Green faces for Herefordshire Morris dancers over racism concerns

Herefordshire Morris men dance for the first time without their usual black face-paint.

Silurian Border Morrismen recently voted to end the tradition, which dates back five centuries, amid growing controversy that the practice is racist.

Traditionally, black soot is worn by dancers as a disguise so that they can beg without conflicting with the law.

But Ledbury-based Silurian Morris had previously announced that it had decided to switch to green after a majority vote.

The group first showed off their new dark green look when they performed in front of Market House on Bank Holiday Monday (December 27th) on their traditional Christmas tour of Ledbury High Street.

The group performed an English folk dance in front of crowds of onlookers who cheered and clapped along.

Speaking to the crowd, Silurian foreman Ian Craigan referred to “recent media controversy” but joked that it was instead because one of its members was going “carbon neutral”.

Morris dancer Chris Mulvey, 71, admitted that the majority of the group would have liked to continue with the black disguise, but felt it was the right time to switch.

Mr. Mulvey, who has been a member since 1978, said: “We played about 15 of us and hundreds came and watched us dance.

“We have not received any direct comments from anyone, we have not expected any public antagonism at all, and that is proven.

“You just want to see people laugh and make fun of themselves.

“We don’t upset anyone. If someone is offended, we don’t want to add that.

“We just want to come out and do the dance we danced. It was always based on a visual disguise.

“The idea for the disguise originally had to do with begging laws: If someone gets caught, you could say, ‘I don’t know who you are because of your disguise’.

“We had the racism controversy, so we’ve changed. We don’t want confusion on this matter.”

Mr Craigan added that some people “feel it is a step too far” but he wants to “be on the right side” to attract new members to the club.

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