Exactly 404 years ago, a soldier and explosives expert attempted one of the most audacious terrorist plots ever.
His plan was to destroy the UK's House of Lords during State Opening, during which the building would contain the entire parliament and the King. As we all know, various events conspired to disrupt the plan and arrest Guy before he lit the fuse.
But...what if he hadn't been caught? Here's a fascinating documentary from a few years ago, uploaded in full (8 segments) to YouTube, which amongst other things builds a replica of the 17th Century House of Lords on a remote military testing range...and you can guess the rest :)
Here's Part 1 - you should be able to find the rest through "Related Videos"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9oDBXLjQcE
Alternatively, if you're impatient, just skip straight through to part 7:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFytcsA9mU8
And here's an earlier theoretical analysis by physicists at Aberystwyth:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4338-gunpowder-plot-wo...
Then who says the 'guy' effigies traditionally burned on this night have to be Male?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8342409.stm
And of course, for those not attending organised events, there's the usual crop of safety warnings:
http://tr.im/EgfZ
Comments
Remember, Remember…
Guy Fawkes Day
The Gunpowder Plotters from a contemporary engraving
by Crispijn van de Passe the Elder
I still remember the old rhyme we used to chant as children…
Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
One doesn't hear it very often these days, but then Guy Fawkes Day seems to have lost out to the heathen festival of Hallowe’en in England in this 21st century. I think it’s a pity we are losing all these old British traditions. Ah, nostalgia ain’t what it used to be.
Gabi.
Gabi.
Hallowe'en
The "festival" now practiced in the UK called Hallowe'en has almost nothing to do with the heathen festival of Samhain and more to do with the herd-like instincts of retailers who see another way of selling crap to children and taking easy money off parents.
The current activities are relatively new. When I was young, a form of Hallowe'en was practiced by children but the "trick or treat" thing is much more recent, and probably owes a lot to transatlantic inflences. Given the current state of child upbringing in the UK this has turned out to be a lot less pleasant than the same activities might be in the States.
Get off my lawn!
Penny
PS. I'd sooner, in the interests of religious harmony, stop burning Guy Fawkes and instead start a tradition of burning <insert current lame politician here>.
V for Vendetta
A very good film that I highly recommend.
SuZie
SuZie
V for Vendetta
Not to mention the comic book it is based on.
- Moni
I'd always had a little sympathy for Guy Fawkes
having seen the devastation of the explosion which would have happened had the plot succeeded, those sympathies have gone and I now see him in the same light as terrorists everywhere, killing and maiming to achieve their ends. One in Baghdad recently used a bicycle bomb, which killed five people - a bicycle! How low can one sink?
Angharad
Angharad