Guy Fawkes Day

Last Wednesday was a British holiday called Guy Fawkes Day/Bonfire Night. I had never heard of it before, but now I will never forget it!

First, let me give you the background story to the holiday.

Guy Fawkes was a politician who lived during the early 1600s. During that time, King James I came into power. English Catholics of that time were hoping that this King would be more tolerant of their religion. When it became clear that he wasn't going to be, a small group of men came up with a plot to overthrow the government and assassinate the king. They got a hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder and stored it in the cellar of the Houses of Parliament.

But as the group worked on the plot, it became clear that innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack. Some of the plotters started having second thoughts. One of the group members even sent an anonymous letter warning a friend, Lord Monteagle, to stay away from the Parliament on November 5th. The warning letter reached the King, and the King's forces made plans to stop the conspirators.

Guy Fawkes was in the cellar of the Parliament with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5th. He was caught, tortured and executed.

So now, every November 5th, England celebrates the foiling of this plot by having Bonfire Night. People celebrate by burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on huge bonfires, and by setting off fireworks.

We had hoped to take part in Guy Fawkes day, but with Collin being so small, and it already being so cold here, we didn't think it was a good idea. I was pretty bummed about that, so Ethan came up with the idea of having our own Guy Fawkes celebration in our living room. Here is a picture of the Guy Fawkes that Ethan made to burn in our wood stove. It turned out that Guy was too big to fit in our stove, so in the spirit of true English tourture, we quartered him first!!