Remember, remember the 5th of November

    Hello, lovelies.

With fireworks banging, popping and whizzing through our cold winter night, we all let out a collective ‘ooh’ and ahhh’ as we watch the skies light up in beautiful technicolour. Bonfire night is a quintessential British holiday. Children and adults alike all wave sparklers, spelling out our names in the air. But what is the story behind of this firework filled holiday? What would have happened if Guy Fawkes had actually blown up the houses of parament?  Was he wrong to attempt it? Or did he have the right idea?

Remember, remember the 5^th of November with gun powder treason and plot. For I see no reason for gun powder treason Should ever be forgot. I love bonfire night. There is something so magical about standing in the middle of a cold soggy field along with thousands of others, all looking skyward, with progressively stiff necks, at the expensive firework display. Then watching as they put a Guy on the enormous bonfire as it’s set alight. But why are we celebrating a time when a man tried to put an end to parliament and was brutally murdered. As after a brief trial, Guy Fawkes was sentenced, along with the other surviving chief conspirators, to be hanged, drawn, and quartered in London. Not a nice way to go. But while climbing to the hanging platform he jumped from the ladder and broke his neck, dying instantly. Small mercies I suppose.

What’s the history of this joyous time, because it certainly not joyous for Mr Fawkes. Because he may have been the one charged with lighting the fuse that led all the way to barrels upon barrels of gun powder in the basement of the Palace of Westminster, but he wasn’t the ringleader of the plot. In fact, there were 13 men involved. All from the top echelons of the British elite, and the leaders were Robert Catesby and his cousin Thomas Wintour.

Fawkes was unknown to the authorities, and that’s the reason he was given such an important role in the plot. Posing as a servant, he gained access to the Palace of Westminster and, with the help of his co-conspirators, snuck in the 36 barrels of gunpowder that he intended to ignite under King James VI. Quite an ambitious plan. But why did they choose parliament to blow up? Well, it was to target the King and his government, of course. The justification for blowing up parliament was simple. ‘In that place have they done us all the mischief, and perchance God hath designed that place for their punishment.’ Not a lot has changed in 415 years if you ask me. But parliament was forcing British Catholics to convert to the Church of England. And those who opposed it were fined, intimidated and imprisoned. Priests and Jesuits dispatched to England in an attempt to maintain the Catholic faith risked torture and execution. So, in blowing up parliament Fawkes wanted to establish a new government, neutralise the Tower of London and secure England’s ports. But when the gunpowder plot failed, Fawkes was captured, tortured and subsequently sentenced to death.

So why do we celebrate the 5^th November? When the gunpowder plot was uncovered, Londoners were encouraged to light bonfires in celebration. Before long, 5 November had entered the calendar as a reminder of England’s deliverance. Mingling with the older traditions of fire-making and feasting, it became a day of national rejoicing. And that’s where the name ‘Bonfire night’ came from. But over the years have changed. No longer do you have a knock at the door with children asking for a penny for the guy. But now the new tradition of families and friends gathering in back gardens, eating homemade soup and trying to light shop-bought fireworks in a way that doesn’t set the local trees alight.

But what will happen when children can no longer recite the poem or even know what a Guy is. Nothing. We will all still come together and rejoice in the fireworks, sparklers and home-made soup.  But we will know that a small group of men set about blowing up parliament in order to spread their cause that the government wouldn’t listen. Now, I’m not saying that we should all start carting barrels of gun powder to Westminster, but I do believe that sometimes we need to shake the politicians up. So tonight, let's wave our sparklers in the air for those men who wanted to change history.