Gunpowder, trees, in the plot....

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
gunpowder, treason and plot,
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
should ever be forgot.

400 years ago, on November 5th 1605, a Mr John Johnson was found in a room underneath the House of Lords. ‘Mr Johnson’ (in actuality Mr Guy (Guido) Fawkes) was part of a Catholic plot to kill King James I, during the state opening of Parliament.

The plot (highly simplified) was to kill the King (Protestant) and the majority of the members of Parliament (also Protestant), then kidnap the royal children, start a Catholic rebellion in the North of England and place James’ daughter, Princess Elizabeth on the throne of England.


Fawkes and his co-conspirators
Fawkes and his fellow plotters worked on their plan from early 1604 and by March 1605 had already managed to fill a room beneath the House of Lords with 36 barrels of gunpowder (about 2.5 tonnes). The plotters had all been sworn to secrecy, however there were some amongst them who were concerned that in the resulting explosion, not only Protestants but also Catholics would be killed (present day Muslim fundamentalists obviously feel that the 70 virgins in heaven remove the need for any similar thoughts). As a result it is believed that one of the plotters wrote to Lord Monteagle who subsequently showed it to the Secretary of State (Robert Cecil – one of the most brilliant minds from the Elizabethan era).

Fawkes and his co-conspirators were aware that Monteagle had received the letter on 26th October, however as nothing was said or heard, they decided to go ahead with the plot.

In the early morning of the 5th November, Fawkes was found by a search party, in a room under Parliament with slow matches, touchpaper and a watch. Further searching unearthed the huge amount of gunpowder hidden further back in the room…..

Fawkes confessed immediately that he wanted to destroy the King and Parliament, getting the names of his co-conspirators required a little more gentle ‘persuasion’. As King James I wrote, "The gentler tortours are to be first used unto him, et sic per gradus ad maiora tenditur [and thus by increase to the worst], and so God speed your goode worke".

Finally, he gave the names of his fellow plotters. In a particularly gruesome end in January 1606, Fawkes and some of his co-conspirators were hung, drawn and quartered…I remember this particularly grisly graphic from my A-level history books…so here, you can now ‘enjoy’ it…

As a rather macabre recognition of this historic event, every year England sees bonfires being built and burnt, fireworks being lit and a 'guy' being made and then ceremoniously burnt on top of the bonfire….all rather gruesome……

And the title of this post....when my brother was younger (a lot younger!)he came home from school having learnt this little piece of poetry....
Remember, remember the fifth of November,
gunpowder, trees, in the plot
Has he been allowed to forget it....like hell he has!!!!

My choice of DVD viewing last night was topical...