Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November...

Many people suggest that we in Britain don’t have as many celebrations and processions as other European countries because we’re mainly a Protestant country. However, there’s one event that’s celebrated almost everywhere in the country, and that’s Guy Fawkes’ Night on 5th November, which commemorates a failed attempt by Roman Catholic dissidents to blow up the Houses of Parliament.

When the staunchly Protestant Queen Elizabeth 1 died childless in 1603, the next in line of succession to the throne was her distant cousin, King James V1 of Scotland. Since he was the son of the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, who had been executed by Elizabeth in 1587, many English Catholics thought that his sympathies would lie with them. They were wrong; James believed the Crown to be the supreme authority in matters religious and secular within his two kingdoms.

Within weeks of James’ accession, a prominent Roman Catholic landowner, Robert Catesby, gathered together a number of influential Catholics to decide what should be done...and the decision was soon reached that the only option was to blow up Parliament, and the King. Among the plotters was a Yorkshireman named Guy Fawkes, a mercenary soldier who had fought for Spain in the Low Countries.

Strange as it may seem today, one of the plotters was able to hire a cellar within the Parliament building, within which they were able to hide 36 barrels of gunpowder, ready to be touched off when Parliament sat on the 5th November, 1605. But, one of the group realized that his friend, Lord Monteagle, would be in Parliament that day, and wrote to him, anonymously, suggesting that it would be in his best interests to be elsewhere on that day.

Monteagle passed the note on to the authorities, and a search was instituted of the Parliament building, and, just before midnight, Guy Fawkes was caught with the barrels of powder, and the means to set them off. Under torture, Fawkes soon revealed the names of his fellow conspirators, and soon, all had been either killed or arrested. Trials for treason took place in January 1606, and by the end of the month all the defendants had been found guilty and executed.

The first anniversary of the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot was commemorated in London by the lighting of bonfires, upon which Guy Fawkes was burnt in effigy, and by letting off fireworks; within a couple of years, the celebration had become a national one. And, every year, before the State Opening of Parliament, a ceremonial search is carried out of the cellars.....although, in this day and age, many more searches of a non-ceremonial kind are also carried out!

Fireworks have, of course, got bigger and better, and displays for the 5th of November have, for safety reasons, become more formalized. But, the ‘guy’ is still on top of the bonfire.....I remember one from ten years ago which bore a distinct resemblance to Saddam Hussein. The celebrations are still as much fun, especially if traditional ‘bonfire night’ food, such as hot soup, sausages, baked potatoes (preferably cooked on the bonfire), and treacle toffee are on offer.

But, there’s one place in England where Guy Fawkes’ Night is not celebrated. That’s at St. Peter’s School, where Fawkes was educated. And the reason they give is typically English:

“We don’t burn our Old Boys!”