Guy Fawkes Night, more commonly known as Bonfire Night, is an annual celebration on the evening of the 5th of November. It celebrates the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot of the 5th of November 1605 in which a number of Roman Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament.
The traditional rhyme to commemorate this event in British history is:
Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up King and Parliament.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
If this rings a bell, it may be because "Guy Fawkes Night" is the pivotal date in the graphic novel V for Vendetta and its film adaptation, which starred Natalie Portman as Evey Hammond.
Traditionally, effigies of the Pope are burned alongside those of Guy Fawkes at huge bonfires which follow the procession at sites on the edges of the town, reminding the watching crowd of the event's roots in anti-Catholic feelings dating back to the burning of 17 Protestant martyrs in Lewes in the 16th Century, and fed by the 1605 gunpowder plot.
Those sentiments are reflected in the following verse of the traditional rhyme, which was also sung years ago, but has fallen out of favour because of its offensive content:
A penny loaf to feed the Pope
A farthing o' cheese to choke him.
A pint of beer to rinse it down.
A faggot of sticks to burn him.
Burn him in a tub of tar.
Burn him like a blazing star.
Burn his body from his head.
Then we'll say ol' Pope is dead.
Hip hip hoorah!
Hip hip hoorah hoorah!
For more, see:
"Explosive event remembers Guy Fawkes" by Martha Buckley, BBC News, at
Guy Fawkes Night. (2007, November 5). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:33, November 5, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guy_Fawkes_Night&oldid=169421499
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