Remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot...<$>

Tomorrow marks the 400-year anniversary of the infamous ‘Gunpowder Plot’ — so-called because 13 young men, including Guy Fawkes, conspired to blow up Britain’s Houses of Parliament in London. Fortunately, the plot failed before it was executed, and Mr. Fawkes became Britain’s most notorious traitor.Since then, the date has been marked as ‘Bonfire Night’ — a time when effigies of Guy Fawkes have been burned on bonfires and, where legal, fireworks set off.

While such celebrations were commonplace in Bermuda for centuries, and children revelled in the excitement of gathering wood for the fire and stuffing ‘The Guy’, not to mention setting off fireworks, eating sweet potato pudding and toasting marshmallows in the embers, today’s children know little or nothing of the tradition.

Of course, Bermuda has changed greatly from the days when almost everyone had space on their property to make a bonfire, and fireworks were everybody’s prerogative.

Today, neighbourhoods are denser, suitable vacant land is dwindling, and unfortunately vandalism and anti-social elements put an end to private use of fireworks in the 1970s.

Nonetheless, ‘Bonfire Night’ continues to be celebrated by some families and neighbourhoods here, and it is widely celebrated in Britain, as well as in Newfoundland, Canada and New Zealand.

The history of Guy Fawkes Night begins in 1603 when, after the death of Queen Elizabeth I, English Catholics who had been persecuted under her rule hoped that her successor, James I, whose mother, Mary Queen of Scots, was Catholic, would be more tolerant of their religion. Unfortunately, the King turned out to be just as intolerant as the late Queen, as a result of which 13 young men decided violent action was needed.

A small group, led by Robert Catesby, decided that the Houses of Parliament should be blown up. The plotters reasoned that, in so doing, they would kill King James, maybe the Prince of Wales, and Members of Parliament who continued to make life difficult for Roman Catholics.

To carry out their plan, the conspirators, whom we would call terrorists or extremists today, procured 36 barrels of gunpowder, which they stored in a cellar under the House of Lords, Britain’s upper house.

As the group formulated its plans, it became clear that innocent people would also be hurt or killed in the attack, including some who had fought for the rights of Catholics. This apparently led to some of the men rethinking their involvement, as a result of which one sent an anonymous letter warning his friend, Lord Monteagle, not to attend Parliament on November 5.

Somehow, the letter reached King James, whose forces then made plans to stop the conspirators.

Thus it was that, on November 5, 1605 the cellar in which Guy Fawkes lay in wait, alongside the 36 barrels of gunpowder, was stormed. Captured and systematically tortured for days in the Tower of London, Fawkes was subsequently executed, as eventually were his co-conspirators.

The Gunpowder Plot, as it became known, struck a particularly profound chord with the English, who joyfully lit bonfires that very night in gratitude for their monarch’s safety. Thereafter, down through the centuries, Britain and its former and present colonies, as well as New Zealand and Newfoundland, have marked November 5 as a momentous date in history, burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on bonfires, as well as setting off fireworks.

In New England, the date was actively celebrated as ‘Pope Day’ as late as the 18th century.

In Britain today, many children continue the old tradition of making a dummy of Guy Fawkes and carrying it through the streets calling out, “A penny for the Guy,” and using the monies to purchase fireworks.

Another tradition which still continues today is that, prior to the reigning monarch making his or her annual visit for the State opening of Parliament in London, the cellars of the Palace of Westminster, in which the Houses of Parliament and Lords are situated, are ceremonially searched by Yeomen of the Guard to ensure there is no repeat of November 5, 1605.

Note: <$>Tomorrow’s ‘Funday Sunday’ at the World Heritage Site on Penno’s Wharf in St. George’s will conclude with a Guy Fawkes bonfire at 6.30 p.m. See Bermuda Calendar for full details.

[bul] A full history of the Gunpowder Plot can be found on website www.bcpl.net/~cbladey/guy/html