wikipedia

Unemployed farmworkers danced both to entertain themselves and as a way of making some money in a season where there was little demand for agricultural labour.

Molly dancers dressed in ordinary clothes decorated with ribbons and rosettes, wore top hats, and blacked their faces as a form of disguise. One or more dancers dressed in women's clothing – in some accounts half of the dancers were dressed as women. Along with the dancers, molly teams were accompanied by various other men who performed specific roles, including an umbrella man, to protect the musician from the weather, a sweeper who carried a broom and would clear a space for the dancers, and the man responsible for the money box.