Last night, we went to see a bonfire and fireworks celebrating Guy Fawkes day. The official date for the holiday is Monday, but there have been fireworks every night for the last week or so.
I didn’t notice whether the traditional effigy was placed upon the top of the bonfire. It’s not clear to me, though, whether the intention is to celebrate the Guy’s capture or his attempt. Apparently, a common phrase is that Mr. Fawkes was “the only man to enter parliament with honorable intentions”. Several people that I asked about this gave me evasive answers…
The fireworks were quite nice. We apparently broke with the English tradition and brought a picnic blanket and dinner. The American traditions around fireworks involve lots of lawn chairs and coolers, but we were the only ones sitting down.
We may try to go again on Monday for more festivities on the proper night.
November 13th, 2007 at 3:17 am
Hi Andy–This is a little late in coming, so I hope you see it. I have forgotten whatever it was that I knew about Guy Fawkes, so if you’d like to enlighten me, that would be great! Did you go back on the real night? Love, Dana
November 13th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
Guy was part of a plot to blow up parliament and was executed after being caught in the basement with lots of gunpowder and a lit match. You can read more at wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes).