Posted on 11/05/2016 3:45:44 AM PDT by harpygoddess
Happy Guy Fawkes Day, when God preserved us from the "secret contrivance and hellish malice of Popish Conspirators".
November 5th is Guy Fawkes Day in England, an unofficial holiday commemorating the failure of the so-called "Gunpowder Plot" on this date in 1605. A conspiracy of disgruntled English Catholics under the leadership of one Robert Catesby had succeeded in planting a large quantity of gunpowder in the cellar of the House of Lords with the intention of blowing up Parliament on its opening day, when King James I would have been present.
After one of the plotters warned a relative to stay away from Parliament that day, the scheme was discovered, and one of the key conspirators, Guy Fawkes, was essentially caught in the act.
All the plotters were apprehended and executed savagely, but the Gunpowder Plot had the unfortunate effect of perpetuating a deep distrust of "popery" and Roman Catholicism in England for centuries. (Catholics were barred from serving in Parliament for 224 years.) Today, the occasion is celebrated with bonfires, fireworks, and the construction of effigies of Guy Fawkes, carried about by bands of children begging "a penny for the Guy" from all they encounter.
(Excerpt) Read more at vaviper.blogspot.com ...
More information, plus art and video, in the original post.
I’m Catholic. No thanks.
CC
The anti-Catholic element of modern Guy Fawkes Day or “bonfire night” as it is also known as is way overblown. Growing up in the UK as a kid never once did I witness an overt anti-Catholic message in the celebrations. The anti-Catholic aspect has kinda been marginalized over the centuries. Instead, it has kinda morphed into a celebration of democracy and an excuse to start fires & set off fireworks.
How will Anonymous celebrate today?
Fortunately, modern science tells us that it is impossible for conspirators to place explosives in a building. Airplanes are the only means by which a building can be destroyed.
Bm
“Growing up in the UK as a kid never once did I witness an overt anti-Catholic message in the celebrations.”
Completely agree. Had the same experience.
However, there seemed to be a slight willingness to carry on Heny VIII’s tradition of beheadings - failing that, burning effigies.. of Guy Fawkes.
And get drunk, like July 4 here.
Okay, I accept that the cultural significance of certain things “drifts” over time. Being the child of a convert makes me sensitive sometimes. Thanks for your explanation.
CC
Happy Bonfire Night !!!
just another name for this day...
I lived in new Zealand when I was a child...
Mum would give us 5 Shillings (now called 50 cents) to get fireworks from Jimmy On Lee’s grocery store...Jimmy was the only Chinese in town and he always got a huge order in...
We always got one “sky rocket” (fired from a rocket that one of the big bogs would carry) and Catherine wheels, Jumping Jacks, Sparklers, Tom Thumbs, Roman Candles, bangers, and some pretty colored thingies...a lot could be bought for 5 Shillings...
In each part of our small town and around the hills children would build their bonfire for weeks, checking on others to measure their progress..nobody wanted to have the smallest :)
Bigger boys would arrange three tall thin tree trunks like a teepee and then fill in the sides with a bush known as “broom, old tires, scrape wood, and a “Guy” made with old clothes and stitched together with 4 Penny nails..complete with hat and old boots and stuffed with newspaper..
On the night everyone in town would go from bonfire to bonfire shooting off firecrackers and mothers would bring out cocoa (hot chocolate)
Ah the old days...
It would be nice to remember Nov 5 for something other than the anniversary of the Ft Hood attack and the elections of Wilson and FDR.
The one time I was at a Guy Fawkes party, a bit like our Fourth of July but with a bon fire to go along with the fireworks, I asked one of the English participants whether they were celebrating the fact that Parliament escaped being blown up, or celebrating that somebody tried. She looked confused by the question. I knew the answer and was being facetious, but still used the question to explain to her that as an American the idea of sending a packed house of politicians and self appointed nobility skyward has a visceral appeal.
Blog-pimping is most unattractive.
Not all blogs are equal.
I post a blog weekly but do not require my readers to go to the blog to complete the article.
This particular article, however, is deeply researched with extensive graphics and video. It is well worth the read.
Thanks for the ping.
Whenever I ask someone who is wearing a Guy Fawkes mask and invokes Guy Fawkes in their literature, who Guy Fawkes is, they have no clue.
As a historical sidenote, the Gunpowder plot also indirectly influenced the translation of the King James Version of the Bible.
King James was relatively new on the throne, and the conspirators saw a perfect opportunity to take advantage of the weakness of a transitioning English government.
As his first act in an attempt to unify the people in the aftermath of the terror that gripped the nation, James ordered a new translation of the Bible, one that hopefully would unify England.
That mask is commandeered from the book “V for Vendetta”.
It is used by Occupy, but is far from exclusive thereto.
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