If you've seen V for Vendetta, you probably recall the phrase "remember remember the fifth of November." What happened on that date that's so important to retain? And which fifth of November? In case you didn't commit the storyline to memory, here's a recap of the story of "The Guy."
Gunpowder Plot of 1604
Guy Fawkes was a Catholic restorationist, which meant he wanted to restore Catholicism as the Church of England. In order to do this, he had to find a way to dethrone the Protestant king. Fawkes and his fellow restorationists chose November 5, 1605 to blow up the Houses of Parliament because on that night the king and most of the aristocracy (Protestant and Catholic) were inside.
Fawkes was in charge of lighting the dynamite the group had set up in the basement of Parliament. Police apprehended Fawkes just before he was to ignite the explosion and when the people of London discovered this, they celebrated the king's escape from death with bonfires in the streets. Ever since, this date has been observed as a holiday by the people of the United Kingdom.
The Guy
It wasn't until much later that children began creating effigies of Guy Fawkes - very unflattering scarecrow-like figures with exaggerated features. Since bonfires were still the tradition and the celebrations surrounding them often cost quite a bit of money to put on, children would stand beside their effigies outside shops calling, "penny for the Guy!" This tradition lives on today. At the end of the night the effigies are burned in bonfires along with anything else the Bonfire Boys want to throw in.
Lewes Bonfire Night
In Sussex County in southern England, Guy Fawkes Day or "Bonfire Night" is taken very seriously in the small town of Lewes (pronounced like Lewis.) So seriously, in fact, that there are several troops of "bonfire boys" that get together to raise money for their bonfires and fireworks (some giving money to charity) and compete for the best parade floats, costumes and pyrotechnic displays.
There are seven bonfire societies in Lewes that spread out and cover different areas of the town on the night of November 5th and end up at different "firesites," giving more people a chance to enjoy the fiery displays.
Effigies of the Guy and the Pope
While effigies of Guy Fawkes are still popular for raising money, carrying in parades and burning at the end of the night, bonfire boys now create various pyrotechnic parade floats and burn effigies of public figures and even the Pope.
However, if you ask a bonfire boy involved in the burning of the Pope effigy, they will probably say they have nothing against the Pope or Catholics in general - it's just tradition, an extension of burning the Guy, since the Guy was effectively a Catholic crusader.
Kaitlin Ugolik - Kaitlin graduated from Elon University in Elon, N.C. in May 2009 with a BA in Journalism. She has always loved writing, whether it be news ...
