Gunpowder, treason and plot

Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot…

Between the mounds of reading and papers that have to somehow get accomplished in the next week, some of my fellow students and I shuffled out a little space of time to celebrate a thoroughly British event last night – Guy Fawkes Day.

Guy Fawkes is notorious for being one of 13 conspirators who plotted to assassinate King James I on November 5, 1605. As devout Catholics, they planned on replacing their protestant king with his catholic daughter. They stashed barrels beneath Parliament, planning to set it ablaze on its opening day. But a letter sent to a catholic Member of Parliament warning him to steer clear of the area alerted the King to the plot, which was soon after discovered. Just after midnight, Fawkes was caught leaving the cellar where he had been stationed, and was arrested.

Although Fawkes has been called, “The only man ever to enter Parliament with honest intentions,” when I first heard that there was a day celebrating Fawkes, a man who had tried to blow up Parliament, I was a little concerned. After a little snooping around, however, I discovered that, after the thwarting of the plot, the people of London were encouraged to celebrate the fortunate escape of the King by burning bonfires. The tradition is continued today, and has been a place for political statements throughout its many years. Effigies have commonly been burned in the bonfires, including those of Fawkes, the Pope, and Margaret Thatcher.

I’m not a big fan of effigy burning, and fortunately this was not included in the festivities at St. Albans – where we went to watch the traditional fireworks. What I did see were families, children, youth, and couples young and old alike, all out to enjoy a night together celebrating their country and community. On a cold night on the outskirts of London, hundreds of people had come out to share a moment together. We gasped at fireworks, danced with sparklers, and watched with rapt attention as families set of floating lanterns (which I never knew were real!) into the windy night.

Sending off a floating lantern.

That is what I love about festivals – people coming together to celebrate, remember, and share. Guy Fawkes Day was something typically British, something you can’t find anywhere else in the world.  But the sense of community and of being a part of something,  sharing and connecting with complete strangers, crosses all boundaries.