Norwich bulletin., 1914-11-21
A DISTINCTIVE NORWICH CUSTOM

savage practice of making bonfires on the evening of Thanksgiving may be exchanged for some other mode of rejoicing more consistent with the genuine spirit of christianity!
 According to tradition, this custom had its origin in the English celebra- ton of Guy Hawkes. day, or Gun powder day. the fifth of November. It is possible, too. that there was some such bonfire custom in the the ancient English town of Norwich, about which we heard so much and so informingly during the period of Benefactors' day, last June; and for which the Connecti- cut town was named by its founders, in 1869.
 Certain it is that local travellers have come upon some similar celebra- tions. not alone in the outskirts of London. but in other cities and towns more or less remote from the Dig English capital.
 The preparation for the annual rev cling is much after the manner ot that of Norwich, Connecticut, boys-that is, for the Guy Hawkes. celebration. The boys of Old England begin for the fun some time before the fifth. Each evening, in groups. after the manner ,of the local boys gangs, they go from street to street, singing at the top of their voices these words, fami- liar to many an English traveller: ~Remember. remember. the fifth of Is GunpoWder % Plot. that's never for
 got!
 Put your hand in your pocket and pull
 out your purse;
 A half penny or penny will make you
 no worsei
 Then give us a stick of wood to make
 the fire burn.
 we'll begone!"
 There is tradition that Guy Hawkes. day was observed by the boys of our own Norwich in the earlier days, when 1t was the custom to carry through the streets an effigy of Hawkes., the traitor, later to be strung up and burned, while the children sang a doggerel quite like that of their Eng fish cousins:
 "~The fifth of November You must always remember
 The Gun Powder Plot Must never be forgotl
 Ding, dongi"
 The English boys go from house to house. asking for coal, wood, or money The coal and wood are put into the
  used. to make bonAres on some vacant lot on the eventful night. The pennies are spent for fireworks.
 Early in the evening of Guy Fawkes day the fun. begins. Children from faI and near come to see the big bonfire wood collected. The fireworks are let off, the children dance in a ring about the blaze, singing and shouting grown-ups assemble to see the fire often aiding in the sport. When the midnight hour arrives, the Bobby comes, too, to send the crowd home and put out the enbers. This is the program year after year.
 1t is easy to understand how, witt the passage of time, Thanksgiving day Fast day, Lection day and Trainin day became the big holidays of the year in our own town, and it is logical to think too, that after the Revolution there would be little local zest tc celebrate distinctively English hol- iday like Guy Hawkes. day. so that il would be natural to transfer the bon fire. revels to Thanksgiving
 The hiding of collected barrels, ir the barn. shed or even cellar of some fellow proudly elevated to the office oi head of the gang. the frequent sortle of some rival gang. perhaps on the very night before the holiday, the OI IODUCI III 0lAAAAS ing the captured spells on its own par dcular poles, are incidents familiar tc every Norwich resident. There have been years when the barrels, sWipeo rotherwise secured, have run uI in the many hundreds. Doughty and daring small boys would risk the bites of hungry dogs. the muscularly wield- ed broom of the "hired girl" even the harrel-slat courtesy of the irate head of the house, to collect barrels. which on the evening of the holiday, blazed upon the poles erected on the Norwich hills, where, in colonial times ano earlier, the signal fires of the Mo began Indians once flashed forth theil warnings.
 Many a disnified citizen far iron Norwich will recall as ThankSSiYine draws near the proud skill with whic ! after appropriating an empty flour ol apple barrel, he fled to the neares stone or iron hitching poSt-so mary of them had horses heads on themi - slammed the barrel down with suf1' cieut force to knock the bottom ou and then made a mad dash Tor safety He might be caught by the owner O. the booty. but that barrel was effectu' ally put out of business. even if re- covered.
 In these days of metal ash cans, th' inertia of the pampered small boy ans the commercial value of empty barre. during harvesting season, the numnei of barrels collected grows smaller.
 However, there will still be pole: enough on the high hills to prove tha this peculiar Norwich custom has no died out, to show returning sons anC daughters on the holiday that this on' ancient tradition still obtains. Ina this custom still has fascination for t | healthy hnsl<V hnX. 1t had in tlt days when parents, poor but honest or rich but suspicious, the minister Sabbath and day school teachers, tit tithingman, even the constable, triet in vain to make the Norwich boys ,E 1792 desist from what The Weekly Register drowned on as the savage practice of making bonfires on Thanks giving!"
 THE DICTAGRAPH. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR