Guy Fawkes was a Yorkshireman and a rebel. Born in York in April 1570, he died from a broken neck after possibly tripping upon the gallows. Following his very public death in Westminster, London on January 31st 1606, he was "quartered". Afterwards, his body parts were distributed to "the four corners of the kingdom", to be displayed as a warning to other would-be traitors.
In the early hours of November 5th, 1605 Guy Fawkes was found in an "undercroft" beneath The House of Lords guarding some thirty six barrels of gunpowder. He and his fellow conspirators had placed them there - planning to blow up the parliament building above. Specifically they wished to assassinate the Protestant monarch - King James I and pave the way for a return to Catholic rule.
As I am not a religious historian, I find it difficult to fully understand the Catholic/Protestant tensions of those times but I do know that the animosities were not purely about religious belief. It was also about power, wealth, land ownership and relations with Rome where of course The Pope resided.
Guy Fawkes was acting on behalf of an entire movement. He didn't just wake up one day and think, "Oh, I'm going to blow up The Houses of Parliament". Underscoring his actions were years of intrigue and division as different political philosophies clashed or secretly ate away at each other like bone diseases.
The Catholic/Protestant division was rife throughout Europe too and in his twenties Fawkes had fought for Catholic Spain in its Eighty Years War with the Protestant Dutch Republic. The bitterness went very deep.
On November 5th 1606, following The Gunpowder Plot, bonfires were lit all across the land and effigies of Guy Fawkes were burnt. All over England, that tradition has continued - for four hundred and thirteen years.
When I was a boy, Guy Fawkes Night - often called Bonfire Night - was one of the eagerly anticipated highlights of my year. It ranked alongside my birthday and Christmas Day. There were fireworks and toffee apples, baked potatoes and sparklers and of course "guys" stuffed with straw or old newspapers sitting atop our bonfires.
Every November 5th, I remember those old bonfires of yore. My father lighting rockets and shouting "Stand back!", my biscuit tin containing bangers and "traffic lights" or "volcano" fireworks, cinder toffee and Yorkshire parkin in the oven and the excited cheering when the lapping amber flames eventually reached the guy...
Remember, remember, the Fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot
 |
| Penny for The Guy - London in the nineteen sixties |
not many kids nowadays have even heard of Guy!
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if that is sad or not?
It is sad that those old traditions are now in retreat. Partly, it is to do with Health and Safety.
DeleteLike you, YP, I eagerly anticipated November 5th and fireworks and the local bonfire. As I never liked parties I probably looked forward to it even more than my birthday. I notice that a bonfire has been built by the shore. AS the gales have subsided and it's not actually pouring today someone might actually light it tonight. I might even wander down.
ReplyDeleteI hope they won't mistake you for a guy Graham! Don't sit down.
DeleteWell. Seems a bit of a harsh punishment but then again- attempting to blow up the parliament building was a rather bold crime. It's funny in a way that an entire culture would base a holiday lasting centuries on that.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, killing in the name of religion takes on mythical importance.
What a shame it would be if a modern day Guy Fawkes blew up The Oval Office. This would give the late Mr Trump mythical status for centuries to come.
DeleteIt is always about power.
ReplyDeleteReligion is often just a mask.
DeleteAre those boys you and your brothers? I'm guessing yes. Good post. For the kind of mischief I indulge in, traipse yourself over to my post today.
ReplyDeleteYour wish is my command Wise One.
DeleteIt IS sad to see these old traditions slipping, though the wisdom of setting backyard bonfires does seem questionable. I'd never heard of Guy Fawkes as a child, but when I visited New Zealand in the early 2000s I was there for Bonfire Night and I learned all about it -- with a Kiwi twist!
ReplyDeleteI must say that I never realised that the ancestors of modern day New Zealanders took this tradition with them when they emigrated from The British Isles.
DeleteThe English, and many other countries I'm sure, were very imaginative in their methods of executions. It wasn't enough to die, you had to suffer as well. Different times.
