Remember, Remember the Fifth of November

‘Bonfire Night’ or ‘Guy Fawke’s NIght’ is a big celebration in England. It commemorates the death in 1606 of the Catholic Guido (or ‘Guy’) Fawkes. Weeks before Bonfire NIght children make a stuffed effigy of Fawkes and go around asking for money – ‘A penny for the Guy?’ The money buys fireworks which they let off as the ‘Guy’ burns on a pyre. Interestingly, he didn’t die at the stake but was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. Why? Because he was found with a shedload of gunpowder under the House of Lords waiting to blow up the protestant King James I. He was grassed up and caught red handed by guards. Some people wryly observe that he was the last man to enter parliament with honest intentions!

His legacy lives in in more than fireworks and flames. In the film ‘Vendetta’ the protagonist dons a Guy Fawkes mask as he also prepares to bring down the government by blowing up the Palace of Westminster. You can see the masks at many a street demonstration even today.