Every British child grows up knowing all about the 5th November, and we all know the first half dozen lines of the folk poem -
Remember, Remember the 5th of November,
The Gunpowder treason and plot
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
Back in 1605 the dastardly Guy Fawkes - who was a Catholic - planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament and the Protestant James I, replacing him with the Catholic Queen Mary, and since that time the monarch only attends Parliament for the State Opening, thereafter minding his/her own business at Buckingham Palace, or wherever.
However, there was a tip-off and Guy Fawkes was arrested as he was about to light the fuse. Phew.
Sadly, it is not a holiday but is commemorated every year (at least by Protestants) with marches and jollity, while the Catholics stay at home and batten down the hatches. One of the doctors I worked for in Lewes was a Catholic and he would get very riled up and angry about it all. It isn't a happy time for pets and their owners either.
One of my earliest childhood memories in West Cumberland (up north) is the big bonfire and fireworks they used to have in the field behind our house..
In Lewes in East Sussex, where I used to work, there was a very active Bonfire Society preparing all the year for their march through the town carrying burning torches and effigies of the Pope to burn on a giant bonfire. Now even I - avowed Protestant as I am - know that isn't on, so a few years ago effigies of the Pope were replaced with international bad guys. I'm guessing this year they were burning effigies of Kim Jon Un.
Now I am looking forward to some quieter evenings, there have been a lot of bangs and fireworks going off round here.
It must indeed be interesting to experience an episode of "Protestants Gone Wild" in Lewes. I think I prefer our secularised Hallowe'en with its trick-or-treat motif for the little ones.
ReplyDeleteThere really isn't any connection between the 5th November and Hallowe'en. Guy Fawkes Day on the 5th November commemorates the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot which kept our nation Protestant.
ReplyDeleteBut as you know, Pope Gregory designated November 1 as a time to honour the saints and martyrs, All Saints Day took on some of our Celtic traditions, and the evening became known as All Hallows Eve - Halloween.
The next day, November 2nd - All Souls Day - is when the dead are remembered, but Protestants like myself don't pray for the dead - the dead have already passed into God's Judgement, we consider it impertinent to intervene any further.
We used to have tricking and treating but in our 21st Century society here, we can't have little ones knocking on doors :-)