Saturday, November 05, 2011

Jesuit 'Fawky' Treason or Puritan invention?

On November 5th one commemorates Guy Fawkes Night, generally known as Firework or Bonfire Night. As is well known, Roman Catholics, especially the Jesuits, were accused of the Gunpowder Plot, which was allegedly intended to blow up the House of Lords in 1605; and to replace King James I by his more militantly Catholic daughter, princess Elizabeth.

Guy Fawkes, a professional soldier, was discovered guarding a huge amount of gunpowder, arrested, convicted and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. And so was Father Henry Garnet, the head of the Jesuit order in England. The Puritans took advantage of this event to denigrate Roman Catholics, especially the Jesuits and the Pope, and still nowadays this day is celebrated.



Related with this event we can find songs like this one. Enjoy it!

Don't you Remember,
The Fifth of November,
'Twas Gunpowder Treason Day,
I let off my gun,
And made'em all run.
And Stole all their Bonfire away. (1742)
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3 comments:

  1. starlaSunday, November 06, 2011 2:34:00 PM

    It's a part of their culture!

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  2. Luis J. ConejeroSunday, November 06, 2011 10:02:00 PM

    Of course, I'm not saying it's not or that it shouldn't be celebrated. I think it was a good idea to relate this festivity with the Popish Plot or the Puritan spirit that we are studying in class.

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  3. AnonymousSunday, June 24, 2012 9:10:00 PM

    just a shame it didn't blow the lot up.

    And a children's song of culture & solidarity...

    Build a bonfire, build a bonfire
    Put the teachers on the top
    Put (head teachers name) in the middle
    And burn the bloody lot

    ReplyDelete

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