Comrades!!!! 

Remember, remember The 5th November
Gunpowder treason and plot
We see no reason 
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot etc etc...

Hope to see of many of you as possible on the streets
fighting, eating toffee apples etc.

***********************************
Bonfire Night is held in Britain on 5th November. It
celebrates the defeat of a conspiracy to blow up the
Houses of Parliament with the then king, James I, in
them. Bonfire Night is celebrated with bonfires and
fireworks. 

The Story of the Gunpowder Plot
 Guy Fawkes

On 5th November 1605, two years after the death of
Queen Elizabeth I, soldiers discovered a man called
Guy Fawkes in a cellar under the Houses of Parliament.
With him were at least twenty barrels of gunpowder.
Guy Fawkes was arrested and tortured. At last he gave
way and told his torturers about a plot to blow up
Parliament together with the king, James I, his
ministers and Members of Parliament. 

Guy Fawkes was a Roman Catholic who had been angered
by the failure of King James, who was after all the
son of the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots, to grant more
religious toleration to Catholics. He had joined with
a group of four other Catholics led by Robert Catesby
in the plot to kill the king. Catesby had made the
mistake of inviting other Catholics to join the plot.
One of these was called Francis Tresham. Tresham wrote
a letter to his brother-in-law Lord Monteagle warning
him not to go to Parliament and Monteagle told the
government. Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators
were executed as traitors. 

In 1606 Parliament agreed to make 5th November a day
of public thanksgiving and ever since then the day has
been celebrated with fireworks and bonfires. 
 

Bonfires and Burning the Guy
 
  In some ways Bonfire Night is related to the ancient
festival of Samhain, the Celtic New Year. Bonfires
formed an important part of the Celtic New Year
celebrations - warding off evil spirits. Bonfires play
a part in many customs all over the world. On November
5th as part of Bonfire Night celebrations we too light
bonfires. What makes the British Bonfire Night
celebrations special is the burning of the guy. The
guy is a figure usually made by the children out of
old clothes, papier mache and anything else we can
use. It represents Guy Fawkes and is burnt on the
bonfire. Sometimes in the week or so before Bonfire
Night children will take their guys on to the street
and beg "a penny for the Guy". The money then goes
towards the fireworks.
 
In Sussex, towns such as Lewes compete to have the
best Bonfire Night celebrations. The guys used in
these celebrations can be enormous - the height of a
small house - and under the guy's arm is placed a
barrel of gunpowder, so you can imagine the bang when
it goes off! Attempts are regularly made on world
records - a few years ago we saw a successful attempt
on making the world's largest Catherine wheel. The
Sussex celebrations still reflect some of the
anti-Catholic feelings which were part of the Bonfire
Night celebrations of the past.

Bonfire food 
One of the best parts of Bonfire Night is bonfire
food. Try baking potatoes in the bonfire, sausages
cooked over the flames and marshmallows toasted in the
fire. Of course, ask an adult to help you - fire can
be dangerous. 

 

 


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