Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot…
Guy Fawkes was an English Catholic military man who, in 1605, hatched a plan with a team of conspirators to assassinate King James I and have him replaced with a Catholic princess. In order to carry out the plan they rented out the tunnels underneath the Parliament Building and set out to blow it up. They purchased barrels of gunpowder and fusing and laid them out through the “undercrofts” directly beneath the House of Lords, where the King and his evil retinue plotted their plans. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending whose side you might be on, someone wrote a warning note to a fellow Catholic who would also be in the building that day.
On the evening of 26 October, Lord Monteagle received an anonymous letter warning him to stay away, and to “retyre youre self into yowre contee whence yow maye expect the event in safti for … they shall receyve a terrible blowe this parleament.” (from Wikipedia)
The note was delivered to the King, who had the undercrofts searched. Guy (Guido) Fawkes was arrested later that evening as he left the tunnels. He was subsequently tortured for three days with increasing brutality until he revealed the name of his co-conspirators. Shortly thereafter he was to be hanged, drawn and quartered, one of the most horrific of the punishments available to wrongdoers of the day. Guy managed to break his own neck by throwing himself off the scaffolding before the drawing and quartering, saving himself at least a portion of more pain.
Nowadays the 5th of November is celebrated as the the day that the treasonous attempt was curtailed. Each little village or town has it’s own burning of Guy Fawkes–a ceremony of sorts–in which an effigy of Guy Fawkes (clothing stuffed with rags or paper to resemble a human form) is hung up and burned. There are fireworks and special foods (black treacle, bonfire toffee, toffee apples, roasted potatoes and chestnuts, black peas and vinegar). One town burns tar barrels:
Ottery St. Mary is internationally renowned for its tar barrels, an old custom said to have originated in the 17th century, and which is held on 5 November each year. Each of Ottery’s central public houses sponsors a single barrel. In the weeks prior to the day of the event, 5 November, the barrels are soaked with tar. The barrels are lit outside each of the pubs in turn and once the flames begin to pour out, they are hoisted up onto local people’s backs and shoulders. The streets and alleys around the pubs are packed with people, all eager to feel the lick of the barrels flame. Seventeen Barrels all in all are lit over the course of the evening. In the afternoon and early evening there are women’s and boy’s barrels, but as the evening progresses the barrels get larger and by midnight they weigh at least 30 kilos. A great sense of camaraderie exists between the ‘Barrel Rollers’, despite the fact that they tussle constantly for supremacy of the barrel. In most cases, generations of the same family carry the barrels and take great pride in doing so. … Opinion differs as to the origin of this festival of fire, but the most widely accepted version is that it began as a pagan ritual that cleanses the streets of evil spirits. (from Wikipedia)
Sounds raucous. Definitely a shift from the Diwali celebrations that are happening across the seas in India and beyond…perhaps a contrast and compare in in order?
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