Here we go then boys and girls -
When we celebrate Guy Fawkes Night now it’s just an excuse to party with fireworks and indulge in our very own British Heritage theme park. It doesn’t mean anything more than this anymore. Its’ great fun with a bit of grim, and bloody history lurking in the wings.
Catholic kids join in the fun and there is absolutely no association between it and older anti-Catholic traditions. And monarchists and republicans all join in the fun too. And yes they do get up to some really whacky things in some parts of the country including stuff with barrels of pitch and the like (although I don’t know the details).
Here’s a little bit of English history for you
When the Plotters made their attempt to blow up Parliament in full session with the King (James I) present in 1605, England was basically a Protestant country with a Catholic minority in it (and the Protestantism was a liberal compromise – a sort of Reformed Catholicism). Catholics in Elizabeth’s I reign – the previous monarch - had only come under persecution when the Pope declared her fair game for Catholic assassins (and there were many attempts on her life) and when the King of Spain attempted his invasion. They had not been persecuted because of their religion. And the majority English Catholics were happy to be loyal subjects of the realm and the terrorist sonly gave then a bad name.
James 1 had succeeded the childless Elizabeth. Because his mother was the Catholic Mary Queen f Scots the Catholics hoped for preferment. However, James was raised a strict Calvinist after John Knox’s school. He was known as the ‘wisest fool in Christendom’ for being both pretentious and an idiot. For example he was obsessed with witchcraft and had written a learned book on it -‘Demonology’. In Scotland many thousands of witches were tortured and burned during the same period when only three hundred were ever killed in England – and none of them tortured here and death was by hanging only. James was basically laughed at when he tired to introduce his obsessions into England. He was also a man of incredible arrogance – and insisted on being addressed as the Anointed one of God (and addressed as ‘Most Dread Sovereign’ in the preface to the KJV).
However there was no popular support for the plotters. If they had killed the King and all of the Lords and Commoners they would have created a situation of anarchy in which sectarian massacres would have taken place on a massive scale and England would have been embroiled in the same terrible religious wars that tore Europe to pieces .
James would have liked to rule as a tyrant – but could not because the monarchy did not have absolute power. In the Middle Ages we had a line of French Kings who also had vast lands in France. This eventfully resulted in war between the English French Kings and their French Royal cousins. The English French Kings eventually lost the war – which curtailed their power drastically and lead to the beginnings of democracy in England after a terrible civil war. The actual French Kings became so powerful that they became real tyrants. So in this situation if the plotters had succeeded apart from the prospect of bloodletting and anarchy, England could have ended up with a French Catholic tyrant as King ruling as an absolute monarch 9rhater than King Charles with his KCV). And the absolute power of the French King would have been further increased. And if that had been the case the American war of Independence would have been a very bloody and horrible affair too. IT wasn’t actually that bad – because Britain was a democracy and only part of Parliament – the Tories – supported the war. The Whigs and the Radicals did not support the war because they saw it as an act of Tyranny. Brits today see it as a stupid war rather than any source of grievance.
The Gunpowder Plotters were desperados. Guido Fawkes was the fall guy (forgive the pun) caught with the taper in his hand. The other plotters lead by one Robert Catesby ended up having a shoot out with the Kings militia somewhere in the Midlands. They were so desperate that they had got their own powder wet while riding hard on horseback, tired to dry it in front of the log fire in the house, and blew themselves up! Their only achievement was to increase anti-Catholic feelings and to put off Catholic emancipation here by at least a hundred years.
It is true that at first the effigy burned on November the 5th was not of Guy Fawkes but of the Pope. I think this practice persisted in Calvinist Northern Ireland until recent times. But I’m happy to say the anti Catholic context has completely died out in the mainland – and I hope it is well and truly on its way out in Northern Ireland.
Blessings (and raise a glass to poor old Guy the fall guy )
Dick