Gunpowder, Treason and Plot

One of the UK traditions we missed out on this year is the 5th November, known as Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes. Celebrating the day when Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators tried to blow up the House of Lords with barrels of gunpowder.

Elizabeth I had been particularly harsh on Catholics and when she died in 1603 they hoped her successor James I would be a little better (he did have a Catholic mother), but he wasn't and so the plot of violent protest was born in 1605.

However some people got second thoughts, some people betrayed the plot, etc and they got caught. The details are all here , and the encylopedia Britannia details it's version here. Keeping the traditions alive, every year when the reigning monarch attends the State Opening Of Parliament, the Yeoman Of The Guard, walks the cellars looking for barrels of gunpowder. On the anniversary of the plot's demise, Brits across the nation gather together in their yards and local parks around huge bonfires, to set of fireworks and burn effigies of the traitorous Guy Fawkes.

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