Gunpowder isn’t cheap
Blowing stuff up isn’t only for protestants, it turns out. Britain observes Guy Fawkes Night today, which marks the 301
Fawkes at midnight, and by torchlight there was found
With long matches and devices, underground
Other lines about Fawkes that don’t particularly scan:
Remember, remember, the 5th of November
Gunpowder Treason and plot
I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot
It’s 1605. Rent basement space beneath the House of Lords. Load it with 1,800 pounds of gunpowder, light match, run (presumably). That was the plan, to be executed as the King was presiding over the opening ceremonies of Parliament. Bye-bye King! Bye-bye Parliament! This was a sectarian thing. Fawkes and his fellow conspirators were Catholics and James was, famously, not. At least by then.
Find yourself betrayed by a cold-footed colleague, caught in flagrante delicto, interrogated, tortured, blah blah blah. Be hanged, drawn, quartered, &c.
Wait 300 years, be called “the only man to ever enter parliament with honourable intentions”. Give it another hundred, appear in the BBC’s publicly-voted poll for Top 100 Britons.
See also priest-hole
Shakespeare and the Catholic question
Flickr photos tagged with ‘fireworks’
The Diary of Samuel Pepys
War of Jenkins’ Ear
Vlad the Impaler
“V for Vendetta”
Flaming Lips
