Monday, November 5, 2018

Guy Fawkes Day And Bonfire Night


File:Guy Fawkes by Cruikshank.jpg
Guy Fawkes in Ordsall Cave


If the American Revolution hadn't killed the celebration of Guy Fawkes Day on this side of the Atlantic, OSHA certainly would have done it in by now. Brits still celebrate the day about four hundred years ago when an attempt by the Gunpowder Plot to blow up the House of Lords and King James I was foiled with the arrest of Guy Fawkes who had been assigned to guard the explosives. Most Americans probably know the man and the day from the film, V for Vendetta, and the following poem:


The Fifth of November


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!


Guy Fawkes Day celebration at Windsor Castle in 1776

Much of the religious bitterness has passed and Guy Fawkes Day is no longer an official holiday. Still, it's a fine opportunity to celebrate by lighting bonfires, marching in vast torch light parades or igniting fireworks just as celebrants did days after Fawkes's arrest.

It's a man's holiday when the sun sets and it's time for the FIRE.




I have a feeling this is reminiscent of Independence Day celebrations across the United States about a century ago. Frankly, I'd love to see it happen again. 





Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
Fawkes illustration, Ainsworth, William Harrison. Guy Fawkes, or The Gunpowder Treason, 1840; George Cruikshank [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons


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