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The first black people to arrive in the UK were probably an African platoon stationed by the Roman army on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland in the 3rd century. In the 13th
century, crusaders brought Moorish musicians to the UK from North Africa who introduced new instruments - the cymbals and the kettle drum.
The court of Henry VII employed a ‘Black Trumpete’ for the sum of 8 old pence a day - an image of him appears in the painted roll of the Westminster tournament of
1511.
There are also references to African performers in Edinburgh dating from 1505.
The painting of the Omme gang: The Triumph of Isabella shows a street pageant featuring black performers in 1615. |
