More tales from England
I mentioned Guy Fawkes Night earlier. The closest we Americans have is Halloween, but Guy Fawkes doesn’t have the pseudo-supernatural overtones that a more religiously conservative America ascribes to it. After all, we’re talking about a night where all good Britons come out to burn the effigy of someone stupid enough to be caught in proximity of several barrels of gunpowder in the basement under Parliament.
Google Guy Fawkes and read some of the more serious entries on the web and you may find that Mr. Fawkes was not the suave, swashbuckling role model for V For Vendetta. Rather, he was more of a village idiot in many ways. But he did have the motivation to help plan the Gunpowder Plot, thus his popularity as kindling.
Anyway, the RAF officers and erks in our neighborhood knew how to put together a Guy Fawkes dummy – a flight suit filled with plenty of flammables and enclosed in a Mae West life preserver with a live CO2 cartridge for that extra bang. Mount said effigy on top of a ten-foot pile of scrap wood soaked in gasoline, add a match and stand back for some real family fun before going home for a mug of hot chocolate..
Google Guy Fawkes and read some of the more serious entries on the web and you may find that Mr. Fawkes was not the suave, swashbuckling role model for V For Vendetta. Rather, he was more of a village idiot in many ways. But he did have the motivation to help plan the Gunpowder Plot, thus his popularity as kindling.
Anyway, the RAF officers and erks in our neighborhood knew how to put together a Guy Fawkes dummy – a flight suit filled with plenty of flammables and enclosed in a Mae West life preserver with a live CO2 cartridge for that extra bang. Mount said effigy on top of a ten-foot pile of scrap wood soaked in gasoline, add a match and stand back for some real family fun before going home for a mug of hot chocolate..
posted by Frontier Editor at 00:27
9 Comments:
Under our new anti-incitement legislation, Guy Fawkes night is technically illegal. You see, at it's root is the gunpowder plot - a failed Catholic coup. Our modern celebrations have rather lost sight of this and representations of the Holy Father aren't burned anymore either. Now it's an excuse for loads of fireworks in the rain (November 5th) and people to make a quick killing (sometimes literally) selling cheap Chinese fireworks in temporary shops. All good fun.
Does the Anglican church still have the anniversary sermon or speech?
I didn't want to bring up the Catholic aspect, lest I be accused by some random visitor of being a daVinci Code enthusiast.
But, in its own perverse way, Mr Fawkes is a mildly amusing figure.
And it is great fun to be five years old and see an effigy cook off.
Ah
Wait, I really did have more to say. It's a bit disconcerting not to be able to read your own comments. For some reason I'm typing blindly. (Meaning I cannot see my words on the screen)
Is anyone else having this problem?
Not sure - I got three postings from you
And now a fourth! It's good to be you.
I feel strangely honored, hee hee
I honestly couldn't tell you, I don't know my creed from my catechism. I have been to several church services but they mean nothing to me whatsoever. I've never got the bit whereby doing it with pictures, in Latin or wearing flashier clothes makes you a better believer. Nice buildings though.
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