For all things historical or should that be hysterical!
The bonfires of deliverance.
Every November the Fifth we celebrate Bonfire Night here in the UK, “Remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot” so says the rhyme but does this celebration still have any significance today? A good excuse for lighting a fire, setting off some fireworks and enjoying a cold and often wet autumn evening outside. As a child I looked forward to this event and we did the history of it at school but even I thought how odd it was to burn Guy Fawkes when he was actually hanged and worse. The bonfires being lit were at the time in London in 1605 a celebration of the act of deliverance for King James’ life and the defeat of a catholic conspiracy to put the King’s daughter Elizabeth on the throne as a catholic monarch. The fireworks are the gunpowder put to a different use to entertain the people rather than destroy the Monarchy. And well poor old Guy is burnt as originally it was an effigy of the Pope that was set alight for this religious and not pagan ceremony.
If only they had known,
That their cover would be blown,
A conspiracy hatched at that time,
To kill the monarch was a crime,
Alarm there was to shout,
Treason abounds there is no doubt,
For Walkers letter there was to show,
That plot against Parliament down below,
A mercenary called Fawkes was caught,
With Barrels of gunpowder he had brought,
To be interrogated as a traitor,
A fate worse than death expected later,
Broken to confess by his hand,
Who was complicit in this band,
Of conspirators who believed all was good,
And tried to raise a brotherhood,
But they were few and far between,
And then dispersed from that hunting scene,
To leave those left to count the cost,
Of that Jesuit cause now lost,
Catesby, Wintour, Keyes and Percy,
Would not surrender and beg for mercy,
Instead, they would stand their ground,
Only to be shot from all around,
Those that survived were condemned to death,
Dragged through the streets at their last breath,
Only for Fawkes not to be so slaughtered,
Hanged on the gallows and dead before drawn and quartered,
For the others this would be their end,
A gruesome sight with a message to send,
The People did celebrate King James’ survival,
To Light bonfires and create this revival,
That we commemorate on the Fifth of November,
With fireworks and a Guy burnt to remember,
But for what reason do we now celebrate,
The survival of the Monarchy to which we relate,
Some people would have Guy Fawkes back from the dead,
For innocent blood there would be to shed,
We should celebrate life for that is the thing,
Bonfires of Deliverance and “God save the King”.
James Findon © 2025.
