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As the nights draw in, a small band of mischief-makers prepare for an annual night of mayhem. Mischief Night is their chance to let loose and cause a little bit of chaos.

Depending on where you live, it lands sometime around Halloween and Bonfire Night. And opinions vary on whether it is a chance for harmless fun or an excuse for anti-social behaviour.

Like many native traditions, its exact origins are unknown, but Mischief Night is thought to date from the 1700s when a custom of Lawless Hours or Days prevailed in Britain.

“These were times when normal laws were suspended and tricks could be played ranging from throwing cabbage stalks at people, to the swapping of shopkeeper’s signs and gates,” says Simon Costin, Director of the Museum of British Folklore.

Go back to the 1950s it was largely an age of innocence. So the sorts of pranks were the kind of things that make modern people smile

It was not until the 1830s that Mischief Night itself appears on record, held on 30 April. Today, however, it is an autumnal occasion. Some are adamant it is 4 November, while for others it will always be the night before Halloween.

Many believe this discrepancy lies with its connection to Halloween, which was held over several days after Britain switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1752.

“We removed 11 days to adjust, which means some places observed the old dates for things like Christmas and Halloween and some observed the new,” says Professor Stephen Sayers of Leeds Metropolitan University.

“Halloween, Bonfire Night, trick or treating and Mischief Night are all part and parcel of what used to be one festival.”

Since the 1950s, Mischief Night appears to have died out in all areas of the UK except northern England, and it is not at all clear why.

What is known is that it was exported to the United States, and recently re-imported as trick or treat, now popular across the UK.

“It may well be that the North has disconnected from the South which has been far more in tune with modernity,” says Mr Sayers.

“We tend to think of Britain as all behaving as if it’s one thing, but there are vast sections that still observe old customs that have largely died out elsewhere.”

Some of the more traditional pranks might have disappeared, but there is no evidence that Mischief Night itself is going the same way.

Online chat rooms prove it is alive and well. “Put peanut butter under the door handles of people’s cars so they’ll get it all in their fingers,” suggests one mischief-maker.

Such is the resilience of pranksters that some police forces put on extra patrols. The crack-down has become a week-long operation, because what started as one night of minor mayhem has morphed into a week or so of mayhem.

“Arrests go up around Mischief Night, we get a bit of a spike around those 10 days,” says Ch Insp Mark Khan from North Yorkshire Police. “The catalyst seems to be as soon as the clocks fall back, obviously it gets darker earlier and kids are out.”

Some believe we are becoming less tolerant of what is essentially harmless fun, but others think it is becoming more vicious. Traditionally mischief-makers stole gates or knocked on doors then ran away.

“Go back to the 1950s, it was largely an age of innocence,” says Mr Sayers. “So the sorts of pranks were the kind of things that make modern people smile.”

Nowadays, you are more likely to be covered in batter or have a firework pushed through the letter box.

So at this time of year, supermarkets ban the sale of flour and eggs to under-16s. And, contrary to the popular belief that on Mischief Night you are immune from prosecution, police will take action.

“They commit some kind of criminal damage or public order offence, and the next thing is they’re in trouble with the law and they get some kind of caution,” says Ch Insp Khan.

Some argue Mischief Night is a necessary evil. It allows people to experiment with behaviour that would normally be socially unacceptable. Social psychologists call it “psycho-social moratoria.”

“It means a time when the normal rules don’t apply,” says Mr Sayers. “A good example would be the office Christmas party, where all the guzzlings and flirtations you can get away with to an extent. Try that in the middle of June and you would be shown the door.”

It could be that Mischief Night allows people the opportunity to thumb their nose at authority in a way that is socially controlled, he adds.

So, far from being discouraged, some argue Mischief Night should be embraced.

“We [humans] are a set of contradictions sometimes charged with passion, sometimes charged with a darker nature that we need to express in some way,” says Mr Sayers.

“Anyone can be aggressive, but it’s skilled to be aggressive in a way that is socially acceptable and physically and morally and spiritually uplifting and, most of all, good fun.”

A FEAST of firework action is promised this weekend at the Royal Gunpowder Mills.

