Gunpowder Plot

[[File:Guy Fawkes.jpg|right|thumb|165px|Who's that guy?]]
{{UKpolitics}}
The '''Gunpowder Plot''' of 1605, was a failed assassination/[[revolution]] attempt by a group of provincial English [[Roman Catholics]] against King James I of [[England]] and VI of [[Scotland]].

==History==
The plot intended to kill the [[king]], his family, and most of the [[Protestant]] [[aristocracy]] in a single attack by blowing up the Houses of Parliament during the State Opening on 5 November. The conspirators had also planned to incite a popular revolt in the Midlands. However, a Member of Parliament whom the conspirators believed might be sympathetic to their cause tipped off the King. The conspirators were arrested and the attempted uprising was a failure.

[[Guy Fawkes|Guy, or Guido, Fawkes]] is the most famous conspirator, since he was the man arrested in possession of the gunpowder, which was positioned in cellars under the [[House of Lords|Palace of Westminster]]. This has led to the [[myth]] that he was leader of the plot, although it was masterminded by Robert Catesby and Fawkes was a latecomer. Father Henry Garnet, head of the [[Jesuit]] Order within England, was also aware of the conspiracy (at least according to his trial) and was hanged for this. The conspirators, including Fawkes, were [[capital punishment|executed]] by hanging, drawing and quartering, a series of [[torture|tortures]] and mutilations which was reserved for those convicted of high treason.<ref>Bruce Robinson, [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/gunpowder_robinson_01.shtml "The Gunpowder Plot"] on [[BBC]] History</ref>

==Anniversary==
The evening of the anniversary of the discovery and foiling of the plot, the 5<sup>th</sup> of November, is known as Guy Fawkes Night. It is traditional in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] (especially in England) to burn effigies of Guy Fawkes on bonfires with accompanying firework displays. Prior to the burning of the effigy it used to be paraded with the plea "Penny for the Guy", to raise money for the fireworks but this does not happen so much today.

Until the twentieth century, this occasion was explicitly patriotic and [[Anti-Catholicism|anti-Catholic]], a celebration of the Protestant monarchy's triumph over papist treachery.<ref>Marian T. Horvat, [http://www.traditioninaction.org/History/A_022_GuyFawkes.htm }is it anti-Catholic to celebrate Guy Fawkes Night?"] on Tradition in Action</ref> Fortunately, as with [[Christmas]], [[Easter]] and Mother's Day, it has become secularised, and is now regarded as an excuse for bonfires, fireworks and some quaint traditions.<ref>Robert Booth, [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/nov/05/lewes-bonfire-society-ends-tradition-criticised-for-being-racist "Lewes bonfire society ends tradition of blacking-up "], 5 November 2017, ''[[The Guardian]]''</ref> Also as with many traditions associated with Christmas and Easter, the bonfire tradition derives from pagan times, when it was part of Samhain, the beginning-of-winter commemoration which is also the ancestor of [[Halloween|Hallowe'en]].<ref>[https://wuhstry.wordpress.com/2016/11/06/bonfire-night-not-so-much-about-guy-fawkes- "Bonfire Night: Not so much about Guy Fawkes"], 6 November 2016, WUHistory</ref>

A connected tradition is for the Yeoman of the Guard{{efn|Not to be confused with the Yeoman Warders who guard the Tower of London. They get very testy if you make that mistake, as [http://yeomenoftheguard.com/ their (unofficial) website] (apparently designed in 1992) makes <u>very</u> clear.}} to search the cellars of the Palace of Westminster before the State Opening of Parliament, just in case some wag has sneaked a few barrels of gunpowder in as a jape.<ref>[http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/parliamentwork/offices-and-ceremonies/overview/state-opening/elements-unseen-by-the-public/ "State Opening: Elements unseen by the public"] on Parliament.uk</ref>

The word ''guy'' in English is a classic case of {{wpl|semantic drift}}. Originally meant as an insult towards someone, along the lines of asshole, thanks to American English it has become a standard way of referring to a person or group of people; this new American English definition is steadily displacing native words such as chap, much older loanwords such as fellow, and relatively newer loanwords such as bloke. Language can be quite strange in that way.

==Traditional Guy Fawkes Night poem==
[[File:Gunpow1.jpg|right|thumb|350px|The conspirators.]]
{{cquote|
''Remember, remember the fifth of November,<br> 
''Gunpowder, treason and plot,<br>
''I see no reason why gunpowder treason<br>
''Should ever be forgot.<br>
<br>
''Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, ’twas his intent<br>
''To blow up the King and the Parliament.<br>
''Three score barrels of powder below,<br>
''Poor old England to overthrow:<br>
''By [[God]]'s providence he was catch’d<br>
''With a dark lantern{{efn|A lantern having an opening with a shutter that can be slid across the opening to obscure the light. ''Not'' Kilowog from the DC comics universe.}} and burning match.<br>
<br>
''Holloa boys, holloa boys, make the bells ring.<br>
''Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!<br>
''Hip hip hoorah!<br>
<br>
''A penny loaf to feed the Pope.<br>
''A farthing o’ [[cheese]] to choke him.{{efn|Up till the 19<sup>th</sup> or early 20<sup>th</sup> centuries, people could choke on cheese, especially if cheese vats were left open so foreign bodies could fall in.}}<br>
''A pint of [[beer]] to rinse it down.<br>
''A faggot{{efn|This is the original meaning of "faggot", a bundle, rather than the modern meaning from which it is derived, a [[homosexual]].}} bundle of sticks to burn him.<br>
''Burn him in a tub of tar.<br>
''Burn him like a blazing star.<br>
''Burn his body from his head.<br>
''Then we’ll say ol' [[Pope]] is dead.<br>
''Hip hip hoorah!<br>
''Hip hip hoorah!}}

==See also==
*[[Terrorism]]
*[[Anti-Catholicism]]
{{otherlang
|eo=Pulva konspiro}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|2}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:British politics]]
[[Category:Coups]]
[[Category:European history]]
[[Category:Terrorism]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]

Categories: British politics, Coups, European history, Terrorism, United Kingdom