November Newsletter

Gunpowder, Treason & Plot – the story behind Bonfire Night

This month our travel writer Jamie Murphy illustrates the amazing story behind the November 5th tradition of Bonfire Night, in Gunpowder, Treason & Plot.

On 5th November, thousands of fires will be lit throughout the UK to celebrate Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night. But why? Who is Guy Fawkes and what did he do that was so bad that a whole nation has ritually burned his effigy every year for the last 400?

The story behind this uniquely English tradition takes us back to the 1600s and is one of intrigue, plot and a dramatic attempt to assassinate the king and blow up the Houses of Parliament. England during the 16th century was a place of great religious strife, the previous reigns of Henry VIII, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth had seen the nation break with Rome to become Protestant, then switch back to Catholicism and back to Protestantism again. A great many people where executed for treason and heresy during this period, as the two religious factions wrestled control of the country.

When Queen Elizabeth died without an heir, she was succeeded by her protestant cousin King James VI of Scotland, who was crowned King James I of England  in 1603. James had his own issues with the Catholics; his mother, Mary Queen of Scots was a Catholic although he had been separated from her at birth, after she was deposed in favour of James by protestant Scottish nobles. James had spent many years repressing the Catholics in Scotland and his ascension to the throne of England was to bring little respite for those in his new kingdom. When James refused to grant Catholics the same rights as Protestants some began to plot his removal and a counter-reformation returning England to Catholicism.

Of the many plots, the Gunpowder Plot was the most ambitious and came dangerously close to fruition. The plot involved a group of Catholic extremists led by Robert Catesby. The plan was to dig a tunnel under parliament the from an adjacent property, plant gunpowder beneath the House of Lords and light it during the State Opening of Parliament, killing the king and several prominent Protestant members of parliament. The man to light the fuse was to by Guy Fawkes.

Born in York, Fawkes was a former English soldier with considerable experience in explosives and an devout Catholic who had fought in a number of religious conflicts. It was the responsibility of Fawkes to plant the gunpowder and light the fuse blowing up parliament and very likely himself too. By March 1605, Fawkes had hidden 1,800 pounds of gunpowder beneath the House of Lords. It then fell to the conspirators to wait until the state opening of parliament and plan phase two of their plan – to prepare for a revolt in the Midlands and lead an army into London to force James’ daughter Princess Elizabeth to rule as a Catholic. However this was to seal the plotters’ downfall, for as they sought support and finances their plan was leaked. Francis Tresham, who aided the conspirators, wrote to his brother in law, Lord Monteagle to warn him not to attend the opening, but Monteagle instead alerted the king.

On 5th November 1605, as he was preparing to execute the plot, Guy Fawkes was caught beneath the House of Lords with 36 barrels of gunpowder, enough to blow up the entire Palace of Westminster and surrounding buildings including Westminster Abbey. He was then presented to the king himself, who asked Fawkes why he would wish to kill him. Fawkes’ defiant reply was, ‘dangerous diseases require desperate remedies’.  He was later taken to the Tower of London where he was tortured on the rack for four days before revealing the names of his co-conspirators. These four days allowed the other plotters time to flee, but they were all eventually rounded up and either killed in the process of capture, like ringleader Catesby who died in a dramatic shootout, or were executed for treason.

Had they succeeded the gunpowder plotters would have altered the history of England and Britain, but instead ordinary Catholics were to pay the price by being held in suspicion for decades and denied equal rights for another 200 years.

Since 1605, November 5th has been commemorated with the tradition of lighting fires and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes or the Pope. Thankfully over the 400 years the character of Bonfire Night has greatly changed from one of anti Catholic sectarianism to nothing more than family entertainment in which Catholic communities in Britain also participate – though poor old Guy Fawkes still gets burnt each year. Other Bonfire Night traditions include foods such as treacle toffee, roast chestnuts and toffee apples, while today many bonfires are accompanied by fireworks displays. There are a number of large organised bonfires and fireworks displays throughout England, which include those at Battersea Park and Alexandra Palace in London, Kings Dock and Sefton Park in Liverpool and along the Golden Mile at Blackpool.

One final piece of Guy Fawkes trivia – if you ever visit the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, look out for the lantern that Fawkes was carrying when he was apprehended and if you’re in England around this month, ‘remember, remember the 5th of November.’