| Guy Fawkes Night | |
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| Also called | Bonfire Night Cracker Night Fireworks Night |
|---|---|
| Observed by | United Kingdom and some of its former colonies |
| Type | Cultural, Remembrance |
| Significance | Foiling of a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill King James I, in London in 1605 |
| Date | Evening of the 5th of November |
| Observances | Bonfires, fireworks, etc. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625 was King of Scotland as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James Events 1499 - Publication of the Catholicon in Treguier ( Brittany) See also Campfire. bonfire is a large controlled outdoor Fire. A firework is classified as a low explosive pyrotechnic device used primarily for aesthetic and entertainment purposes |
Guy Fawkes Night (more commonly known as Bonfire Night, Cracker Night and sometimes Fireworks Night) is an annual celebration on the evening of the 5th of November. Events 1499 - Publication of the Catholicon in Treguier ( Brittany) 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 in London, England. The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 or the Powder Treason, as it was known at the time was a failed Assassination attempt by a group of provincial English Guy Fawkes ( 13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606) sometimes known as Guido Fawkes, was a member of a group of English London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland
It is primarily marked in the United Kingdom where it was compulsory, by Royal Decree, to celebrate the deliverance of the King until 1859, but also in former British colonies including New Zealand, parts of Canada, and parts of the British Caribbean. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Bonfire Night was also common in Australia until the 1980s, but it was held on the Queen's Birthday long weekend in June some states (eg New South Wales) and Nov 5th in others (eg Victoria). For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. "The Queen" in this article means the monarch of the Commonwealth Realms The Queen's Official Birthday (sometimes known as "the The event occurred in England some 102 years before the Act Of Union between England and Scotland. Festivities are centred around the use of fireworks and the lighting of bonfires. A firework is classified as a low explosive pyrotechnic device used primarily for aesthetic and entertainment purposes See also Campfire. bonfire is a large controlled outdoor Fire.
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Local customs
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, celebrations take place in towns and villages across the country in the form of both private and civic events. See also Campfire. bonfire is a large controlled outdoor Fire. They involve fireworks displays and the building of bonfires on which "guys" are burnt. A firework is classified as a low explosive pyrotechnic device used primarily for aesthetic and entertainment purposes See also Campfire. bonfire is a large controlled outdoor Fire. These "guys" are traditionally effigies of Guy Fawkes, the most famous of the Gunpowder Plot conspirators. An effigy is a representation of a person especially in the form of Sculpture. Guy Fawkes ( 13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606) sometimes known as Guido Fawkes, was a member of a group of English Although the night is celebrated in York (Fawkes' hometown) some there do not burn his effigy, most notably those from his old school. York ( is an historic Walled city sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. [1] Before the fifth, children traditionally use the "guys" to request a "penny for the guy" in order to raise funds with which to buy fireworks, although this custom seems to have died out in recent years due to growing distaste for beggars or parental concern for their children's safety.
