Seven Champions

Backblip - Monday at Shrewsbury Folk Festival.

These are three of the excellent Seven Champions Molly Dancers - so clever and amusing without cracking a smile. I chose this as this is the last year that the festival will allow blacking up as the organisers have had a complaint that there could be legal repercussions as it could cause racial offence. 

There has been a lot of controversy about this as the blacking up is a 500 year old custom that has nothing to do with race. Years ago begging was illegal and offenders could be flogged. As people didn't want to be recognised and punished or seen by employers and sacked, they blacked their faces as a disguise when they were given money for dancing. 

The extra is of the The Levellers on concert.