by Patrick Boniface

Created on: May 31, 2011   Last Updated: June 06, 2011

“Remember, remember the 5th of November, gunpowder, treason, and plot. I see no reason why gunpowder treason Will ever be forgot”.

Only the English would celebrate a complete and utter failure in such style and with such passion as we do Guy Fawkes Night. Every year fireworks displays light up the night sky as we mark the unsuccessful attempt to blow up the unpopular King James 1st on 5th November 1605. Today there is a huge multi-million pound industry behind Bonfire Night ranging from event organisation to elaborate fireworks displays that include New Years Day celebrations and landmark sporting spectaculars such as the 2012 Olympics.

The story of Guy Fawkes has transferred into the public’s psyche so deeply that people know very little about the man and what drove him to commit high treason or the weapon he had planned to use, gunpowder. Gunpowder is an extremely simple mixture of three chemicals, sulphur, saltpetre and a source of carbon such as coal or charcoal. When mixed in the right quantities it has explosive potential. The Chinese were the first to discover this in the 7th Century and initially they used their discovery for peaceful purposes when the loud crack and the bright sparks were used to frighten away evil spirits and to pray for happiness and prosperity.  

Guy Fawkes led the conspiracy to kill the king of England and Scotland, the hated King James 1st. James 1st had instated the Protestant faith in England and had begun a persecution of Catholics amongst them Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators. 36 barrels of gunpowder were secretly placed in the cellars of Westminster Hall, then the seat of the Parliament of England. Unfortunately for Fawkes, he was arrested just before he had planned to set off the explosion and Parliament and King James 1st were saved. Fawkes himself was not so lucky being hung, drawn and quartered for this crime on 31 January 1606 with the four parts of his body being sent out to the four corners of the country to act as a deterrent to anyone else thinking of committing treason.

Each year on, or increasingly around, the 5th November  millions of pounds  worth of fireworks are sold over the counter, curiously in a country seemingly obsessed with health and safety regulations we continue to sell what have been used since the ancient Chinese as weapons of war. To put it into some kind of perspective each year in the United Kingdom alone we fire off more than the entire gunpowder stored

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