In the United Kingdom, there are several foods that are traditionally consumed on Guy Fawkes Night:
- black treacle goods such as bonfire toffee[2] and parkin,[3]
- toffee apples[4][5]
- baked potatoes, which are wrapped in foil and cooked in the bonfire or its embers[6][7]
- black peas with vinegar[8]
In the Black Country, it is a traditional night for eating groaty pudding. Molasses or Treacle is a thick Syrup by-product from the processing of the Sugarcane or Sugar beet into Sugar. Bonfire toffee, or treacle toffee is a very hard very brittle Toffee that is associated with Halloween and Parkin is a ginger cake, which originated in Northern England. A baked potato, also known as a jacket potato, is the edible result of Baking a Potato. A pea (inaccurately called a '''sweet pea''' by food distubutors is most commonly the small spherical Seed or the seed-pod of the Legume Pisum Vinegar is an acidic liquid processed from the Fermentation of Ethanol in a process that yields its key ingredient Acetic acid (also called ethanoic acid The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton Groaty pudding (also known as Groaty Dick) is a traditional dish from the Black Country in England
In Sussex it is a major festival that centres on Lewes necessitating the closure of the town centre. Sussex is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. Lewes (ˈluːɨs Lewis) is the County town of East Sussex, England and gives its name to the Local government district in which it The night also commemorates the Glorious Revolution and 17 local Protestant martyrs that were burnt at the stake during Marian Persecutions of the Catholic Queen Mary I[9]. The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of King James II of England (VII of Scotland in 1688 by a union The Marian Persecutions refers to the persecutions of Religious Reformers Protestants and other Dissenters for their beliefs during the reign of Mary I of England Mary I (18 February 1516 &ndash 17 November 1558 was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 19 July 1553 until her death The night begins with torchlight processions in costume by a number of local bonfire societies and culminates in six separate bonfires where effigies of Guy Fawkes, Pope Paul V and topical personalities are destroyed by firework and flame. The Sussex Bonfire Societies are responsible for the series of Bonfire festivals around Central/Eastern Sussex along with bits of Surrey and Kent For Napoleon's brother-in-law see Camillo Filippo Ludovico Borghese.
In Scotton, the locals do not burn effigies of Guy Fawkes due to the village's connection to him. Scotton is a small Village and Civil parish (population 283 in the 2001 census located four miles north of Harrogate, and less than two miles from Up until recently, the Catholic school Stonyhurst College, would avoid any celebration, because of their connection to the other plotters (three of them went to the school). Stonyhurst College is an independent, Roman Catholic school in the Jesuit tradition
In Ottery St Mary, in Devon, burning barrels of tar are carried through the streets:
- "Ottery St. Mary is internationally renowned for its tar barrels, an old custom said to have originated in the 17th century, and which is held on November 5th each year. Each of Ottery's central public houses sponsors a single barrel. In the weeks prior to the day of the event, November 5th, the barrels are soaked with tar. The barrels are lit outside each of the pubs in turn and once the flames begin to pour out, they are hoisted up onto local people's backs and shoulders. The streets and alleys around the pubs are packed with people, all eager to feel the lick of the barrels flame. Seventeen Barrels all in all are lit over the course of the evening. In the afternoon and early evening there are women's and boy's barrels, but as the evening progresses the barrels get larger and by midnight they weigh at least 30 kilos. A great sense of camaraderie exists between the 'Barrel Rollers', despite the fact that they tussle constantly for supremacy of the barrel. In most cases, generations of the same family carry the barrels and take great pride in doing so. . . . Opinion differs as to the origin of this festival of fire, but the most widely accepted version is that it began as a pagan ritual that cleanses the streets of evil spirits. [10]
Guy Fawkes Night is less commonly celebrated in Northern Ireland, where autumn fireworks and bonfires are more commonly associated with Hallowe'en[11]. Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of Halloween, or Hallowe’en, is a Holiday celebrated on the night of October 31.
Canada
In Canada, Bonfire Night/Guy Fawkes Night is still celebrated in various places. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The tradition was planted along with other cultural practices of British colonists in the 19th century[12].
