition - ie: using red clay to disguise the face in precisely the same fashion as blackening the face with burnt corks is used in other traditions.

If she sees this thread, hopefully she might confirm or not, my memory of that posting.

The point of course being clarification of the *guising function* of colouring the face, with whatever materials were readily available.