Sunday November 2nd, 2008 Guy Fawkes Day

"Remember remember the fifth of November, with gunpowder, treason and plot...".
Every November 5th, I find myself remembering this little verse I learned from my British parents. I then have the urge to tell people about Guy Fawkes Day, and this year I'm going to tell you about it in this column!

Who was Guy Fawkes?

Guy Fawkes (1570-1606), a devout and militant Catholic in an age when the Protestant Church of England had solidified its hold on British religious life, is remembered as the individual who tried to perpetrate what is thought to have been one of history's most notorious terrorist acts.
Source: Biography Resource Centre (online in the Virtual Collection at www.tbpl.ca)

What was the Gunpowder Plot?

The Gunpowder Plot, also known as the Powder Treason, was a failed conspiracy to blow up Britain's Houses of Parliament on November 5, 1605. Fawkes, lurking in a cellar below the Parliament buildings, was arrested as he prepared to ignite the explosion.

Source: Biography Resource Centre (online in the Virtual Collection at www.tbpl.ca)

What went wrong with the plan?

The Powder Treason began to unravel on the night of October 26, with the delivery of an anonymous letter to a Catholic nobleman, Lord Monteagle, advising him to concoct an excuse to avoid the opening of the Parliament session on November 5. Monteagle informed Sir Robert Cecil of the letter's contents, and Cecil informed the King. Continuing uncertainty over who wrote the letter, together with signs that pointed to its being a forgery, have given rise over the centuries to theories that the Gunpowder Plot was devised not by Catholic militants but by Cecil himself, with the intention of permanently crippling Britain's Catholics in the ensuing uproar. In this version of events (promoted in recent times by Francis Edwards), Fawkes and Catesby were double agents. The preponderance of historical opinion holds that the Treason was a genuine terrorist plot, but the debate continues. Whatever the case, the cellars beneath the Parliament buildings were searched on the night of November 4, and Fawkes was discovered, along with the gunpowder.

Source: Biography Resource Centre (online in the Virtual Collection at www.tbpl.ca)

What happens on Guy Fawkes Day now?

English children today celebrate Guy Fawkes Day by making huge rag dolls called "guys" and calling out, "A penny for the guy?" to passersby. The money collected is used to buy fireworks, which are set off on the night of the fifth. The English also light huge bonfires and toss the rag "guys" into the flames.

Source: “Why the English Remember the Fifth of November”, L.L. Russell,
Faces: People, Places, and Cultures, General OneFile (online in the Virtual Collection at www.tbpl.ca)


A nursery rhyme was written to ensure that this form of treason would never be forgotten, hence the words "Remember, remember the 5th of November" sometimes referred to as APlease to remember the fifth of November@. It serves as a warning to each new generation that treason would never be forgiven or forgotten.
Source: http://www.famousquotes.me.uk/nursery_rhymes

The whole rhyme, which I forgot, is:

Remember, remember the fifth of November, Gunpowder treason and plot.
We see no reason Why gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot!
Guy Fawkes, guy, t'was his intent To blow up king and parliament.
Three score barrels were laid below To prove old England's overthrow.
By god's mercy he was catch'd With a darkened lantern and burning match.
So, holler boys, holler boys, Let the bells ring.
Holler boys, holler boys, God save the king.
And what shall we do with him? Burn him!

Source: www.bonfirenight.net (This is a fun website, where you can send Guy Fawkes Day e-cards to your friends, and purchase Guy Fawkes Day paraphernalia including "Fawkesy Lady" mouse pads and "Guy Wear" baby rompers. Talk about never forgetting!)

Joanna Aegard, Head of Virtual Library Services