Tomorrow is Guy Fawkes Day - anyone celebrating?

[thefool_wa]

While I have to admit that the only reason I know this is the movie "V for Vendetta" - my wife was actually the one who explained it all to me just prior to seeing the movie and I find the whole thing amusing.

To me, this holiday seems like taking April 19th and making it Timothy McVeigh day, which is something so ludicrous as to defy logic and reason simultaneously.

However, being one of the revolutionary mind, I can appreciate the stones it took Mr. Fawkes to try and accomplish that which he ended up being the fall guy for. I am not admonishing his attempt at violence as much as I am admiring the conviction to his cause.

So how do I plan to celebrate this blessed day of anti-revolution? I will probably watch "V for Vendetta", maybe toss a small effigy of Guy Fawkes on the fire, and contemplate the true price of violent revolutions as a tempering force reminding me that all I want to do is write about them, not participate in one.

I know I am not British, and as an Irish descendant I feel my ancestry drawing me more to Guy's side of the fence, but celebrating a ludicrous holiday seems like just one more freedom to enjoy.

Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

[Guava Jelly]

1. remember remember the 5th of november

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes


Remember, remember, the 5th of November
Gunpowder Treason and plot ;
I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes,
'Twas his intent.
To blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below.
Poor old England to 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!

Hip hip Hoorah !
Hip hip Hoorah !

A penny loaf to feed ol'Pope,
A farthing 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.

[begin_within]

2. Of course I'm lighting fireworks, and I'm not even British

[thefool_wa]

4. Nice!

Thanks :)

[tjwmason]

3. The celebration is because the plot was foiled.

Or for the more cynical - we burn Guy Fawkes because he failed to blow-up Parliament.

[thefool_wa]

5. True

I suppose if he had succeeded they would not celebrate the day in near the same manner.

More like how we 'celebrate' 9/11 I guess. I know that's not the right word, but am want for the correct one.

[olshak]

6. Yes... in a big way...

Launching a new blog inspired by Guy Fawkes:

http://november-v.blogspot.com

[thefool_wa]

7. Sweet!

I, unfortunately, am prevented by security from accessing blogspot at this terminal.

I will check it out.

[tjwmason]

8. The fireworks have all died down here.

Guy Fawkes Night is kept by the vast majority on the nearest Saturday (i.e., this evening) and there were plenty of them going off locally - but as it's after ten now they're pretty much finished. :hi:

[thefool_wa]

10. Cool

That's interesting. I actually had no idea to what extent it was celebrated at all over there (I assume you are in the UK). Like I said, my only knowledge of the day comes from the movie and it seemed like a good day to watch a great movie.

I'm curious; is much modern reverence is given to the purpose or do people just use it as an excuse to blow stuff up and burn things.

:hi:

[billyskank]

11. Blow stuff up and burn things

that's all it is nowadays. Few people know much about the history.

[billyskank]

9. That is an absurd thing to say

"to me, this holiday seems like taking April 19th and making it Timothy McVeigh day"

November 5th does not celebrate Guy Fawkes trying to destroy parliament. It celebrates the foiling of the plot. Remember that Tim McVeigh actually detonated his bomb. Guy Fawkes did not.

To understand the thing you need to appreciate the history of Catholicism and Protestantism in Britain, the reformation under Henry VIII, the counter-reformation under Mary Queen of Scots ("Bloody Mary") and the subsequent reinstatement of protestant England under Elizabeth I. The gunpowder plot occurred not so long after all this, and an awful lot of blood had been spilled between Catholics and Protestants. At the time, this was serious shit.

The sticking point was the allegiance of the church. Did it answer to the king, or to the pope? A lot of people truly did believe that Catholics wanted to undermine the English state and hand it to Rome. Actually American revolutionary thinking - liberty and freedom and all that - came from English thought from the preceding centuries, although Americans prefer to forget that and pretend that they invented it.

[thefool_wa]

12. I agree, I mis-spoke myself there

If we had stopped TMcV it would be the same and, as I said earlier in the thread, if Fawkes had succeeded it would have an impact on Brittan similar to 9/11, possibly stronger.

I in no way think that Americans invented revolutionary thinking and the ideals of freedom. In fact it seems sometimes that we were only possessed of them for a scant few generations then decided that there was no need for them any longer and started slowly undermining them.

So, help me understand then, what was Fawke's beef? Was he on the side of the Catholics wanting the destruction of the church of England? If so, why go after the governing body and not the church (here I may be experiencing ignorance of British monument architecture and where the halls of government and church may co-exist - so help me out).

[billyskank]

13. Guido Fawkes was trying to assassinate King James I

who was the son of Mary Queen of Scots, that is he was the nephew of Elizabeth I, I think. The year of the plot was 1605.

The plot was an attempt to assassinate the Protestant King James I (James VI of Scotland) and the members of both houses of the Parliament of England, by blowing up Westminster Palace during the formal opening session of the 1605 Parliament, in which the king would address a joint assembly of both the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Guy Fawkes was in large part responsible for the later stages of the plan's execution. His activities were detected, however, before the plan's completion. Following a severe interrogation involving the use of torture, and a trial in Westminster Hall by Judge John Popham, Fawkes and his conspirators were executed for treason and attempted murder.

I have to admit, I needed to look it up on Wikipedia myself:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_fawkes