ReplyDeleteSadly some of those horrible methods of killing and desecrating human bodies are still around.
DeleteYou can't buy jumping crackers any more to set off in a crowd. Or catherine wheels.
ReplyDeleteI bought a couple of jumping crackers last year and set them off at the bus stop today. You should have seen the old biddies jumping! What a laugh!
DeleteSeems odd that such a violent and questionable end to one person would be still celebrated. Said the outsider :)
ReplyDeleteAs my post suggests, there's a lot of historical animosity tied up with Guy Fawkes Night. It's as if burning effigies of Guy Fawkes was a warning to insurrectionists everywhere.
DeleteYes Guy Fawkes night is still celebrated here in the Antipodes but without the religious or political overtones these days. We were very British and still referred to England as "Home" until you joined the EEC. large Council run shows have replaced the backyard family gatherings and daylight saving means it's not really dark until about 10pm.
ReplyDeleteThese days I associate the day with memories of a visit to York on my OE and a delicious evening meal eaten in his childhood home now The Guy Fawkes Inn, after a day of discoveries including the concealed chapel in the Bar Convent just outside Micklegate ,the list of Catholic Martyrs in St Giles Church and the wonderful Oxfam bookshop.
There are more organised Bonfire Night events here too. It used to be very common for families to have private bonfires in their back gardens. I am glad you have already been to Paradise Peng - Yorkshire Land of Dreams... and puddings...and whippets.
DeleteParadise indeed! That was my first hot meal in 5 days of travelling like a pilgrim, surviving on reduced to clear foods ... but I did also manage a visit to Betty's for tea and cake the next day. Mm... food as memory.
DeleteI've always heard of Guy Fawkes Day but you have filled in a little more of the details of the celebration for me - thank you!
ReplyDeleteThat was my main intention with this blogpost Bonnie.
DeleteI'd often heard about Guy Fawkes day but didn't know the history behind it. My wife was no help but she well remembers enjoying the fire works.
ReplyDeleteI bet she was into guys before she escaped to Canada!
DeleteGosh I hope you were only joking about firecrackers at a bus stop. I have ptsd, so not funny. Old biddies is a derogatory statement. Please rethink your remarks.
ReplyDeleteSorry for any offence caused - however unwittingly. In my remark to Tasker I was for a moment mischievously playing the role of a lairy teenage boy misusing fireworks. Tasker would be familiar with such badass characters.
DeleteOne of those boys looks like you. I'm guessing it must be you and your brothers...
ReplyDeleteJennifer, I don't think so - the caption reads "Penny for The Guy - London in the nineteen sixties", and our YP was not there at that time.
DeleteMeike - you are like Miss Marple! I am not in the picture even though the boy on the right looks remarkably like me at that age!
DeleteNeil, when I read your book "Headland", I particularly loved the Bonfire Night scene; it has stayed in my head as something worth returning to in my mind.
ReplyDeleteWe learned about Guy Fawkes in English lessons at school when I was about 10 years old. For me, the 5th of November will always be remembered for a different reason. Steve died 10 years ago yesterday.
Wow! Ten years? That's amazing. Even after all this time - Sorry for your loss Meike.
DeleteI'm late to the party, but I always wish for a bonfire on the fifth of November. I lived in England as a Yank military brat from 1957 to 1960, and have vivid memories of pennies for the guy, huge bonfires and sausage rolls for spectators, and just the wonderful experience of traditions and tales I'd never heard of.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I got to experience other countries before the relentless march of US capitalism overwhelmed the genuine expressions of their cultures. Yeah, that sounds pompous, but I treasure those memories.
Also, I recently read an interesting article (can't remember where, maybe the Guardian) explaining in some detail the magnitude of the attempt to blow up basically the entire government. Maybe there's a parallel to idiots who can still laugh about the horrible damage Trump is inflicting on the whole world.