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Posts Tagged ‘Gunpowder Plot’

Call it what you will, the best night in the UK calander has arrived.

Bonfire Night is traditionally to celebrate the failure (or more likely the attempt) of the the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators had a dastardly plan to blow up parliament, the King and all the hangers on.

Guy was captured and tortured and finally executed along with his buddies, and the King and all of the government survived to li(v)e another day.

So, how do we celebrate Guy Fawkes Night in the UK?       With fireworks of course!!

Picture of Guy Fawkes

The man himself Guy Fawkes would be proud I am sure of how well he is remembered today.

Here at Epic Fireworks we love Guy Fawkes Night and Bonfires and any excuse to set off fireworks.

Have a safe and happy night and enjoy your fireworks wherever you are!!

Happy Bonfire Night everybody!

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.”

Some Say Guy Fawkes Was The Only Man Ever To Enter Parliament With Honest Intentions…

Inspired by Robert Catesby, the often forgotten and real ring-leader of the infamous Gunpowder Plot, The Catesby’s Revenge is a real no nonsense firework finale pack.

Featuring 3 of our favourite monster sized single ignition barrages and the best display rocket in Britain. This firework display pack has been created for those customers looking for a short but incredibly powerful firework display of premium quality aerial pyrotechnics.

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1 x Fire One RRP = £125

1 x Open Fire RRP = £50

1 x Golden Eye RRP = £50

1 x Sky Thriller Rocket RRP = £30

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Epic Fireworks are commited to bringing the UK the best possible fireworks deals at the best prices and we never, ever compromise on quality.

The Catesby’s Revenge Pack is certain to sell out this year so get here early to avoid disappointment. All the fireworks in this pack can be seen going off on the website or by clicking the links in this post.

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.

Halloween, Oct. 31st and Guy Fawkes Day, Nov. 5th are less than a week apart. It has been written in a few books that Halloween and Guy Fawkes are one and the same. Well let’s look and see why they are not.

“Remember, Remember the 5th of November. Gunpowder, treason and plot.” So goes the first stanza of the poem. Guy Fawkes was one of the plotters who tried to blow up the houses of Parliament with the King and Royal family in attendance. He was drawn, quartered, hung and then beheaded, all after he had gone through the ritual torture which was so common in those days and is a tradition carried on in many countries today. The legacy of the inquisition will continue to live on beyond us I fear. Guy and his fellow conspirators met a terrible fate that they brought upon themselves.

This all takes place after the death of Queen Elizabeth when Mary’s son James the First came to the throne. Spain actually cooled down their hatred of England and hoped that the Catholics in the country would be allowed to practice their religion with out severe penalties, taxation, and harassment. The bloody question was, “If England is invaded by the Pope to who do you swear allegiance?” It was a simple question. You either said the King — or you were guilty of treason.

The fact that the Catholics had backed Spain and were always trying to get her to invade England put them in a more precarious position than the Puritans who despised everyone. The reign of Henry the 8th saw the beginning of all types of religious problems when he broke with Rome. England along with Henry were excommunicated.

James, unlike Elizabeth before him, was an easy going man with more than a bit of tolerance and an incredible amount of political savvy. James knew what was good for him was peace, and that was certainly good for the country.

The Catholics in England had had enough of extra taxation and having to hide and hold their religious rites in secret and James relaxed much of that taxation. Better times were ahead. Enter Fawkes and the rest of the conspirators who tried to get Spain to invade, were unsuccessful, and decided to blow the offending parties up, kidnap the princess, and return England to a Catholic country.

The plot went sour; actually it was a lost cause right from the beginning as both the Pope and the Spanish and their allies had sent ambassadors to placate a King who they felt was the legitimate successor to the throne.

So far none of this has anything to do with Halloween, but now every year Guy Fawkes is burnt in effigy. Don’t ask me why they burn him, as his end was very different.

Adults often dressed Guy then take the mask off and place it on the dummy Guy and burn him. Early hand painted paper masks are very rare and valuable. Finding masks today that look like the Guy is very difficult, as they were made to be burnt. Some of these were very elaborate.

So it this as close as we can get to Halloween? A mask worn by some adults and bonfires that were popular to burn him in effigy. A nice evening out of fun for one and all. The children didn’t get into costume.

The metamorphosis of this is fireworks being let off…which is more like our Fourth of July celebration, and both are fights for independence which we won, but Fawkes group lost. Fireworks and a political agenda but independence in America was very different from what Fawkes’s conspiratorial group were into.