The Waltham Abbey venue is holding its first ever public firework display for its Guy Fawkes Experience event.

Kicking off at 11am on Saturday and Sunday, the event begins with a performance of the Gunpowder Plot staged by local actors and there will also be a 17th century food-tasting experience.

The main attraction fireworks display will take place from 4.45pm onwards on both days.

The Sunday event will also see a plaque unveiled by actor Timothy West in recognition of the site’s contribution to transport heritage.

The brilliant lancework fireworks from Tower Hamlets Fireworks Displays in London in 2006.

It is always good to see different shapes and patterns being used and this one must have looked very impressive, burning on a cold November night.

Big Ben in Flames

This must be something along the lines of what Guy Fawkes was aiming for. The symbol of government and power smouldering into ash.

Some people celebrate the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot, the way King James intended, some celebrate it’s attempt (more common nowadays). The main thing is we celebrate a man’s willingness to make a stand to make a change, of course we cannot condone his methods but it is said often of Guy Fawkes that he was “The only man ever to enter parliament with honest intentions.”

HOW do you spice up a regular old bonfire night community event. By adding fireworks? Well of course, that goes without saying.

But the town of Winchester has another idea up its sleeve for this Guy Fawkes Night.

To raise money for local charities, the Winchester Round Table has come up with a novel and intriguing idea, they will be asking local volunteers to raise sponsorship money for…..FIRE WALKING!

Thats right, the good citizens of Winchester are being asked to sponsor their neighbours to watch them walk barefoot over red hot coals of fire!

Winchesters Annual Fireworks Evening attracts people from across Hampshire and this years is expected to be a big success. Although it was a close call. Winchester Round Table  has confirmed the event after having difficulties raising funds for last year’s display because of the credit crunch.

“We receive no funding from the council, the event can be run only on the basis of donations from our local businesses and the proceeds from programme sales.”

The extravaganza, on Saturday, November 7, will include a torchlit procession along the high street, a bonfire and, of course, fireworks.

So if you live in Winchester and think you have feet of steel why not get a sponsorship form and start raising money now. and don’t forget the blister cream!

A Giant Skeleton over the East End of London for the 2007 Bonfire Night celebrations.

Giant Skeleton Over London

If you thought Guy Fawkes Night has some weird traditions about it, like burning an effigy of Guy himself on a bonfire after carting him about in a wheelbarrow for a week for example, then have a look at this.

In a tradition that dates back to the 17th century, the residents of the sleepy little Devon town of Ottery St Mary celebrate the 5th of November in a very unique way. By lifting burning barrels of tar on their back and running through the streets with flames billowing behind them. The remarkable thing is, this is not some weird medievil punishment.   Generations of families of Ottery St Mary have fought hard for the privelidge and bragging rights that comes with the honour of carrying a 30Kg flaming barrel dripping with burning tar. Indeed only those residents who were born in the town or have lived their most of their lives may carry a barrel.

“So why would anyone want to do such a thing?” I hear you ask, it all becomes clear when you learn where the extraordinary event begins. The local pubs. The public houses sponsor the barrels and the men to carry them.
There are 4 pubs in the town and all in all 17 barrels of tar are lit, hoisted and paraded along the tourist lined streets in what can surely be described as a health and safety nightmare. Seriously though, this event is at risk of being lost to the to the paranoid fears of the health and safety officer and is costing more and more each year to insure.

The tradition is thought to have its roots in the practise of lighting fires to ward off evil spirits as in many parts of Britain where fire is used as part of a festival around the time of Halloween. Fireworks, making noise, and fire itself it seems have always been the weapon of choice for humans in their never ending battle against invisible ghosts and spirits. This is seen in Britain and in areas all around the world.

Saying that, it has also been put forward that this incredible custom began when the Black Death came to the shores of the UK.  When the rats carrying the plague came to the town the locals used cannons loaded with gunpowder to scare the rats from the buildings and into the streets.
Barrels of tar were then set alight and rolled down the road to kill the diseased vermin. The dead rats were then thrown onto a huuge bonfire at the end of town. There is still one of the biggest bonfires in the country there every year.

