Named after the
ship of the infamous children's
cartoon character, Captain Pugwash,
Black Pig Border was formed in 1986 in
Langley Mill/Eastwood on the
Nottingham and Derby border. Over the
years we have developed our own style
of Border Morris performing both
traditional dances and some of our own
invention. We are a mixed group of
both female and male dancers and
musicians. We wear brightly coloured
tailcoats and top hats festooned with
feathers, flowers, ribbons and bells.
We uphold the Border Morris tradition
by painting our faces as a disguise.
If you want to know
more about what and how we do things,
or what to expect if you join us, then
download the leaflets below:
(Either open and download or
right-click and choose download. If the pages seem a bit 'random',
this is because all
leaflets are designed to be printed
double-sided on A4 paper and then
folded to create an A5 booklet)
Firstly, this
introductory leaflet on "The
Prospects Before Us..."
and this one for "Your
First Dance-out..."
and this one on "Why
We Paint Our Faces"
The Black Pig Border Morris are
Corporate members of the
Official Monster Raving Loony
Party
(NB. As of 2019, we changed
our rulings on face painting and the
updated leaflets reflect these
changes. This was not because we see
a link between 'English' blackface
(done for disguise and similar
reasons) and 'American' blackface
(done to mimic negro minstrel shows
- with perceived overtones of
slavery) but because we finally had
to accept that the distinction
remains misunderstood.)