…and Plot!
5th November has been celebrated in the UK for years, but why?
Guy Fawkes was born in York in 1570. He preferred to be called Guido after a ten year period of fighting for the Spanish Catholic cause. English Catholics were being persecuted, and Guy among 12 other men in 1605 decided the only option was to blow up the Houses of Parliament hoping to kill the King and other MP’s. This was dubbed as the Gunpowder Plot.
36 barrels of gunpowder were stored in a cellar underneath the House of Lords. This soon became a foiled plot when some some friends of the plotters feared innocent members of the public would be killed too.
An anonymous tip-off was made to Lord Monteagle “Retire yourself into the country…they shall receive a terrible blow this parliament and yet they shall not see who hurts them”
The cellar was stormed on the morning of 5th November after a letter made it’s way into the King’s hands.
Guy was found in the cellar, tortured and executed.
Bonfires were set alight that evening to celebrate the King’s triumph and there unfolds the yearly tradition. Stuffed human sized doll’s are mocked up to symbolise Guy Fawkes on a bonfire.
To this day, HM The Queen will not enter parliament until a thorough search of the cellars has been undertaken.