The celebration, however, has been modified over two centuries since arriving from the United Kingdom as the following reveals:
"The night is also still celebrated in Nanaimo, British Columbia. The custom was brought over by English coal miners that came to Nanaimo in the mid 1800s. They built very tall bonfires -- often 40 feet (12 metres) or taller, sometimes from "spare" railroad ties that they'd come across. Over the years in Nanaimo, by the 1960s the effigy of Guy Fawkes had disappeared, and so had the name -- it's just called "Bonfire Night" by the local children. Now (2006), the tradition has largely been lost altogether, and the few remaining celebrations that are held are mostly in private backyards. "[13]
On the Atlantic side of Canada, home of Britain's oldest overseas colony, Newfoundland, Guy Fawkes bonfires are still burnt in many parts of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Newfoundland and Labrador (ˈnuːfɨn(dlənd ən(d ˈlæbrəˌdɔr (Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador is a province of Canada, the tenth and latest to join the Confederation The celebrations are widespread enough to merit recent mention by the provincial Minister of Environment and Conservation:
Tom Osborne, Minister of Environment and Conservation, today asked the general public to keep safety and the environment in mind when holding bonfires this weekend to celebrate Guy Fawkes night. “Holding bonfires on Guy Fawkes night is still a tradition in many areas of our province and we are asking those participating in a bonfire this year to ensure they clean up their area, especially our beaches, when the festivities are over,” said Minister Osborne. “We should always be mindful of the importance of our environment and do our part to keep it clean at all times, including events like Guy Fawkes night. ”"[14]
While not necessarily widely celebrated elsewhere in Canada, the story of Guy Fawkes and the original Gunpowder Plot is still taught to many Canadian students. One amusing outcome of this was a mock version of a Guy Fawkes plot to blow up the Parliament of Canada in Ottawa on 6 November, 2006. The Parliament of Canada (Parlement du Canada is Canada 's legislative branch, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario. Ottawa (ˈɒtəwə or sometimes /ˈɒtəwɑː/ is the Capital of Canada and the country's fourth largest municipality. The updated "plot" was recorded on YouTube. YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload view and share Video clips YouTube was created in February 2005 by three former PayPal employees [15]
Elsewhere in Ontario, Guy Fawkes Night observances based on the original tradition have also become rather flexible as evident from the practices continued, loosely, at the University of Toronto's, Trinity College:
"Remember, remember the third of November? Traditionally Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated on the fifth, but as we all know, Trinity College does not follow a normal set of traditions. This article is about the University of Toronto's St George Campus The University of Trinity College, referred to locally as Trinity College or colloquially as Trin, is one of the federated colleges making Instead, this year’s festivities were held two days early so that they might fall more conveniently on a Thursday, coinciding with a themed debate from the Literary Institute. The Euchre Committee was well prepared with an effigy of Fawkes, complete with explosives, and mulled wine was served to all lookers-on. Pyrotechnics for all to enjoy!"[16]
Colonial America
This day was celebrated in the colonies and was called "Pope's Day". It was the high point of antipopery in New England. In the 1730's or earlier Boston's artisans commemorated the day with a parade and performances which mocked popery and the Catholic Stuart pretender. It was also the day when the youth and the lower class ruled. They went door to door collecting money from the affluent to finance feasting and drinking. [17]
Modern United States
The night has been celebrated for the past 11 years in the ocean community of Westerly in the state of Rhode Island, USA. The night is begun with a musical comedy, based on the events of Guy Fawkes' capture written in the style of an English Monty Python comedy sketch. Every year it is slightly rewritten by a dedicated team of locals who also provide the acting and musical arrangements. Finally, the night is rounded out with a Guy Fawkes Bonfire, weather permitting. The event is always held on the beach, and in the fall the New England coastline is a bit windy and cold so the event is always different depending greatly on the weather and the number of people in the audience. [18]
Southern hemisphere
Bonfire Night/Guy Fawkes Night (and the weekend closest to it) is the main night for both amateur and official fireworks displays in the UK and New Zealand. A firework is classified as a low explosive pyrotechnic device used primarily for aesthetic and entertainment purposes New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island
In Australia, Guy Fawkes Night is mostly known simply as Bonfire Night and bears little connection to its original purpose. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. It is also referred to as Cracker Night by some Australians and celebrated in a song of the same name by Australian singer, John Williamson. Celebration of Bonfire Night has died down due to the banning of fireworks in most states and territories to prevent their misuse.
Prior to this ban, Guy Fawkes Night in Australia was widely celebrated with many private, backyard fireworks lightings and larger communal bonfires and fireworks displays in public spaces.
Although one of the reasons for the ban on fireworks was the danger of bushfires during hot Novembers, since the ban, private (and therefore illegal) fireworks have become increasingly popular on New Years Eve, an even more dangerous time for bushfires.
