Fawkes rises again... (but mostly OT)

[Neil Ward]

No: HPFGUIDX 5137

Today we celebrate Bonfire Night in the UK.  

For those of you who aren't familiar with this tradition, every year, on the
evening of 5th November, British people let off fireworks and burn a "guy"
on a bonfire to commemorate the Gunpowder Plot, in which a group of Catholic
conspirators plotted to blow up the King (James 1) and Houses of Parliament
in 1605.  Guy Fawkes - a gunpowder expert - was arrested in the cellars of
the Parliament buildings before any damage was done and was tortured until
he revealed the names of the rest of the group.

These days, there are organised public firework displays but many people
have their own private events, where they attempt to set fire to next door's
garden shed and scare the life out of the neighbourhood house pets. There
are a number of odd traditions associated with Fireworks Night, as it is
also known, including one I'm not so keen on that involves small children
sitting on the pavements begging for "a penny for the guy".  Normally, the
"guy" is Dad's old gardening clothes stuffed with newspaper and topped off
with a masked head intended to be an effigy of Guy Fawkes.  I believe The
Yeoman of the Guard still make a ceremonial check of the cellars of the
Houses of Parliament before each new session, just in case one of us loyal
citizens, or the IRA, have decided to have another go at blowing the place up.

The term bonfire derives from the earlier "bone fire".  Although I don't
think this wasn't exclusively associated with witches, at one time witches
were burned at the stake and fires were quite literally made of their bones.
On Bonfire Night, the bonfire and fireworks represent the exploding ball of
flame that could have been our Houses of Parliament on 5th November 1605.
For the person in the street this night is the closest they will ever get to
anarchy.  

As if all this isn't sinister enough, there is a nursery rhyme associated
with the event:

Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot 
We see no reason 
Why gunpowder treason 
Should ever be forgot! 

If you want more info: http://www.bonefire.org/guy/index.html

Of course, the most significant fact for this group is that Fawkes the
Phoenix was named after the traitor, Guy Fawkes. 

Neil

 

            Flying-Ford-Anglia

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   "Then, dented, scratched and steaming, 
   the car rumbled off into the darkness, 
   its rear lights blazing angrily"

 [Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]

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