A History Lesson: Bonfire Night, or Guy Fawkes Night

If you're like me, you love any opportunity to learn about the customs, traditions, and holidays of another culture. Now, American and English cultures may not hold as many differences as other cultures - we have the same language (nearly), most of the same Hollywood entertainment, most of the same music and similar clothing styles, but there are still a lot of major differences. I won't get into these differences today, but I do want to talk about a British Holiday that you're probably not too familiar with.

Bonfire Night, also called Guy Fawkes Night, is one of the smaller British Holidays. It is celebrated on different scales - small backyard gatherings all the way up to large organised events which take place at castles, village greens, or county showgrounds. Bonfire Night recognises the night that Guy Fawkes and his group of political activists attempted to blow up Parliament with barrels of gunpowder back in 1605.

You may be thinking of the popular movie V: For Vendetta. I did see this movie, but I don't remember anything apart from Natalie Portman shaving her head. But if I remember correctly, it wasn't about the events of 1605, and instead recreated a similar situation in the not-so-distant future. It was good for one thing though, because you're probably aware of this poem, which is a nursery rhyme about the activities of Guy Fawkes on November 5th, 1605.

Remember, remember!
    The fifth of November,
    The Gunpowder treason and plot;
    I know of no reason
    Why the Gunpowder treason
    Should ever be forgot!
    

Guy Fawkes and his companions
    Did the scheme contrive,
    To blow the King and Parliament
    All up alive.
   

 Threescore barrels, laid below,
    To prove old England's overthrow.
    But, by God's providence, him they catch,
    With a dark lantern, lighting a match!
 

   A stick and a stake
    For King James's sake!
    If you won't give me one,
    I'll take two,
    The better for me,
    And the worse for you.
   

 A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,
    A penn'orth of cheese to choke him,
    A pint of beer to wash it down,
    And a jolly good fire to burn him.
   

 Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring!
    Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King!
    Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!

There are various versions of the poem, so feel free to do some research on this website, (where I've found information to embellish the bits I already know of the story ) if you're interested. But if you just want the gist, I'll give you an overview. After the death of protestant Queen Elizabeth I, English Catholics who still remained even after the Reformation of Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII, were hoping that her successor and the new King, James I, would be more tolerant of the Catholic religion. It turned out that he wasn't, and an opposition decided that violent action was necessary. They came up with their plot to blow up Parliament by placing dozens of barrels of gun powder in the cellar so that they would kill the King, hopefully his heir, and other important members of the government. They hoped to then restore a Catholic monarchy.

But there's always a snitch. A member of this group wrote a letter to his friend, a member of Parliament, warning him to stay away from the famous building on this night. 

(courtesy of google images)

The plan was foiled as a result of this letter, and on the designated night, Guy Fawkes was found in the basement surrounded by 36 barrels of gun powder. As the news spread across the country on that very night, bonfires were lit to celebrate the safety of the King. Over the next few months, Fawkes was interrogated, tortured, and eventually hung for his crimes. 

Over 400 years later, the night is still recognised, and even still, every time Parliament and the Queen meet, guards traditionally search the cellar of the building. People observe the holiday with fireworks and a giant bonfire, burning an effigy of Guy Fawkes.

(image courtesy of http://www.hercampus.com)

 We normally attend Bonfire Night celebrations, and in past years we have gone to our old local village green (before we moved when we bought the new house) to watch fireworks and the bonfire. Another year we went to a larger organised event at a local family-day-out venue type place with some friends. There are usually some carnival rides and games if you go to large events, but the more local ones typically just have a bar for the grown ups, a couple games for the kids, and a booth selling warm sugar donuts for everyone, fried right before your eyes. Since I moved here, warm, freshly made sugar donuts have become synonymous with this time of year for me.

This year we didn't make any Bonfire Night plans, which is just as well, considering the awful wet weather. Oh, England.

Hope you learned something. xo