Bonfire NightGuy Fawkes’ Night

Top Fakts

1. 5 November is known as Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night.2. Guy Fawkes was a Catholic, and didn’t agree with the Protestant faith of the King.3. Guy became friends with Robert Catesby, who had an idea to kill the King by blowing up

the houses of Parliament.4. It was actually Robert Catesby who led the Gunpowder Plot, not Guy Fawkes – there were

13 people involved.5. The job Guy Fawkes had in the Gunpowder Plot was to guard the 36 barrels of gunpowder

that had been stored in a basement underneath the House of Lords.6. Guy Fawkes was arrested in the basement on the day he was going to light the gunpowder,

5 November, and he was taken to the Tower of London.7. King James I decreed that 5 November should be the day that people always celebrate

that the Gunpowder Plot didn’t happen.8. On Bonfire Night, grown-ups set off fireworks, light bonfires, and sometimes burn a doll

that looks like Guy Fawkes.

REMEMBER, REMEMBER THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER, GUNPOWDER TREASON AND PLOT.

WE SEE NO REASON WHY GUNPOWDER TREASON SHOULD EVER BE FORGOT!

GUY FAWKES, GUY, T'WAS HIS INTENT TO BLOW UP KING AND PARLIAMENT. THREE SCORE BARRELS WERE LAID BELOW TO PROVE OLD ENGLAND'S OVERTHROW.

BY GOD'S MERCY HE WAS CATCH'D WITH A DARKENED LANTERN AND BURNING MATCH. SO, HOLLER BOYS, HOLLER BOYS, LET THE BELLS RING. HOLLER BOYS, HOLLER BOYS, GOD SAVE THE KING.

AND WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH HIM? BURN HIM!

Famous Bonfire Night’s poem

When Queen Elizabeth 1st took the throne of England she made some laws against the Roman Catholics. Guy Fawkes was one of a small group of Catholics who felt that the government was treating Roman Catholics unfairly. They hoped that King James 1st would change the laws, but he didn't.Catholics had to practise their religion in secret. There were even fines for people who didn't attend the Protestant church on Sunday or on holy days. James lst passed more laws against the Catholics when he became king.

The Gunpowder Plot

The Gunpowder Plot

The plot was simple - the next time Parliament was opened by King James l, they would blow up everyone there with gunpowder. The men bought a house next door to the parliament

building. The house had a cellar which went under the parliament building. They planned to put gunpowder under the house and blow up parliament and the king.

GuyGuy Fawkes was given the job to keep watch over the barrels of gunpowder and to light the fuse. On the morning of 5th November, soldiers discovered Guy hidden in the cellar and arrested him. The trail of gunpowder at his feet would never be lit. Guy Fawkes was taken to the Tower of LondonHe was tortured and questioned about the other plotters. To start with he didn't tell the soldiers anything about the plot. But, eventually he started to tell the truth.

Every year on 5th November, the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot, Guy Fawkes is remembered. People celebrate the fact the Parliament and James I were not blown sky high by Guy Fawkes. They light huge bonfires, let off magnificent fireworks andburn an effigy (a guy). The Guy (effigy) is made out of old clothes stuffed with paper or straw.

The fireworks are a reminder of the gunpowder Guy Fawkes hid in the cellar of Parliament. In main town and cities, torch-lit processions are also popular on this night too. The procession leads to where the bonfire and firework displays are. The biggest fireworks display in Kent is the Edenbridge Display. They also have the biggest effigy, a 30ft 'Celebrity Guy'.

During the days before Bonfire Night, children used to take their home-made guys out on the street and ask for "a penny for the Guy" for fireworks. 

Children, in some areas, blacken their faces as Guy Fawkes might have done when he plotted to blow up parliament.

Traditional Bonfire Night Food

 As well as burning effigy of Guy Fawkes, the bonfires are used to cook potatoes wrapped in foil and to heat up soup for the crowds that

come to watch the fireworksThe traditional cake eaten on bonfire night is Parkin Cake, a sticky

cake containing a mix of oatmeal, ginger, treacle and syrup.Other foods include sausages cooked over the flames and

marshmallows toasted in the fire.

In Ottery St Mary, teams of stalwart men carry flaming tar barrels on their shoulders down the length of the town’s High Street. When one man’s 50-pound barrel gets too hot to handle, another man takes over - then another, and then another, until the flames die out and the barrel crumbles into ashes.

Flaming Barrels

Sources:http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/guy/england.htm

http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/guy/history.htm

Jackie Maguire, Seasons and Celebrations, Oxford University Press

http://www.theschoolrun.com/homework-help/guy-fawkes-and-bonfire-night

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by Patrycja Poczkai IIIB

http://www.freeinternetpictures.com/bonfire-night-fireworks.html

http://cdn.londonandpartners.com/visit/london-organisations/houses-of-parliament/62443-640x360-houses-parliament-640.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Gunpowder_Plot_conspirators.jpghttp://goodtoknow.media.ipcdigital.co.uk/111/00000828c/6f9c/toffee-apples.jpg