Border Morris - Black Face

Black Face

In recent years, the black face has created some controversy, particularly in North America. The usual explanation for the black face is that it is for "disguise", and that during the hard winters of the 17-18th Century out of work labourers and builders sought to anonymously supplement their income by a bit of dancing and begging. The use of the black face as a form of disguise is certainly well established in early 18th century England - so much so, that in 1723 it became a capital offence under the Waltham "Black Act" to appear "in disguise, either by mask or by blackened face".

|url=http://www.americanmorrisnews.org/pastissues/april2005v25n1/current_issue/gordonashmanv25n1bordermorrisrootsandrevival.html |title=Border Morris: Roots & Revival (Transcript of Talk) |publisher=American Morris Newsletter |date=April 2005 |accessdate=18 December 2011}}

There are even earlier recordings of a black-face morris tradition in Europe. Carved figures from 1480 in Munich, Germany show "moriscan dancers" with black faces and bells and evidence from France includes the quote from Arbeau circa 1580 which stated "In fashionable society when I was young, a small boy, his face daubed with black and his forehead swathed in a white or yellow handkerchief, would make an appearance after supper. He wore leggings covered with little bells and performed a morris". However, there is too little recorded evidence to prove or disprove any linkage to the dances on the English Welsh borders.

More recently, some people have postulated that the black face tradition was linked to the much later introduction of the American minstrel shows into Victorian England in the late 1830s. However, there is no direct evidence of this nor any explanation for why rural border morris dancers would choose to adapt their traditional folk dances to partially dress like the minstrel performers, but not adopt the whole costume or any other element of the show. By the early 20th century, border morris dancing was referred to colloquially by some as "nigger dancing" or "going niggering". Some view this as direct evidence of the link with minstrel shows and others regard this as nothing more than an obvious description of an older black-face tradition using the terminology and culture of the times.

Whatever the theory, there is certainly no evidence that modern border sides attach any racial significance to the blacking of their faces and most choose to accept the explanation of "disguise" for the tradition. Despite that, a few recent sides have chosen to paint their faces in colours other than black to avoid controversy.