What happened to Guy Fawkes and his twelve friends wasn’t pretty, and the Catholics as a group suffered even more for it in the end, which is very unfortunate because most of them didn’t have anything to do with the Gunpowder Plot. When they found out, they most heartily disapproved of the Regicide and killing of innocent people, but they suffered none the less.

In the early days, the 5th was a day of Thanksgiving for deliverance and the figure being burnt was not Guy Fawkes but the Pope. Guess some of the English resented being excommunicated for something in which they had no say. One of the interesting parts of the whole Fawkes conspiracy is two peripheral characters who walked a tight rope between the Catholics and the official religion. One was called Ben Johnson; the other Will Shakespeare.

You have probably heard of them!

So now that we have shown what little the three holidays have connected one to another, let’s talk about collecting fireworks paper ephemera.

The labels, advertisements, and postcards showing pyrotechnic displays of the fireworks themselves are extremely collectible. They are colorful and yes, they are exciting remembrances of our childhood.

Somehow even the oldest people watching a grand display genuflect. “OO, AHHH, Isn’t that lovely. How pretty, look at that one will you.”

Guy Fawkes ephemera is very scarce, even those later items of the celebrating bonfire boys. There is one Sherlock Holmes story from one of the old radio programs which does an update mystery of the story. Well worth the hearing and is available on a cassette.

A penny for the Guy? If you were bold enough to stand in front of a shop and sing a song or quote a poem and you were cute enough, someone might have given you a penny for your efforts to buy a banger to make a bit of noise on the night. Nothing like our Halloween.

Halloween — I guess I am prejudice but to me there isn’t anything as exciting as this holiday. Autumn colors tumbling about and falling from the trees, pumpkin patches of orange amidst the straw color, Michaelmas daisies in lavender and purple, goldenrod as yellow as corn, Indian corn in various shades and color. The change in nature alone is magical. The geese are honking and flying south; the robins and other migratory birds have already left.

It is said that at the turn of a century—or a millennium, more people become spiritually aware and with awareness we are more likely to see fairies and ghosts, and hear the animals speak. Such new age thinking is pretty old. There are so many books on ghosts and witches and psychic phenomena that one can build a library of the occult — or fun children’s books with neat stories and great illustrations. It is easy after reading some of these to look at a pumpkin patch and wish to metamorphose those fruits of the vine and turn them into the frolicsome friendly beings that cavort through the postcards of Tuck, Whitney, and Winch, or the crepe paper that Dennison or Reed manufactured.

This holiday has the potential to bring whole communities and families together to celebrate a harvest festival. Halloween is about parties. Parties mean Dennison who started the holiday decorations in a big way. Bogie books, crepe paper, napkins, tablecloths, are some of my favorite Halloween ephemera and collectibles and though I realize some people turn up their nose at them, some collectors find these particularly attractive, especially if they are in their original packaging. Price does not necessarily mean something is good or bad as there are many items on the market that are very inexpensive that deserve to be much higher and there are items that deserve to sell for considerably less.

Halloween is a holiday for lovers and for the young at heart, while Guy Fawkes is a patriotic holiday for the British. They are both celebrated at night and bonfires are a common denominator but that is where the similarities end. Enjoy them both this year and remember to be careful burning all those leaves!

On November 5th 1605, Guy Fawkes and a group of conspirers attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament with King James I in the building, in the notorious Gunpowder Plot. The plot intended to kill not just the King, but also his family and most of the Protestant aristocracy in a single attack.

The conspirers were caught before they could carry out the plot, and soon after Guy Fawkes was executed and many of his followers hanged, drawn and quartered.

Today, the failure of their plot and the preservation of the King’s life are celebrated with firework displays and the burning of Guy Fawkes on bonfires.

A great way to involve children in Bonfire night is giving them the task to make their very own Guy Fawkes. All that is then left to do is sit back and watch the different colour fireworks light up the night sky.

