Guy Fawkes Night
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Guy Fawkes Night | |
|---|---|
 Festivities in Windsor Castle during Guy Fawkes night. Aquatint with etching, Paul Standby, September 1776 | |
| Also called | Bonfire Night Cracker Night Fireworks Night Bonny Night |
| Observed by | United Kingdom and some of itsformer colonies |
| Type | Cultural, Remembrance |
| Significance | Foiling of a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill King James I, in London(England) in 1605 |
| Date | Evening of the 5th of November |
| Observances | Bonfires, fireworks, etc. |
Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night is an annual celebration on the evening of 5 November. It marks the downfall of the Gunpowder Plot of 5 November 1605, in which a number of Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament, inLondon, United Kingdom.
It is primarily marked in the United Kingdom where it was compulsory, by fiat, until 1859, to celebrate the deliverance of the King of Great Britain; but, it is also celebrated in former British colonies including New Zealand,[1] Newfoundland, and parts of the British Caribbean. Bonfire Night was celebrated in Australia until the mid- to late 1970s, when sale and public use of fireworks was made illegal and the celebration was effectively abolished. It is also celebrated in the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda .[2] Festivities are centred on the use of fireworks and the lighting of bonfires.
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[edit]United Kingdom Customs
In the United Kingdom, celebrations take place in towns and villages across the country in the form of both private and civic events. They involve fireworks displays and the building of bonfires on which traditionally "guys" are burnt, although this practice is not always observed in modern times.[citation needed] These "guys" are traditionally effigies of Guy Fawkes, the most famous of the Gunpowder Plot conspirators. Although the night is celebrated in York (Fawkes' hometown) some there do not burn his effigy, most notably those from his old school.[3][4] In the past, before the fifth, children traditionally used the "guys" to request a "penny for the guy" in order to raise funds with which to buy fireworks. However this practice has diminished greatly, perhaps because it has been seen as begging, and also because children are not allowed to buy fireworks. In addition there are concerns that children might misuse the money.[5]
In the United Kingdom, there are several foods that are traditionally consumed on Guy Fawkes Night:
- black treacle goods such as bonfire toffee [6] and parkin [7]
- toffee apples [8][9]
- baked potatoes, more commonly and traditionally referred to as jacket potatoes, which are wrapped in foil and cooked in the bonfire or its embers[10][11]
- black peas with vinegar [12]
- potato pie with pickled red cabbage [13]
In the Black Country, it is a traditional night for eating groaty pudding.[citation needed]
In Sussex, it is a major festival that centres on Lewes necessitating the closure of the town centre. The night also commemorates the Glorious Revolution and 17 local Protestant martyrs that were burnt at the stake during Marian Persecutions by the Catholic Queen Mary I.[14] The night begins with torchlight processions in costume by a number of local bonfire societies and culminates in six separate bonfires where effigies of Guy Fawkes, Pope Paul Vand topical personalities are destroyed by firework and flame. The burning of an effigy of Pope Paul V is carried out by the Cliffe Bonfire Society alone and they are barred from marching with the main procession.
In Ottery St Mary, in Devon, burning barrels of tar are carried through the streets:
- "Ottery St. Mary is internationally renowned for its tar barrels, an old custom said to have originated in the 17th century, and which is held on November 5th each year. Each of Ottery's central public houses sponsors a single barrel. In the weeks prior to the day of the event, November 5th, the barrels are soaked with tar. The barrels are lit outside each of the pubs in turn and once the flames begin to pour out, they are hoisted up onto local people's backs and shoulders. The streets and alleys around the pubs are packed with people, all eager to feel the lick of the barrels flame. Seventeen Barrels all in all are lit over the course of the evening. In the afternoon and early evening there are women's and boy's barrels, but as the evening progresses the barrels get larger and by midnight they weigh at least 30 kilos. A great sense of camaraderie exists between the 'Barrel Rollers', despite the fact that they tussle constantly for supremacy of the barrel. In most cases, generations of the same family carry the barrels and take great pride in doing so. ... Opinion differs as to the origin of this festival of fire, but the most widely accepted version is that it began as a pagan ritual that cleanses the streets of evil spirits." [15]
Guy Fawkes Night is less commonly celebrated in Northern Ireland, where autumn fireworks and bonfires are more commonly associated with Halloween.
Gunpowder Plot
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Gunpowder Conspiracy of 1605, as it was then known, (also known as The Powder Treason or The Gunpowder Plot)[1] was a failed assassination attempt by a group of provincial English Catholics against King James I of England and VI of Scotland. The plot intended to kill the King and most of the Protestant aristocracy by blowing up the Houses of Parliamentduring the State Opening on 5 November 1605.
The conspirators also planned to abduct the royal children,[2] and lead a popular revolt in the Midlands.
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