Bonfire/Guy Fawkes Night

Remember Remember the Fifth of November...

Well, folks, tonight is Guy Fawkes Night!

As yes... the annual remembrance of King James "miraculous" survival of the Gunpowder Plot assassination attempt in 1605. If your history lessons escape you, basically, this is what happened: Catholic Fawkes and his co-conspirators planned to blow up the House of Lords when the Protestant King was there, but Fawkes was caught guarding the stash of explosives before the explosion even occurred. The Protestant government was so thankful (and anti-Catholic sentiment so high) that they even passed the "Thanksgiving Act" the following year as an annual observance of the King's escape from the potentially fatal event!

That's right.... we have bonfire's to mark one that never even happened! Though, I think that tradition began because Protestants would burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes on the anniversary of the failed attempt to commemorate the King's survival. Today, of course, the whole bonfire celebration thing is an excuse to have a  ... blast!

Haha... see what I did there?

....Groan. 

;-)

Now, I should note here that having your own Bonfire is ILLEGAL in the City of St. John's. You can participate in the following community events however:

• The Town of Paradise is welcoming all its residents to the annual Guy Fawkes Bonfire Night on November 5th, 2012 from 6:00pm-8:30pm at the RPYCC (68 McNamara Dr.). There will be free hot chocolate and marshmallows for all who attend. There will be a fantastic fireworks display to conclude the evening at 8:30pm.
• The Town of Torbay welcomes everyone to its Community Bonfire and Marshmallow Roast. Bring your own mug. This free event will start at 6:30 behind the Torbay Town Hall.

Enjoy your evening!

source

For more information on Bonfire/Guy Fawkes Night, visit http://www.bonfirenight.net/. You will also find some gruesome rhymes and chants from the period here.