How Do You Know About The Gunpowder Plot?!!

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up the King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;

By God's providence 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!

Immortalized in nursery rhymes, the story of the Gunpowder Plot is introduced to children in the United Kingdom at an early age.

But seeing as most of my readers did not grow up in the U.K. there is a fair chance that you have never heard of Guy Fawkes.

Throughout the second half of the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I ruled over England. She was very much loved by her subjects. Her moves to establish a protestant church in England and her defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 had forever established her as the ruler of a golden age in the hearts of the English people.

In 1603, Queen Elizabeth died. And being The Virgin Queen, she had never married and therefore never produced her own heir to the throne. This meant that James I, son of Mary Queen of Scots, was next in line to succeed the throne.

English Catholics looked forward to James' succession in the hopes that he would be more tolerant of their religion since his own mother was Catholic. However, those hopes were in vain.

King James was not any more tolerant of Catholicism than Queen Elizabeth had been. So a number of young Catholics began to form a plan to both remove King James from the throne and rid England of Parliament members who supported Catholic repression.

A small group banded together under the leadership of Robert Catesby. Thirteen young men, coming mostly from affluent Catholic families, began to plot to restore Catholic rule to England. And they all agreed that violent action was warranted.

Indeed, it became obvious to them that the thing to do would be to blow up the Houses of Parliament during the State Opening of 1605. This would ensure that in one fell swoop, they would be able to assassinate King James I, The Prince of Wales, several disagreeable Parliament Members, and the Senior Bishops of The Church of England.

In doing so, they would make way for Princess Elizabeth II, King James' daughter, to take the throne at only nine years old and be taught to rule as a Catholic Monarch.

The young men managed to get their hands on 36 barrels of gunpowder and began to work out the best way to lay it under the House of Lords. They originally planned to mine their way underneath but that process proved to be too time consuming.

Parliament in those days was housed in a former royal palace that was surrounded by lodgings, shops, and taverns. Guy Fawkes knew that inside knowledge of the building would be necessary. So he used the pseudonym "John Johnson" (why that name never aroused suspicion is any man's guess) to secure a job as a servant.

One of the conspirators then heard, by chance, that a coal merchant had vacated a chamber directly beneath the House of Lords. He took action to secure a lease on that chamber immediately.

Fawkes then set to work slowly filling the room with gunpowder. It took him several months to do so since it had to be done in secret and when he wouldn't be missed from his servant's position. He had the job done by March of 1605. All 36 barrels had been stored in the underground chamber and concealed underneath piles of firewood and coal.

Then the conspirators had nothing to do but wait. The opening of Parliament had been postponed from September to November of 1605. Many of the thirteen Gunpowder Plot members left London for the summer with promises to reconvene in the fall to carry out their plan.

Over their summer holidays, some of the Plot members seem to have discovered a conscience of their own. They realized that many innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack, including those who had been fighting for Catholic rights.

About a week before the assassination attempt was to take place, one of the group members even sent an anonymous letter to Lord Monteagle who had been a close friend. The letter warned him to stay away from Parliament on November 5th. Monteagle had the letter read aloud at an informal meeting, possibly to warn the conspirators that their plan was folly. News of the letter then made its way to the King.

The Plot members heard news that the letter had been publicized. Guy Fawkes inspected the chamber under the House of Lords and found that everything was exactly as he had left it. They decided to go ahead with their plans.

Fawkes offered to be the one to light the explosives and in the early hours of the 5th of November, he crept down to the chamber to make sure everything was in place for the coming evening. As he was leaving he was discovered by the King's men who had been ordered to search the cellars.  The men quickly discovered the gunpowder and arrested Fawkes.

He continued to tell them his name was John Johnson but made no attempt to conceal his intent. Under instruction from King James, Fawkes was taken to the Tower of London. While there he was tortured and interrogated. Throughout all of that he continued to insist that he had acted alone.

It didn't do much good though. Most of the remaining conspirators were caught when they attempted to lead a revolt. They were all tried and convicted of High Treason. Their sentence was to be hanged, drawn, and quartered.

Guy Fawkes had one last show of defiance in mind though. When he was to be hanged until almost dead, he jumped from the gallows and broke his neck. Therefore, skipping out on being drawn and quartered.

On the evening of November 5th, news had made it to the people that an assassination attempt on the King had been foiled. Though they knew little more than that, Londoners lit bonfires throughout the city in thanksgiving.

The celebrations became a tradition known as bonfire night and they grew more elaborate as the years went by. Soon, fireworks were included in the celebrations. And then children began to make effigies of Guy Fawkes which they simply referred to as, "The Guy." They would tote him through the streets and beg passersby for a, "Penny for The Guy." They would then use their pennies to buy fireworks.

In the evening, they would place The Guy on top of their bonfires and set the whole thing alight. Sometimes they would include an effigy of the Pope or a contemporary politician as well. The practices are still continued today in some areas, though they are viewed as quirky traditions rather than acts of hostility.

In recent times, Bonfire Night could be considered a cousin of Halloween, with begging for pennies taking the place of trick-or-treating. It is traditional to cook potatoes in the fire. And black treacle and toffee apples are quite popular as well. 

While the holiday has taken on an old-fashioned and almost childish reputation in modern times, some English continue to wonder, in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way, whether they are really celebrating the execution of Guy Fawkes or honoring his attempt to do away with the government.