The day was moved to a more suitable time of year due to the threat of bush fires in the dry Australian summer.
In New Zealand, the sale of fireworks has been increasingly regulated. Firecrackers have been banned since 1993, and rockets (or any firework where the firework itself flies) have been banned since 1994. [19] In 2007, the sale period for fireworks was reduced to the four days leading to Guy Fawkes Night, and the legal age to buy fireworks was raised from 14 to 18. [20] Despite those sales restrictions, there is actually no restriction on when one may light fireworks, only a restriction on when they may be sold. [21] Prime Minister Helen Clark is considering banning the sale of personal fireworks in New Zealand,[22] although 2007 was one of the "quietest on record" according to the NZ fire service. Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950 is the 37th and current Prime Minister of New Zealand. [23]
Guy Fawkes day was celebrated to some extent by South Africans of English descent, but the practice began dwindling by the 1960s. Personal fireworks were banned by the Apartheid-era government, which feared that fireworks could be converted into improvised explosive devices during periods of civil unrest. This development may have contributed to the decline of celebrations. However, South Africa's expulsion from the Commonwealth and distancing from Britain in the 1960s is another likely factor.
Caribbean
In the Caribbean nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, this is a very exciting night in the town of Barrouallie, on the main island of Saint Vincent's leeward side. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles chain of the Caribbean Sea. The town's field comes ablaze as people come to see all of the traditional pyrotechnics.
Traditional rhymes
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Traditionally the following verse was also sung, but it has fallen out of favour because of its content.
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A variant on the foregoing:
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- Remember, remember the fifth of November
- Gunpowder, treason and plot.
- I see no reason, why gunpowder treason
- Should ever be forgot.
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- Remember, remember, the fifth of November,
- Gunpowder, treason and plot!
- A stick or a stake for King James' sake
- Will you please to give us a faggot
- If you can't give us one, we'll take two;
- The better for us and the worse for you!
Another piece of popular doggerel:
-
- Guy, guy, guy
- Poke him in the eye,
- Put him on the bonfire,
- And there let him die[24].
In popular culture
- Guy Fawkes Night is the pivotal date in the graphic novel V for Vendetta and its film adaptation. V for Vendetta is a ten-issue Comic book V for Vendetta is a 2006 action - thriller Film directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver
- Guy Fawkes Night was spoofed in "Raining Forks", an episode in the fourth series of Maid Marian and Her Merry Men. Maid Marian and her Merry Men is a UK Children's television series created and written by Tony Robinson and directed by David Bell A similar holiday, "High Forks Night", is described in song as the night a plot to blow up the royal kitchen resulted in forks falling from the sky. The traditional rhyme is also spoofed, with Robin's line "You know the poem: 'Remember, remember, the twenty-seventh of April. '"
- In the Daria episode "Depth Takes a Holiday", Daria meets the physical incarnation of Guy Fawkes Day. Daria is an American
- The game Hellgate: London has Guy Fawkes Night content, which will be available to subscribers from 5th of November to the 11th. Included in Guy Fawkes Week are items with flaming abilities, new instances that have a fiery theme, collectible candies such as Bonfire Toffee and Baked Potatoes, and many new recipes are added. [25]
- Australian singer/songwriter John Williamson sings a song Cracker Night on his album Mallee Boy, about his memories of Guy Fawkes night when he was a child. [26]
- John Lennon mentions the fifth of November as something to remember in his song "Remember", in his Plastic Ono Band album. John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (born " Remember " is a 1970 song appearing on John Lennon 's first official solo album release John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The Plastic Ono Band was a conceptual supergroup formed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969 before the dissolution of The Beatles.
- In Imagine Me and You Guy Fawkes Night is seen celebrated. Imagine Me & You is a 2005 British comedy - Romance film written and directed by Ol Parker.
