Malcolm, it's the collective elements: the black face, the "niggering", and the instruments which all make a strong case for border once being closely associated with minstrelsy. But it's very possible that the instruments you play, if histroical to the morris side you dance with and if they go back far enough, may once have been related to minstrelsy, too. It was hugely popular. But there is a big difference between putting on blackface and playing a banjo in terms of the potential offence caused in 2009.

"Does this mean I'm a racist?" I have been at pains to say that I do not believe present-day border morris dancers to be racist simply because they black up.

Villan, are your two border teams revival sides or traditional sides? How long have they been going? Where did their information about dancing "as their forefathers did" come from?

People interested in the genesis of this "ancient tradition" might like to read the following article. John Kirkpatrick doesn't say much about the history of blacking up, but it does give an insight into how long border, as it is practiced in 2009, has been going...


Border Morris - Roots and Revival