Making a Guy Fawkes:

What you will need:

Old clothes (trousers, shirt, shoes, hat etc)
Dry straw
Newspaper
A round balloon
Paper mache paste
A Guy Fawkes mask or face paints
Wooden stick (approx 40cm long)
Glue
Old scrap material

Method:
1.     Lay the old clothes out on the floor in the shape of a person. Use your imagination with the items of clothing you pick, and try to make the Guy Fawkes look as authentic as possible. Researching the story of the gun powder plot will be both fun and educational.
2.     Take the straw and some of the newspaper, and stuff the clothes with as much as possible. Secure all the body parts using string, ensuring that the straw doesn’t escape from the arms and legs.
3.     Next create the paper mache head. Blow up the balloon to the size of the head that you require and securely tie the end. Find a bowl that the balloon will fit inside whilst you work on it, as this is the messy bit!
4.     Take the remaining newspaper and tear into strips, 1 inch thick. Prepare the paper mache paste according to the instructions on the paste. Dip the strips of newspaper into the paste and begin covering the balloon with the wet newspaper strips.  You should not quite cover the entire balloon – leave a small hole, big enough for you to put the stick into, as this stick will attach Guy Fawkes’ head to his body.
5.     When the balloon is covered, sit it in the bowl and allow to completely dry. Once dry, add another layer, and allow to dry once more.  Once the paper mache is totally dry, use a pin, and poke it through the small hole to pop the balloon.  Once the balloon has popped, your paper mache head should still keep its shape.
6.     Your head is now ready to be decorated with either the mask or whatever craft materials you wish. Perhaps use painted string for hair?
7.     To attach the head on to the body, get a thick wooden stick approximately the length of your Guy Fawkes’ body and push it firmly into the straw where the neck of the Guy Fawkes would appear. Position so there is at least 20cm of the wooden stick still showing. Cover the exposed end of the stick by wrapping it with old scrap material and cover the end with glue. Place the head on top of the wrapped stick and gently press down to make sure the head is stuck firmly on to the body.
8.     Your Guy Fawkes is now ready to be a part of any bonfire or fireworks display party.

Firework paintings

This is an opportunity for your children to create their own very safe fireworks display!

What you will need:
A large sheet of black cardboard
Scraps of coloured paper and card
Cardboard tubes (kitchen roll etc)
Small sheets of coloured cardboard
Glue and scissors
Clear or black thread
A selection of sparkly things! (e.g. metallic pens, scraps of tinsel, glitter, bright pipe cleaners, sparkly paints)

Method:
1.     Take all the sparkly materials you have gathered, and decorate the large piece of black cardboard with them. Create swirls and explosions as this will form the night sky background of the display.
2.     Next create some rockets. Decorate the cardboard tubes with the sparkly materials. Create cone tips for the rockets using the small coloured pieces of card and attach with glue. Attach two lengths of thread to the rocket, with the front being slightly shorter than the back so that the rocket is pointing upwards.
3.     Next create some Catherine wheels using the bright pipe cleaners. Bend into shape and attach a piece of thread to hang them with later.
4.     Now create some starburst explosions using the scraps of tinsel. Attach thread to the centre of them.
5.     Attach your night sky background to a wall where you can hang the firework objects you have created from the ceiling, slightly in front of the background, for a 3D effect.

The best thing about bonfire night is coming home to some delicious home made food, for recipe ideas click here.

James VI of Scotland and I of England was born in 1566. He was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her second husband, Lord Darnley.

His early life was eclipsed by the tense political state in Scotland at the time, which was partly caused by religious disquiet. His mother was a Catholic, who through her own mother was closely related to the Guise family, the leaders of the Catholic bloc in France. James himself was christened a Catholic but was raised a Protestant.

After James’ mother was dethroned in 1567, James was declared King. Scotland was at this time ruled by a series of regents but seriously fractured by struggles for power by warring factions. The young James was educated by one of the leading academics of his day, James Buchanan. From 1583 onwards James asserted his own power over the government in Scotland. Following his mother’s execution by the English in 1587, he became the clear successor to Elizabeth I.

Although the Queen was exceedingly hesitant to confirm his position as the heir apparent, or even to mention the subject of her successor, Government officials and nobles of power soon became extremely interested in his religious stance. James strongly opposed the strict form of Presbyterianism, which had firmly established itself in Scotland, and resisted the temptation towards discrimination against Catholics.

Upon Queen Elizabeth’s death in 1603, he was officially invited to take the throne of England by the English Privy Council. However James soon met with political difficulties in England, where legal professionals and politicians were suspicious about his unfaltering will to unite England, Wales and Scotland into a single, United Kingdom and he quickly realized that it would be impossible to get Parliament to agree to his plans.

Later in the reign, he found it all the time more difficult to finance his extravagant spending and struggled with disagreements over religious and foreign policy. James died in 1625.