Guy Fawkes Night
is celebrated in Britain annually on November 5th. The event is accompanied by
firework displays, the lighting of bonfires and the ceremonial effigy-burning
of one Guy Fawkes. The origin of this celebration stems from events which took
place in 1605 and was a conspiracy known as "The Gunpowder Plot,"
intended to take place on November 5th of that year (the day set for the
opening of Parliament). The object of The Gunpowder Plot was to blow up English
Parliament along with the ruling monarch, King James I.
It was hoped that
such a disaster would initiate a great uprising of English Catholics, who were
distressed by the increased severity of penal laws against the practice of
their religion.
The conspirators,
who began plotting early in 1604, eventually expanded their members to a point
where secrecy was impossible. One of their number, Thomas Percy (who had
contacts at the Court of King James), hired a cellar beneath the House of
Lords. Within this cellar were secretly stored 36 barrels (almost two tons) of
gunpowder, overlaid with iron bars and firewood.
The plan went
awry, however, by way of a myserious letter received by Lord Monteagle on
October 26th (10 days prior to the opening of Parliament). Monteagle, brother-in-law
of Francis Tresham (another of the conspirators and likely author of the
correspondence...although this was never proven), was urged in the letter not
to attend Parliament on opening day. When the message was revealed to the First
Earl of Salisbury and others, they took steps which led to the discovery of the
hidden cache and the arrest of Guy Fawkes on the night of November 4th as he
entered the cellar.
The majority of
the other conspirators, either overtaken as they attempted to flee or seized
shortly thereafter, were killed outright, imprisoned or executed.
While the plot
itself was the work of a small number of men, it provoked hostility against all
British Catholics and led to an increase in the harshness of laws against them.
Even to this day, it is the law that no Roman Catholic may hold the office of
monarch and the reigning king or queen remains Supreme Head of the Church of
England.
Today, one of the
ceremonies which accompany the opening of a new session of Parliament is a traditional
searching of the basement by the Yeoman of the Guard. It has been said that for
superstitious reasons, no State Opening of Parliament has or ever will be held
again on November 5th. This, however, is a fallacy since on at least one
occasion (in 1957), Parliament did indeed open on November 5th. The actual
cellar employed for the storage of the gunpowder in 1605 by the conspirators
was damaged by fire in 1834 and totally destroyed during the rebuilding of the
Palace of Westminster in the Nineteenth Century.
Also known as
"Firework Night" and "Bonfire Night," November 5th was
designated by King James I (via an Act of Parliament) as a day of thanksgiving
for "the joyful day of deliverance." This Act remained in force until
1859. On the very night of the thwarted Gunpowder Plot, it is said that the
populace of London celebrated the defeat by lighting fires and engaging in
street festivities. It would appear that similar celebrations took place on
each anniversary and, over the years, became a tradition. In many areas, a
holiday was observed, although it is not celebrated in Northern Ireland.
Guy Fawkes Night
is not solely a British celebration. The tradition was also established in the
British colonies by the early American settlers and actively pursued in the New
England States under the name of "Pope Day" as late as the Eighteenth
Century. Today, the celebration of Guy Fawkes and his failed plot remains a
tradition in such places as Newfoundland (Canada) and some areas of New
Zealand, in addition to the British Isles.
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