Remember remember the 5th of November… We all know the poem from around 1870, what we often forget though is just what was it all about and why was Guy so miffed?
The Gunpowder Plot
The plot came about after King James I failed to overturn anti-Catholic laws set in place by Queen Elizabeth I. When he ordered Catholic priests to leave the country, Robert Catesby began plotting against the King. He enlisted the help of John Wright, Thomas Wintour, Thomas Percy, Guy Fawkes, Robert Keyes, Thomas Bates, Robert Wintour, Christopher Wright, John Grant, Ambrose Rookwood, Sir Everard Digby, and Francis Tresham.
Photo by: Tony Baggett/Fotolia
The plan was to assassinate James I by blowing up the House of Lords at Westminster Palace during the State Opening of Parliament. Had the conspirators been successful, they would also have killed the immediate heirs to the throne, senior judges, most of the Protestant aristocracy, and bishops of the Church of England. The next stage was to place James’ daughter Elizabeth on the throne as a puppet Queen.
The plot failed when an anonymous letter was sent to William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle warning him to stay away from Parliament on November 5th. Guy Fawkes was captured and taken before the King where he admitted to the plot but insisted he was acting alone. He was however, tortured until he confessed and sentenced to death. His co-conspirators were all either killed during arrest or sentenced to death for high treason. Sir Everard Digby, Robert Wintour, John Grant, Thomas Bates, and Robert Keyes were all hung, drawn, and quartered.
12 Bonfire Night Facts
- Yeomen of the Guard still search the Houses of Parliament before the State Opening. This was traditionally held in November from 1928 to 2010 but now occurs in spring.
- Around 2,500kg of gunpowder were found under the Houses of Parliament went Guy Fawkes was arrested. Enough to cause widespread damage for up to 500m.
Photo by: LevT/Fotolia
- The word “bonfire” derives from the term “bone fire” in the Middle Ages, these fires were used in the cremations of witches or heretics.
- Guy Fawkes was sentenced to the traditional traitors’ death- hung, drawn, and quartered. Luckily, he jumped from the gallows, breaking his neck and thereby avoided being drawn and quartered whilst still alive. His body was cut into quarters and sent to the four corners of the Kingdom as a warning to others.
- Fireworks were invented by accident in China during the 10th A cook accidentally mixed three common kitchen ingredients – potassium nitrate or saltpetre (a salt substitute used to cure meat), sulphur, and charcoal and set light to the mix. This resulted in colourful flames of orange and white. The cook also discovered the mixture became highly explosive if burned when enclosed in the hollow of a bamboo shoot.
- By the Middle Ages, chemists had discovered how to make brightly coloured fireworks by adding different salts to the mix. Blue is the hardest colour to create.
- Effigies have been burned on bonfires since the 13th Century to drive away evil spirits. Following the Gunpowder Plot, people began to burn “a Guy”.
- The biggest Bonfire night festival in the world is held in Lewes, Sussex. Instead of burning a Guy, Lewes traditionally burns other effigies which have included Vladimir Putin, Bashar al-Assad, Kim Jong-un, Angela Merkel, Muammar Gaddafi, David Cameron, and Nick Clegg.
- Queen Elizabeth I was such a fan of fireworks she created a title for the best firework maker in the country. The winner became known as the “Fire Master of England”.
- In Ottery St Mary in Devon, the townspeople carry 17 flaming tar barrels through the town to the main square before the lighting of the bonfire. In 2009, an aerosol exploded and severely burned 12 people after it was thrown into a barrel by someone in the crowd.
- Guy Fawkes was tortured for 2 days before admitting to the plot and naming his co-conspirators. He was so weak when he signed his confession his signature is barely legible. We’re not sure exactly what torture he was subjected to but he would have almost certainly been placed on the rack which would help explain his weak signature.
Photo by: Tony Baggett/Fotolia
- When asked why he had so much gunpowder, Fawkes is said to have replied, “to blow you Scotch beggars back to your native mountains”.
Be safe this Bonfire Night
Stay safe this Bonfire Night and treat fireworks and sparklers with the respect they deserve. Always have a bucket of water on standby and don’t drink alcohol if you’re lighting fireworks yourself. Fireworks can travel at up to 150mph so don’t point them anywhere except up!
If you have any other facts, get in touch below and let us know. In the meantime, don’t forget to sign up to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest travel tips and news.
Remember, remember!
The fifth of November,
The Gunpowder treason and plot;
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
Guy Fawkes and his companions
Did the scheme contrive,
To blow the King and Parliament
All up alive.
Threescore barrels, laid below,
To prove old England’s overthrow.
But, by God’s providence, him they catch,
With a dark lantern, lighting a match!
A stick and a stake
For King James’s sake!
If you won’t give me one,
I’ll take two,
The better for me,
And the worse for you.
A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,
A penn’orth of cheese to choke him,
A pint of beer to wash it down,
And a jolly good fire to burn him.
Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! Make the bells ring!
Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King!
Hip, hip, hooray!
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