Our Celebration

[loverboy]

I've got nothing against 'imported' celebrations such as Halloween.......contrary to my jokes/rants it's actually done in a civilised & polite manner around where I live & the kids really enjoy it, but........it's nice to have our own celebration.
For those that don't know.......
Bonfire Night, or Guy Fawkes night occurs on the 5th November & commemorates the failed attempt by Guy Fawkes & others to blow up the Houses of Parliament including King James I with gunpowder in 1605. In the UK it's celebrated by a large bonfire, including the burning of an effigy of Guy Fawkes & the letting off of fireworks.

http://www.bonfirenight.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night

We didn't fuck about in those days......Fawkes & his fellow conspirators were found guilty of treason & sentenced accordingly.

The Attorney General Sir Edward Coke told the court that each of the condemned would be drawn backwards to his death, by a horse, his head near the ground. They were to be "put to death halfway between heaven and earth as unworthy of both". Their genitals would be cut off and burnt before their eyes, and their bowels and hearts removed. They would then be decapitated, and the dismembered parts of their bodies displayed so that they might become "prey for the fowls of the air".

The celebrations actually started in the same year as the failed attempt & have continued since. These days, celebrations have moved away from the home-made efforts towards the larger, costlier, elaborate & organised events. I'm lucky enough to live close to one of the largest events held in the country. Generally speaking, these are now held over the nearest weekend to the 5th November.
Other than in certain colonies, this is only celebrated in the UK & not even in Ireland, as Guy Fawkes was a catholic & the whole purpose of the plot was to draw attention to the treatment of catholics by the monarchy.

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lb

[Jerry]

That is the punishment that those murderers currently being tried in Connecticut should get.
(I assume that my fellow Americans, and especially my fellow Northeasterners,
will know who I am talking about.)

[Phuzzy4242]

I've got nothing against 'imported' celebrations such as Halloween.......contrary to my jokes/rants it's actually done in a civilised & polite manner around where I live & the kids really enjoy it, but........it's nice to have our own celebration.

Halloween is actually semi-religious. The Church wanted to "ease" pagans into observance of organized religion so they arranged many holidays to coincide with pagan holidays, in this case the Celt's Samhain. I've long been skeptical of this sleight-of-hand way of bringing the natives under control. The new religion called Money has rearranged many holidays so they somehow fall on Mondays or weekends - avoids disrupting production during the work week.

Guy Fawkes day, on the other hand, has always been a celebration that's straightforward and no mucking about. Us Yanks don't celebrate it but I'm all for it - another day off work wouldn't bother me a bit.

Happy Guy Fawkes Day!