I was looking at a map of Australia and noticed that there is, in fact, a national park on the east coast, named after my all time favorite criminal, Guy Fawkes. For those not in-the-know, Guy is regarded as the Head Conspirator in the plot to kill James I in 1605 by detonating gunpowder under a meeting place of his.
My question is, why is a British traitor the namesake of a park in Australia? WEIRD.
The park is named after the Guy Fawkes River, which in turn was named by Major Edward Parke who camped nearby on Guy Fawkes Day 5th November 1845.
A bit more info here. (pdf. file)
“He was just ziss guy, ya know?”
– Halfrunt, Brain Care Specialist
Heh, I think the Australians are just slightly tweaking the Brits here.
Guy Fawkes day is a festival in the UK when we celebrate the foiling of the evil papist plot. It’s also known as Bonfire Night and Fireworks Night because, obviously, we light bonfires and have firework displays on this night.
Another tradition is the making of an effigy of infamous blackguard, Guy Fawkes, out of old clothing, etc. and burning it on a bonfire.
It sounds a lot like Whacking Day.
If he really is your all time favorite criminal you ought to know that Fawkes is certainly not regarded as the “Head Conspirator”; the plot was led by Robert Catesby.
This site will let you read a little more about the Gunpowder Plot.
BTW, although Bonfire Night is celebrated throughout the UK, not everybody burns effigies of Fawkes. Personally I think there are plenty more suitable candidates than a man who lived and died during a particularly ugly and violent period of history and whose crime was no worse than the SOP of the government he tried to overthrow.
As an aside, Bonfire Night is a continuation of other, older traditions around communal fire-lighting and seasonal celebration. Guy Fawkes was simply a historical footnote that caught public imagination, and personified a tradition, IMHO.
That some servant of the old British Empire chose to name a river half a world away after the name of a day, rather than anything else to do with King and Country, is an interesting footnote in itself.
is that the penny for the man night?
“Penny for the Guy”, yes. Except that kids these days expect far more than a penny and have no idea who Guy was.