"Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should Ever be forgot"
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should Ever be forgot"
It is Guy Fawkes Night in England. A day when the British celebrate the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 when a number of Roman Catholics, including Guy Fawkes, tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament to protest the Protestant aristocracy that controlled England at the time.
The day is celebrated primarily in England, but also in some areas of Canada, US & New Zealand. The event is celebrated with bonfires, fireworks and a traditionally burning in effigy of Guy Fawkes. However in York, England ,home of Guy Fawkes, the town does not allow the night to be celebrated because no one is willing to take on the chore of finding a way to safely accommodate large groups of people with fireworks and bonfires.
Apparently their fears are well founded as two houses in New Zealand , according to the NZ Herald, were gutted by fires from the celebratory bonfires there.
I've never heard of this one! Being friends with a Canadian is making me more globally aware. :D
ReplyDeleteMost people in this country (England) have been trying to get it banned for years! It goes on for days (not just 5th November) and gets to the point where you're afraid to go outside your back door in case you are set alight by some falling firework! Every year people get hurt. It's a waste of money and is not very good for the environment either! The poor animals suffer terribly - some have to be prescribed tranquillisers!
ReplyDeleteMisery of Plymouth, who hated fireworks, even as a child! :)
That is exactly how I feel about Halloween in my community. Because Halloween comes just before Diwali, the South Asian festival of lights that is also big on fireworks, we have over a month of noise and the animals are in a panic every night! If you find a way to get Guy Fawkes banned let me know so I can work on Halloween here!
ReplyDeleteYeah, Halloween and Diwali here too! We are all miseries here, I think, because hardly anybody ever answers the door to the trick or treaters - the police have even issued posters we can put in our windows to say 'go away'!!! Well, perhaps people aren't such miseries really - there are a lot of old folk who are really scared of Halloween, because they've been pelted with eggs or flour. Not nice.
ReplyDeleteTriple misery of Plymouth!
You can get a sign from the police telling them to 'go away'!!! Where can I get one of those!! *lol*
ReplyDeletePelted with eggs or flour? Who does that??? I just don't like the noise!
http://www.devon-cornwall.police.uk/v3/crime/tricktreat/index.htm
ReplyDeleteTalk about killjoys - LOL!
Also, http://www.devon-cornwall.police.uk/V3/news/latest/pressrelease.cfm?id=989