I guess you drink, blow stuff up - sort of like the 4th of July in the US, I guess.
What are you celebrating? That Fawkes was caught and horrendously tortured? Or, is he an anti-hero or martyr type?
No no no, not a martyr. A mercenary stooge of some wood-be home grown terrorists. No anti-hero.
I don’t think most people actually think about it, but we are officially celebrating the foiling of the terrorist plot to blow up Parliament in 1605. It’s our longest lasting national celebration, as even Christmas was cancelled at one point by Oliver Cromwell (boo, hiss). James I ordered bonfires to be lit across the land on this date in national celebration, which is what we still do. Lighting bonfires has long been a method of celebration.
It involves:
- Standing in the dark is a cold, muddy and frequently wet field, starring at an enormous bonfire with a stuffed effigy on top (Guy Fawkes, or if you’re lucky, some evil person of the day, eg bankers. In the town of Lewes they burn all sorts, including, ahem, the Pope)
- Drinking something warm to stave of frostbite, preferably mulled wine.
- Dangerously setting off fireworks you’ve bought at the local supermarket, or watching the council do the same on a much bigger scale.
- Waving sparklers
- Eating toffee apples and hotdogs
- Gojng home.
That sounds awesome. We should do that in the US. I’m sure we could come up with some effigies to burn.
I don’t celebrate it at all now. I’m too busy trying to keep my dog chilled.
Even when I was really into it, back before my teens, it’s not like when I eventually acknowledged the significance of the night and the history behind it(around the age of 10/11, I’d guess.), I thought “Hey, this bonfire night is even better than I thought! Now I’ve got a reason to do it.”
When I was young, it was all about the idea that on one night of the year, we could legitimately burn anything we’d been able to lay our hands on, and defending your woodpile from other kids wanting to do the same.
Guy Fawkes was just an excuse to make a shitty dummy/effigy and harass people going in and out of the pub for money.
Is it more for kids than adults?
What is the tradition about harassing pub-goers for money?
Fun for all the family, although I remember being quite scared of it when I was little.
“Penny for the Guy”. Kids don’t really do it much anymore, what with the Halloween invasion taking over, but leading up to the day kids would make a Guy for the bonfire, wheel it around in a pram and go knocking on doors asking “Penny for the Guy?”
I think the ‘Penny for the Guy’ thing comes from a very Un-PC verse of the 5th November poem. The first verse we all learn in school:
*Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
the Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, t’was his intent to blow up King and Parliament.
Three score barrels were laid below to prove old England’s overthrow;
By God’s mercy he was catch’d with a dark lantern and lighted match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
Hip hip hoorah!*
The second verse goes on a bit about fire and the Pope. Read at your peril:
*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!*
I’d definitely say so, but the big kid in everyone can enjoy it as a social occasion. In fairness my crankiness isn’t directed at communal bonfire goers and those doing little events in their gardens, it’s at the manufacturers of those gawd-awful bomb “fireworks” and the morons who find setting them off hilariously entertaining, especially if it’s outside the homes of old-aged pensioners.
Back in my adolescent days - the late 60’s, early 70’s - every year, about a week before bonfire night, your little crew would make an effigy, stick a cheap plastic mask on it, or draw a crude face on a football and use it as a head, and then we’d tote it around to the nearest pub, plonk it by the door and say “Penny for the Guy, Mister?”
If they only threw a penny in the bucket you’d ambitiously used to collect the cash in, you’d give them the stink eye and wait for the next sucker. It wasn’t always that easy. There was always the risk of your Guy getting the shit kicked out of it by an irate punter and that happened at least once to our much-loved Guy.
I’m learning all kinds of cool stuff today.
I’ve heard a few people claim to be celebrating because ‘Well, he might not have got the buggers, but at least he had a pretty good go’. Generally said by those unconcerned with historical accuracy, after a couple of pints.
Mostly, it’s just a cheap excuse to make things go ‘bang’ and set fire to stuff -I’ve seen old sofas and even a car stuffed into bonfires before now, in the dodgier areas. ‘Guys’ are not a universal bonfire ingredient- the last time I saw one was a few years back, they had a kids competition to make the best, with all the losers thrown on first. They were random celebrity effigies for the most part.
Don’t you get this information from Fawkes News?
“The last person to enter parliament with honest intentions was Guy Fawkes”
Yup, it’s just fireworks night really. Not a lot of thought is given to the origins of the event, we just want to know where’s got the best display, play with sparklers, and watch as the fire engines race off to combat the illegal bonfires everywhere.
And those of us with small children and/or animals curse the noise - they were still going off at midnight last night!
I saw a telly programme that modelled what would have happened if the bomb under Parliament had gone off. They reckoned it would have taken out a good many more buildings than Parliament itself and killed many more people than just the MPs. So all round a good thing to celebrate the foiling of the plot. That said I remember hearing in school about the torture inflicted on Fawkes after his capture. They showed us his signature before and after. The deterioration was marked and quite sickening.
These days fewer places bother with a bonfire and just do a firework display… here’s a typical local display which didn’t go according to plan!
Being Oxgangs, I harbour the suspicion that somebody got at the display beforehand to sabotage it!
You Brits and your colorful euphemisms.
I have a question - in this image I can see some people there with what appear to be American Indian headdresses. I assume that they’re not American Indian of course… so what are they?
My word, I hope you mean “the losing entries”… :eek:
Isn’t the historical frame mostly just “another chapter in the endless historical pissing match between Anglicans and Catholics”? And to a slightly lesser degree, whether you supported 17th century Spain or Britain?
Going home with feet numb in your gumboots because you were so entranced by the fireworks that you forgot to stomp your feet.
Baked potatoes and singed hair from dangerously pulling them from the pyre.
Poor kids would start early with the Penny for the Guy thing.
People dressed as American Indians.
No, I don’t know why either.