Just had another thought. probably had it before but the old memory ain't what it used to be :-S Even if, and I think it is a big if, someone from Bacup had witnessed US minstrelsy or a US minstrel troupe or a UK based copy had performed in black face in Bacup prior to 1857, I doubt very much if the locals would have seen it as poking fun at black people. I doubt that they had seen many black people let alone had decided that they were in some way inferior. As I said - Just a thought.

D.