Bonfire Night guide to Guido
Sue Wilkinson considers ‘gunpowder, treason and plot’ fireworks traditions
Remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot ... says the rhyme. There are many versions of the rhyme that have survived in different parts of England since the 17th century.
The words refer to a plot that was centered around a group of Roman Catholic revolutionaries furious at the persecution of their faith in England.
Warwickshire-born Catholic Robert Catesby and his friends planned to kill the King, his ministers and scores of nobles by blowing up the Palace of Westminster during the State Opening of Parliament on November 5 1605.
The plotters rented a house nearby and managed to smuggle 36 barrels of gunpowder – around 2.5 tons – into a cellar under the palace ready to blow it sky high.
The explosives were discovered with hours to spare after an anonymous tip-off warning one peer to stay away.
To this day the cellars under the Houses of Parliament are ceremonially searched before the annual State Opening.
Far from being the plot’s ringleader Guy ‘Guido’ Fawkes was merely the trigger man drafted in to set the fuse.
Born in York, he converted to Catholicism following the death of his father and left to become a mercenary fighting for the Spanish against the Protestant Dutch.
Given his expertise in explosives, he was charged with setting and lighting the fuse to the gunpowder.
He was caught red-handed by the King’s men beneath the palace and was tortured for two days at the Tower of London until he gave up his coconspirators. The traditional death for traitors in 17th century England was to be hanged, drawn and quartered in public.
As he awaited his punishment on the gallows, Fawkes, 35, leapt from the platform and broke his neck.
He was still hanged and the four parts of his body sent around the country to warn others.
November 5 was later declared a national holiday and people began burning effigies of Fawkes – called guys – and later setting off fireworks representing the gunpowder.
To this day Bonfire Night is celebrated with fires and fireworks and burning of the guy across the country.
Traditions include ...
Fireworks and guys
The Guy (effigy) is made out of old clothes stuffed with paper or straw. The Guy is a reminder of Guy Fawkes.
The fireworks are a reminder of the gunpowder Guy Fawkes hid in the cellar of Parliament
Penny for the Guy
During the days before Bonfire Night, children used to take their home-made guys out on the street and ask for “a penny for the Guy” for fireworks.
Bonfire Night Food
The bonfires are used to cook potatoes wrapped in foil and to heat up soup for the crowds that come to watch the fireworks
The traditional cake eaten on bonfire night is parkin, a sticky cake containing a mix of oatmeal, ginger, treacle and syrup.
Other foods include sausages cooked over the flames and marshmallows toasted in the fire.
Toffee apples and cinder toffee are also firework night fare and mulled wine and hot chocolate are often the drinks served.
Flaming Barrels
In Ottery St Mary, teams of stalwart men carry flaming tar barrels on their shoulders down the length of the town’s High Street.
When one man’s 50-pound barrel gets too hot to handle, another man takes over, then another and another until the flames die out and the barrel crumbles into ashes.