Guy Fawkes Night

'Remember, remember the 5th of November....' so why is the dark sky outside lit with the glow of fireworks? Today is November the 3rd not the 5th.

The festival is called Guy Fawkes Night,  not Bonfire Night; I know it is  gruesome but it is an English tradition and to drop the celebration or hide its origins away is like....... not speaking to the French because William conquered us in 1066, or not speaking to the Scots because we constantly fought them here in the North- or them not speaking to us because we battled them at Flodden- or they hit us at Prestonpans. Life is too short! and tradition is about remembering the lessons and consequences of the past- passing culture and history lessons on - no matter how horrid the lesson may be.

We always worked hard at making a guy then put him on a bogey or old pushchair or pram and touted him around the neighbourhood shouting 'penny for the guy'.

Guy Fawkes was a Protestant who converted to Catholicism when his mother remarried to a Catholic; Guy was a mercenary (known as Guido when he swopped and switched sides and ended up fighting in Spain.) In 1605 a group of Catholics planned to blow up the House of Lords (the Lords and the King) to kill James I et al in order to restore a Catholic monarch to the throne; Guy Fawkes was found below Westminster Palace guarding the explosives; thus the rhyme goes on
'Gunpowder, treason and plot......'

If you plan to commit murder then you suffer the consequences of the time- regardless of religious reasons for the intended crime- and though a guy is thrown on the bonfire every year, actually Guy Fawkes killed himself before his execution.

So 'I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot'.

We shall look for some fireworks to light on Guy Fawkes Night ie Monday night- November the 5th- but we will not be celebrating Bonfire Night tonight with the Round Table as we have done for years and years and years.