The Britannia Coco-Nut Dancers of Bacup

The Britannia Coco-Nut Dancers of Bacup are a uniquely dressed male clog dance side. They perform every Easter Saturday all around their town. They have blackened faces to conceal their identities and wear wooden discs at the knee (it is believed that their name comes from these discs being referred to as coconuts) as well as short white skirts, black breeches and jumpers, and rosette-decorated hats. 

They perform a series of seven dances including five with hooped garlands and are accompanied by Stacksteads Silver Band. The starting point is always the Travellers Rest at Britannia at 9am; by late morning they are in central Bacup, stopping in town for lunch, then they work they way around town with a few pub-stops for refereshment and out by the Rawtenstall road, ending at the Glen Top Service Station area around 8pm. 

Some say the custom was brought to the area by Moors who settled in Cornwall in the 17th century, became miners and then moved to work in quarries in Lancashire. A similar performance occurred in Portuguese-speaking communities such as the Afro-Brazilian Dança do Coco, a dance form precursor to the iconic Brazilian Carnival dance troupes. It is also present in the French-speaking communities dances – the Danse des Coco – are performed in Provence. The current troupe was formed as the Tunstead Mill Nutters in 1857 when it was one of a group of five which performed in the Rossendale valley. According to the Burnley Gazette, a man named Abraham Spencer (1842–1918) was one of the founders back in 1857, at only 15. They passed on their tradition to workers at the Britannia Mill in the 1920s. 

The most controversial element of the dance is the use of blackface. It is popularly explained as either due to the origins of the dance in the mining community, or as a reference to the dancers' ancient origin as Barbary pirates, or as a disguise to ward off evil spirits. However, research in 1990 by folklorist Theresa Buckland's argues that the likely origin of the tradition in minstrel shows and that, over time, the dancers have developed and passed on an alternative history of their tradition. 

Blackface is, understandably, frowned upon in the modern age, particularly as its origins are uncertain. As Morris historian Chloe Metcalfe writes, ‘Face blacking in racial imitation was a commonplace entertainment phenomena on a scale which is hard to appreciate now.’ Certainly, I can clearly remember The Black and White Minstrel Show as a staple of early evening family television in the 1960s and 70s. It regularly enjoyed audiences in excess of 16 million viewers. 

The second theory is that blackface was simply a form of disguise used by men and boys in order to secretly skive off work and enjoy a day of incognito revelry. It just so happened that mixing up a black face paint – often using coal dust and grease – was easier than finding other colours. If this is true, then the actual colour of face paint used is unimportant – it’s all about the disguise. I’d like to think that the truth lies with the latter theory rather than the former but, whatever the true origin, in July 2020 the Joint Morris Organisation (representing 800 sides that are members of the Morris Federation, the Morris Ring and Open Morris), issued a press statement stating that the practice of blackface should cease as the practice 'has the potential to cause deep hurt'. As Chloe Metcalfe says, ‘Would you be comfortable blacking up if you cannot truthfully give an answer about origins which doesn’t entirely avoid racial connotations?’ She makes a good point. 

These days, most guizers and Morris sides have respectfully changed their face painting to other colours such as blue, red or green. Or, alternatively, they’ve begun to wear actual masks instead. But three years ago, the Coco-Nut Dancers split from the Joint Morris Organisation, and have continued to blackface. This resulted in Rossendale Council saying that it would no longer provide funding for the procession. 

However, the council claims that it was not the sole reason. As reported in The Bolton News, Council leader Alyson Barnes said: 'The large costs associated with road closure for significant events is no longer funded by the police and the council now has to foot the bill. As a result, the council will not be in a financial position to cover the costs associated with road closure for events by the Britannia Coconut Dancers or other community groups. Our expectation from now onwards will be that the Coconutters fund the full costs of their own activities, as we expect of other Rossendale community groups.' 

The event did go ahead as planned today after a donation page set up by the Nutters' supporters raised £905 towards its costs. But with the cost of living steeply rising, will it survive another year?

I sincerely hope so. These traditions are important. But, in order to survive, they do need to change and adapt to changes in society. It would be a shame to lose such a wonderful bit of traditional fun over the colour of some face paint. In my native Cornwall Padstow's Darkie Day has moved with the times and has re-branded as Mummers' Day. Blackface has been abandoned and so have any obvious Minstrel songs in favour of traditional Cornish songs. It hasn't detracted from the day and, if anything, it has reinforced local identity.  

Wouldn't the coconut dance just as entertaining if the dancers were a different colour? I reckon so.