Remembrance Day is November 11 in Britain and also in Canada.
November 5 is Guy Fawkes Day to commemorate the discovery of a plot to blow up the parliament in the year 1605. Guy Fawkes was a Spanish sympathizer working to overthrow the new monarch James I, and replace him with a Catholic.
This occasion is not celebrated or even widely known about in Canada. In the U.K. it is nowadays an occasion to gather outside with neighbors, on what is often a wet or foggy evening and let off small fireworks to delight children, a bit like what happens over here on halloween.
Guy Fawkes was tried and executed in January of 1606.
The practice of burning an effigy (of Guy Fawkes) led to the introduction into our language the word “guy” for any random male figure, as in “you guys.”
The occasion began right away as citizens were encouraged to light bonfires on November 5 in 1605 and every year afterwards. A caricature of Guy Fawkes is probably the source of the well-known clown face mask associated with anarchist groups such as “Anonymous.” Guy Fawkes was reviled for two centuries but began to emerge as a less reviled if not admired figure after mid-19th century, a symbol of revolutionary change.
King James is also well known as the royal patron of the King James version of scripture, modernizing (for its time) previously archaic language in available verions.
Also there is no such occasion as “Remembrance Sunday,” except in church services, the public observance is on the 11th whatever day of the week it falls, and in 2023 that is Saturday. In parts of Canada it is a statutory holiday when it falls on a week-day. I’m not sure if it is same in Britain, but in Canada, people gather at war memorials in every town at 11:00 a.m. local time and lists of war dead are read out, taps (last post) are played on trumpet, and speeches given. People almost universally (in Commonwealth countries) wear a red poppy for about a week leading up to November 11. Any political demonstration of any kind at one of these ceremonies would be a very offensive matter, in part because it is viewed as an outdoor religious ceremony, so protests of any sort would be interrupting what many consider to be a renewed funeral service for war dead.
The red poppy is from the first world war, it grew in the battle zones and later cemeteries of Belgium and led to a famous Canadian poem, In Flanders Fields (the poppies grow). It is difficult to explain to an outsider the depth of loss experienced in Canada and other commonwealth countries from both world wars and also Korea, in per capita terms it far exceeds certain other nations which may explain why it is a larger occasion. Any small town will have dozens or even hundreds of names read out, and of course equal if not larger numbers returned wounded, or not.
Interesting history. Thanks for posting!
The practice of burning an effigy (of Guy Fawkes) led to the introduction into our language the word “guy” for any random male figure, as in “you guys.”
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Or, in and around New York City, “Youz guyz.”