- In The Sandman #75, William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson are shown composing the first five lines of "Remember, remember the Fifth of November. The Sandman is a Comic book series written by Neil Gaiman and published in the United States by the DC Comics imprint Vertigo William Shakespeare ( baptised Benjamin Jonson ( c 11 June 1572 &ndash 6 August 1637) was an English Renaissance Dramatist " Shakespeare comments that if they teach it to a nearby urchin, he will teach it to his friends, and it will survive a hundred years, though Jonson doubts it.
- The epigraph of "The Hollow Men" by T. S. Eliot, the tradition is alluded to with the line 'A penny for the Old Guy. '
- Thomas Hardy opens his 1870s' novel The Return of the Native with the folk of Egdon Heath celebrating the 5th of November.
- Anonymous Project Chanology
See also
Footnotes
- ^ H2G2 Entry on York, England, BBC, <http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A577055>
- ^ Keating, Sheila (October 20, 2007), Where to get the best treacle toffee, Times Online, <http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article2662748.ece>
- ^ Lepard, Dan (November 3, 2007), How to bake 100-year-old parkin, The Guardian, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,2203374,00.html>
- ^ McEvedy, Allegra (October 31, 2007), The G2 weekly recipe: toffee apples and pears, The Guardian, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,2202178,00.html>
- ^ {[cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester/features/2003/11/firework_toffee.shtml|title=Tasty toffee apples|accessdate=2007-11-11|work=BBC - Hereford & Worcester]]}}
- ^ Tantalising recipes for your bonfire feast, BBC, 26 March 2004, <http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/features/bonfire_feast.shtml>
- ^ The top 10 Guy Fawkes links, Telegraph, 3/11/2007, <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml?xml=/connected/2007/11/03/dlweb03.xml&page=2>
- ^ Beckett, Fiona (June 3, 2000), Bean feast, The Guardian, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,327387,00.html>
- ^ Lewes Bonfire Night: An Explosive Event, <http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/bonfire-night/features/november-5th-in-lewes>
- ^ Ottery St Mary Tar Barrels
- ^ Donaldson, Kenny (November 1, 2007), “Remember Remember the 5th of November” says Donaldson, <http://uuptoday.org/newsroom/2007/11/01/remember-remember-the-5th-of-november-says-donaldson/>
- ^ http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/guy-fawkes-day-november-5-1605/
- ^ http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/encyclopaedia!openframeset&frame=Right&Src=/edible.nsf/pages/guyfawkes!opendocument/
- ^ http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2005/env/1104n02.htm
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2stU2AGrSy4
- ^ http://www.salterrae.ca/archive/2005/6/article14.php
- ^ Nash, pg. Project Chanology, also called Operation Chanology, In the video music from Cruise's Mission Impossible films plays in the background and Cruise makes The Sussex Bonfire Societies are responsible for the series of Bonfire festivals around Central/Eastern Sussex along with bits of Surrey and Kent The West Country Carnival is an annual celebration featuring a Parade of illuminated floats (termed "carts" locally in the English The Times is a daily national Newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. 165
- ^ http://www.caswellcooke.com/guy_fawkes.htm
- ^ New Zealand is ready for a fireworks retail ban, 17 October 2006, <http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0610/S00194.htm>
- ^ Sales rocketing despite tougher rules, Nov 2, 2007, <http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/423466/1425814>
- ^ Not illegal to let off fireworks, TV NZ, Nov 8, 2005, <http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/625359>
- ^ Thompson, Wayne (November 05, 2007), Fireworks sales facing total ban as PM talks tough, The New Zealand Herald, <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10474049>
- ^ Guy Fawkes quietest in decades, One News, Nov 6, 2007, <http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1431296>
- ^ http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/encyclopaedia!openframeset&frame=Right&Src=/edible.nsf/pages/guyfawkes!opendocument/
- ^ Server Coming Down, New Theme, <http://www.hellgatelondon.com/underground/server-coming-down-new-theme>
- ^ CRACKER NIGHT - Lyrics by John Williamson
References
- Nash, Gary, The Urban Crucible, The Northern Seaports and the Origins of the American Revolution, 1986, ISBN 0674930584
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