GUY FAWKES AND HIS FIREWORKS
"Penny for the old guy!" "Penny for the old guy!" Why do
we remember 5th November with bonfires and fireworks? There is a
reason, as you will see.
THE WARNING LETTER
One autumn evening in 1605, Lord Monteagle and some of his friends
sat down to supper at his home at Hoxton, which was just a pretty village
in those days. A servant came in and handed a letter to Lord Monteagle.
"What is this?" he said, looking at the curious letter. The
servant replied that a stranger in a cloak had given it to him, and that
it was important. Lord Monteagle began to read. Was it a joke?
The writing was so peculiar. No capital letters, no stops, the spelling
all jumbled. "Here, you read it to me" he said, passing it to Thomas
Warde, a gentleman of the household. He began to read..."My lord
out of the love I bear some of your friends ... I would advise you ...
to shift of your attendance at this Parliament ... they shall receive a
terrible blow at this Parliament yet shall not see who hurts them."
There was no signature.
At first it seemed as if someone was having a bit of fun, but thinking it over it did not look quite like a joke because it referred to the next meeting of Parliament. After supper Lord Monteagle went to London and gave the letter to Lord Salisbury and chief Ministers of State.
Queen Elizabeth I's long reign was now over. During that time there had been many wicked attempts to kill her. Pope Pius V, in 1500, had excommunicated her. Pope Gregory XIII, in 1580, sanctioned her murder. Pope Sixtus V, in 1585, promised a large sum of money to Philip II of Spain towards the Armada. Jesuit priests, who found favour with well-to-do Catholic families, were put ashore secretly on the English coast. They flitted about England, often in disguise, hiding in "priest-holes" in manor houses, pursued by the Authorities, and often caught and executed. Walsingham, chief of the Secret Service, asked the Lord Mayor of London to make weekly reports on all strangers staying in the City. Laws were tightened up, making it a crime even to have a Roman Catholic priest in your home, which may seem harsh to us, but English priests were working hand in hand with the kings of France and Spain to bring about the downfall of England.
These were dangerous times. There were some who were ready to rebel and overthrow King James I of England, who had succeeded Elizabeth in 1603.
THE GUNPOWDER PLOTTERS
In 1604 a small band of men had been meeting secretly. Their
plan was to blow up Parliament with gunpowder, killing the King, the Royal
Family and statesmen as they assembled for the opening of Parliament.
In all the confusion that followed their wicked plans, they hoped to restore
a Roman Catholic Monarch and government.
They had met many times in different places as they plotted and planned, and confessed their schemes to their priests, who instead of pointing out the wickedness of murder, gave them absolution! Sometimes they met at a lonely old house called "White Webbs" near Enfield Chase, sometimes at a house near St. Clements Inn, London. The names of the men were Robert Catesby, Thomas Winter, Robert Winter, John Wright, Christopher Wright, Robert Keyes, Thomas Percy, Ambrose Rookewood, John Grant, Thomas Bates, Sir Everard Digby, Francis Tresham, and Guy Fawkes as well as Father Henry Garnet, Superior of the English Jesuits, and several Jesuit priests and lay-brothers who were connected with the Gunpowder Plot.
They took an oath of secrecy, promising to keep quiet about their plans, telling no-one.
They hired a house next to the Palace of Westminster, which was empty. It belonged to a Mr. Whyneard, Keeper of the King's Wardrobe. Thomas Percy hired it, and Fawkes pretended to be his servant. After bringing in a good store of food they began to dig a hole through to the vaults underneath Parliament. But the work was difficult for the walls were thick. There were now seven of them at work, and the weeks went by. Once they thought they heard the sound of a bell which so frightened them they sprinkled the walls with "holy water"!
When they heard the sound of voices and a rumbling noise overhead they began to think that this time they had been discovered. Guy Fawkes, who was sent out to see what was happening, came back excitedly - it was good news! A coal merchant named Mr. Bright was clearing his cellar of coals and the cellar was to let.
It seemed like a piece of good fortune for the cellar was right beneath the place where the King and Parliament would meet. Percy immediately went and hired it, and thirty-six barrels of gunpowder were brought in and covered over with wood and coals. All they had to do now was wait for the day when Parliament was to assemble, which was to be 5th November 1605.
Just when it seemed their terrible plan would succeed, Lord Monteagle received the strange warning letter. It was like a riddle, and yet the "terrible blow" could mean gunpowder, and that would fit in with the rumours circulating that some kind of plot was being prepared. It was decided to make a search of the cellars and all other places near Parliament.
Down in the cellar Guy Fawkes was guarding the gunpowder, so carefully hidden, and counting the hours when he would light the trail of gunpowder, and then make his escape on horseback. Just then the Earl of Suffolk, the Lord Chamberlain, and Lord Monteagle came in. It must have given Fawkes a shock to see them, but he pretended to be a poor servant of Thomas Percy who was only looking after his master's fuel!
After they left, the Lord Chamberlain reported what he had seen to the King, and that the amount of wood and coal being guarded was suspiciously large! Sir Thomas Knevet, a magistrate of Westminster was given the charge of searching the cellar. Later that night Sir Thomas accompanied by a band of armed men, discovered and apprehended Guy Fawkes. In the cellar was his lantern with a light in it. There were the thirty-six barrels of gunpowder, and Guy Fawkes himself, booted and spurred, with his cloak on, and the slow burning matches ready to use. The prisoner was taken to the King, who was in his bedchamber. When he was asked what he was doing with gunpowder, he said it was to blow up Parliament and the King, and he was only sorry it had failed!
Learning that Guy Fawkes had been arrested the others in the Plot bolted as fast as their horses could carry them. Some went to hide with relatives, but were tracked down. Some died fighting. At Holbeach House, pursued by Sir Richard Walsh, Sheriff of Worcestershire, Robert Catesby and others prepared for a siege.
In the fighting that followed, Catesby and Percy were shot with a musket fired by trooper John Streete, who received a pension of two shillings (10p) a day as his reward. It would be worth more in today's money.
Meanwhile, Father Henry Garnet had gone into hiding at Hendlip Hall, near Worcester. There were eleven "priest-holes" in his house and it took the sheriff eight days to capture him, as well as other Jesuits who were hiding there.
Guy Fawkes, and all surviving conspirators were brought to trial and put to death for treason.
For many years afterwards a special Service of Remembrance was held on 5th November every year. It was to thank God and to praise Him for delivering England from the terrible Gunpowder Plot. Sadly this service was abolished in 1859.
November 5th is still remembered with firework displays and bonfires,
but we must not forget the real meaning of the day, neither those "other
fireworks" which thankfully did not go off!