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Guy Fawkes Night
Tonight is a special night for those in the UK, known as Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night. The fifth of November signifies the day that the plot to blow up the Houses Of Parliament (the 'Gunpowder Plot') was foiled. I guess it's the equivalent of the 4th of July for Americans.
I won't go into too much depth about why this was planned, because it involves many religious matters that may lead to trouble here. I'll just say that Guy Fawkes and a small group of plotters were pitted against King James I for some of the laws he was making.
The group of plotters devised a plot to assassinate King James I by blowing up the Houses Of Parliament, and kidnapping the young princess Elizabeth and pushing her onto the throne.
The plot was finalised in October, and the group had 36 barrels of gunpowder that they were going to put underneath the Houses Of Parliament. The plan was that Guy Fawkes was going to light the fuse, then escape through the Thames, while a revolt in the Midlands would help to capture Princess Elizabeth.
On the 26th of October, 1605, a noble called Monteagle recieved an anonymous letter warning him of the plot. The letter was showed to the king on the 1st of November, which lead to Guy Fawkes' discovery underneath the Houses Of Parliament.
Guy Fawkes and most of the other plotters were executed, and every 5th of November, Britain remembers the day that Guy Fawkes' plot was foiled.
Tonight, there will be plenty of fireworks displays all across Britain, and it's a tradition to have a bonfire with a Guy Fawkes dummy on top of it. This plot gave us the rhyme, 'Remember, remember, the 5th of November', and we sure haven't forgotten.
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Guy Fawkes Night
11-05-2011, 03:35 PM
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