Whichever legend is true, it has created a surprising alternative to a fireworks display on Bonfire Night and the local people of Ottery St Mary have a 5th of November that is always truly memorable.

Robert Catesby was the real mastermind behind the gunpowder treason of 1605, where he, Guy Fawkes and several other conspirators plotted to kill King James I and many members of his family and parliament.

Robert Catesby was born in Warwickshire around 1572 to Roman Catholic parents with close links to many other Midlands Catholic families. His mother was a member of the Throckmorton family, who lived at Coughton Court.

Catesby was reputedly very charismatic and made friends easily – many of whom remained loyal and devoted to him. He was said to be a bit of a wild character in his younger days, before he became strongly religious.

In 1601, along with the Wright brothers, Catesby was mixed up in the doomed rebellion of the Earl of Essex against the dominance of Robert Cecil. In the failed rebellion he was wounded, imprisoned and fined. From then on he was viewed as a dangerous character by the government. He had, it seems, been involved in discussions with the Spanish government in 1602 about arranging a rebellion in England. He was one of many arrested as a precaution by the English government in 1603 after the death of Queen Elizabeth. Catesby formed the Gunpowder Plot, after having realised that the Spanish would not help the English Catholics. He disclosed it initially only to Thomas Winter and the brothers Christopher and John Wright then later to Guy Fawkes and Thomas Percy, in May 1604, at Catesby’s lodgings in the Strand in London. Catesby, the driving force behind the Plot, recruited others in 1604 and 1605.

On news of the discovery of the Plot, Catesby and several of his companions fled from London. He tried and failed to rally the Catholic gentry of the Midlands to join him in the rebellion before he reached Holbeach House in Staffordshire where they hid from the authorities. Several of the conspirators, including Catesby, were injured in an accident while trying to dry out their damp gunpowder.

When the authorities tracked down the conspirators and circled the house, the gang decided to die fighting. The same musket ball hit Catesby and Thomas Percy and both died soon after, despite efforts to save their lives so they could be brought to London for interrogation and trial. Catesby’s head was later cut off and taken to London, to be stuck on the roof of the House of Commons.

Guy Fawkes is of course the infamous fall-guy for the 1605 Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament and the King (all the way back to Scotland for the King).

Guy Fawkes was hardly the mastermind behind this dastardly scheme. That was one Robert Catesby. However Fawkes is always remembered and his capture and execution is celebrated every year by dozens in the UK.

His attempt at mass murder of  the Sovereign and Most of Parliament is celebrated by millions the world over.

Protesters in Sri Lanka today burned an effigy of Foreign Secretary David Miliband and accused the Government of supporting Tamil Tiger rebels.

More than 1,000 people gathered outside the British High Commission after the country’s leaders claimed victory in the 25-year conflict, which has claimed 70,000 lives.

Protesters threw rotten eggs and stones at the embassy, and the effigy was set on fire before being thrown over the high walls.

Mr Miliband has repeatedly called for a ceasefire and for civilians to be allowed to leave the afflicted area.

Fighting was reported to be continuing in northern Sri Lanka as the Tigers made their last stand. The army claimed to have killed at least 70 today as they penned a handful of diehards in 1.5 square kilometres of jungle.

Reports said that some rebel fighters have been blowing themselves up rather than surrender.

Selvarasa Pathmanathan, the Tigers’ chief of international relations, said there were fewer than 2,000 Tamils in the conflict zone, which is now only a few hundred square metres on the north-eastern coast.

He added that 3,000 people had died there in the last 24 hours, but the government denied this.
Mr Pathmanathan, who is in hiding, said on the pro-rebel Tamilnet website: “This battle has reached its bitter end. We have decided to silence our guns. Our only regrets are for the lives lost and that we could not hold out for longer.”

The army said more than 50,000 people had escaped from the fighting in the last 72 hours.

The UN said 7,000 civilians had been killed and 16,700 wounded between 20 January and 7 May, while 1,000 are said to have been killed in heavy shelling since.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is expected to formally announce the end of the war on national TV tomorrow. Sri Lankans celebrated by pouring on to the streets, dancing and setting off fireworks.

The London Evening Standard has more