A Penny for the Guy

My, my!  It's been quite the weekend. Friday was Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Bonfire Night, also known as Andre and Christy's anniversary, here in England.


From the all-knowing Wikipedia...

Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Bonfire Night, is an annual celebration held primarily in Great Britain, on or about the evening of 5 November. Festivities are centred on the use of fireworks and the lighting of bonfires. Traditionally, an effigy (or "guy") representing Fawkes is ritually burnt on the bonfire. In the weeks before bonfire night, children traditionally displayed the "guy" and requested a "penny for the guy" in order to raise funds with which to buy fireworks.^[26]

Historically, the celebrations commemorate the anniversary of the failed Gunpowder Plot of 5 November 1605. The date was originally made a public holiday in England by the Observance of 5th November Act 1605.

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, 'twas 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 [or mercy] he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Hulloa boys, Hulloa boys, let the bells ring.
Hulloa boys, hulloa boys, God save the King!

And, of course, a jab at American influence...

In recent years, the commercialised celebration of Hallowe'en is seen as increasingly replacing Guy Fawkes Night.^[27] Historian David Cannadine said on BBC Radio 4 in 2005:

...[T]hese days, Bonfire Night is not the event it was when I was young. I can vividly remember that for me 5 November meant street-corner guys in rickety prams; roasted potatoes and chestnuts; and my father in our back garden lighting the blue touch paper on rockets, roman candles and catherine wheels, and then retiring. Nowadays, family bonfire gatherings are much less popular, and many once-large civic celebrations have been given up because of increasingly intrusive health and safety regulations. But 5 November has also been overtaken by a popular festival that barely existed when I was growing up, and that is Halloween.... Britain is not the Protestant nation it was when I was young: it is now a multi-faith society. And the Americanised Halloween is sweeping all before it - a vivid reminder of just how powerfully American culture and American consumerism can be transported across the Atlantic.^[28]

Not really knowing that Guy Fawkes Night entailed fireworks, I actually thought about going to bed early, as I was absolutely "shattered/knackered" (read: really, really tired) after work. Nathan and I actually treated ourselves to some Indian food out, but were quickly disheartened after getting the bill and realizing that we'd just eaten my entire day's wages in curry.


Anyway, we started hearing hug booms outside around 7 p.m. We looked out our front door and saw huge fireworks. I mean HUGE! I took the picture above, but it doesn't do the size of it justice. There was a big fireworks display put on by the fire brigade just across the field from our house, and we put on our coats and went outside to enjoy the show. It felt weird watching a fireworks show bundled up for cold weather. Usually we're sweating buckets and eating our body weight in watermelon while watching fireworks on the 4th of July. 


Upon finding our landlords outside as well, Nathan said, "We thought it might have been you and your friends drinking too much beer and shooting Coke cans with guns out in the field."  


Good one, babe. I think that's only in the South.