Guy Fawkes AKA Bonfire Night

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   LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

   I'm thinking of writing abotu this tonight - are non-Brits familiar with it at all?

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      poetlorraineposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      i would say a lot are, but you could educate them any way

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   relacheposted 14 years ago

   Some of us are.

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   LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

   I'm in the mood (-:
   
   Remember, remember the fifth of November,
   Gunpowder, treason and plot.
   I see no reason why gunpowder treason
   Should ever be forgot.

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   Uninvited Writerposted 14 years ago

   I am, grew up in Scotland. I loved Guy Fawkes day.
   
   My desktop picture at work today is the Guy Fawkes masked character from V for Vendetta...

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   LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

   In the end, I decided it was a subject better suited to my blog, and did two articles - one about modern celebrations, and one about the Gunpowder Plot itself.
   
   We had our fireworks today, at my parents' place. I thought Isaac might be taken aback, or a bit frightened, but he absolutely adored it!

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   Mrvoodooposted 14 years ago

   

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   dave272727posted 14 years ago

   I had no clue about it until a couple of months ago when some of my friends from England told me all about it. I really enjoyed V for Vendetta.  I hadnt associated it with Guy Fawkes until they told me.

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   LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

   I'd never heard of the film until I read some of the comments on my blog posts!

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   KCC Big Countryposted 14 years ago

   Every year since my husband has been here from England we have celebrated it.  We have to save fireworks from the 4th of July in order to have them in November.  So, what did we do this year? Realized on Nov 7th that we had completely forgotten about it.  *sigh*  Guess we'll use the fireworks for New Year's. 
   
   It was rather neat his first year here because my daughter had her birthday party on Nov 5th and we were able to educate all of her friends about it.  They enjoy learning about my husband's English customs.

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      LondonGirlposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Better late than never! The few weeks around November is when fireworks are easily available here - I'm sure you can buy them at other times, but this time of year they are everywhere.

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    maggs224posted 14 years ago

    I have written a hub about bonfire night as it was celebrated in the 1950's which contains a piece about the history of bonfire night and the bloody punishment of hanging drawing and quartering that was given to the plotters. If you don't know much about bonfire night you might find this hub interesting.

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       LondonGirlposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       great hub, thanks!

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    wyanjenposted 14 years ago

    I took off my mask on November 6...  But now I have put it back on...

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    KCC Big Countryposted 14 years ago

    There are only 2 times a year you can buy them here.  The week leading up to the 4th of July and the week between Christmas and New Year's.  That's it.

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    LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

    While you get some professional, large-scale fireworks at New Year's Eve here, I've not come across people doing their own at Christmas or New Year - and I've not seen them for sale at that time, either.

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    KCC Big Countryposted 14 years ago

    And...to make matters worse.....because it's usually so dry here in July, we sometimes have a burn-ban on and even though you buy them, it's illegal to shoot them.  So, you have to save them to when you can.

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    wyanjenposted 14 years ago

    My family is from Scotland (I'm 4th generation, in America)
    We were told the story when we were young.
    
    I'm not sure if I've got it backwards, or maybe I am misunderstanding...
    
    In V for Vendetta, V is the hero, the revolutionary. This fits perfectly with Guy Fawkes as my family taught the story to me.
    
    But, are you celebrating the capture of the plotters? When I read about Bonfire Night on-line, it is celebrating the opposite of what I expect to see.
    
    Did my family pull a fast one on me, switching the meaning? Set me straight!

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       LondonGirlposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       The pulled a fast one, yes. Guy Fawkes' Night celebrates th failure of the Gunpowder Plot, including burning a "Guy" on a bonfire.

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          Mrvoodooposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Different people celebrate the same event for different reasons, and most now probably celebrate it with little idea either way, just an excuse to let off some fireworks.

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             wyanjenposted 14 years agoin reply to this

             I like the shrouded mystery, accented with things blowing up. This is a holiday I can get behind!

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          wyanjenposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          My folks told me the Guy was secretly supposed to be the pope, and I saw that mentioned in maggs224's hub just now...
          
          I love it.
          Thanks LondonGirl, this has been confusing to me.
          I guess there was a little bit of a political bend to our childhood story telling. No bit of a surprise there
          
          I'm going to continue secretly thinking Fawkes was the good guy, if you don't mind
          
          At any rate, I think it is safe to say most Americans aren't too familiar with Guy Fawkes. But the story reminds me of my family, and it makes me smile.

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             LondonGirlposted 14 years agoin reply to this

             I don't mind, up to you. Chummy was planning to blow up hundreds or thousands of people, though (-:

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    LondonGirlposted 14 years ago

    That's not generally a problem in the UK. And certainly not this year - it was clear tonight, when we were setting ours off, but the soil and everything was soaked.

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