Remember Remember the Fifth of November
If you're American, you might get excited about the rhyme referring to a fifth of Scotch. But alas, it's not that, it's British House of Lords and powdered wig stuff. Yes, nice old Blightey. Pip pip what. Tally ho. Queensbury Rules. Good show old boy. Stiff upper lip and all that. It'll be pretty bland historical stuff, eh?
But it's way better than just 26oz/750mL of booze. It's booze, treason, backstabbing, cartoonish quantities of explosives, a big chase, inept criminals, a shootout, courtroom drama, torture, humiliation, the hangman's noose, escape, bonfires, and lots and lots of sweet vengeance. But please, read on for a bit of British History...
[wikipedia]
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605...was a failed assassination attempt against (anti-catholic) King James I of England by a group of English Catholics...The plan was to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of England's Parliament on 5 November.
BOOZE, TREASON
The first meeting between five conspirators took place...at the Duck and Drake Inn.
BACKSTABBING, EXPLOSIVES
The plot was revealed to the authorities in an anonymous letter...Guy Fawkes was discovered guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder under the House of Lords—enough to reduce the House of Lords to rubble—and arrested.
BIG CHASE, INEPT CRIMINALS
Most of the conspirators fled from London...
Tired and desperate, they spread out some of the now-soaked gunpowder in front of the fire...a spark from the fire landed on the powder and the resultant flames engulfed four of them. The fugitives resolved to stay in the house and wait for the arrival of the King's men.
THE SHOOTOUT, HUMILIATION
The Sheriff of Worcestershire and his company of 200 men besieged them. The attackers rushed the property and stripped the dead or dying defenders of their clothing.
COURTROOM DRAMA
Eight of the survivors, including Fawkes, were convicted and sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered (tied to four horses and ripped apart).
TORTURE
The use of torture was forbidden, except by royal prerogative.. King James wrote: "The gentler tortures are to be first used unto him (Guy Fawkes), et sic per gradus ad ima tenditur [and thus by steps extended to greater ones], and so God speed your good work."
VENGEANCE
Although two had died and thus escaped the executioner, their bodies were exhumed and decapitated, and their heads exhibited on spikes outside the House of Lords.
THE HANGMAN'S NOOSE, VENGEANCE, ESCAPE, HUMILIATION
Four were tied to wooden panels and dragged through the crowded streets of London. The first to mount the scaffold...was stripped of his clothing, and wearing only a shirt, climbed the ladder to place his head through the noose. He was quickly cut down, and while still fully conscious was castrated, disembowelled, and then quartered, along with the three other prisoners. The following day, three others, and Guy Fawkes were to be hanged, drawn and quartered, opposite the building they had planned to blow up. One of them didn't wait for the hangman's command and jumped from the gallows, but he survived the drop and was led to the quartering block. Although weakened by his torture, Fawkes managed to jump from the gallows and break his neck, thus avoiding the gruesome part of his execution.
THE HANGMAN'S NOOSE, VENGEANCE, ESCAPE, HUMILIATION
Four were tied to wooden panels and dragged through the crowded streets of London. The first to mount the scaffold...was stripped of his clothing, and wearing only a shirt, climbed the ladder to place his head through the noose. He was quickly cut down, and while still fully conscious was castrated, disembowelled, and then quartered, along with the three other prisoners. The following day, three others, and Guy Fawkes were to be hanged, drawn and quartered, opposite the building they had planned to blow up. One of them didn't wait for the hangman's command and jumped from the gallows, but he survived the drop and was led to the quartering block. Although weakened by his torture, Fawkes managed to jump from the gallows and break his neck, thus avoiding the gruesome part of his execution.
CONTINUING VENGEANCE, BONFIRES
The thwarting of the Gunpowder Plot was commemorated for many years afterwards by special sermons and other public events such as the ringing of church bells, which have evolved into the Bonfire Night of today. It remains the custom in Britain, on or around 5 November, to let off fireworks. Traditionally, in the weeks running up to the 5th, children made "guys" - effigies of Guy Fawkes - to be burnt on the 5 November bonfire. These guys were exhibited in the street to collect money for fireworks. "Penny for the guy" was a traditional phrase used to collect. The word guy thus came in the 19th century to mean an oddly dressed person, and hence in the 20th and 21st centuries to mean any male person.
Remember, remember,
The Fifth of November,
Gunpowder treason and plot;
For I see no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
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