But if the British are now largely celebrating Halloween at this time of year and saying “Trick or Treat” instead of chanting “Remember, remember the 5th of November, gunpowder treason and plot”, well, it’s a good substitute holiday.
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Fawkes was an Englishman who fought in the Eighty Years’ War on the side of Catholic Spain against Protestant Dutch reformers in the low countries.
It is true that since 1534 – when Henry VIII declared himself the head of the Church – Catholics had faced persecution in England, and the Gunpowder Plot was in, many ways, a response to that persecution.
Fawkes’ plan was discovered, he was tortured and he eventually admitted to his failed plan.
Lewes Borough Bonfire Society, in particular, will be hoping to draw the crowds to its firesite at Landport Bottom as it prepares to blow up a World Record tall 50ft Guy Fawkes effigy, with fireworks imported from across the globe.
The event, sometimes called the Gunpowder Plot, is celebrated to this day.
Today, the practice is less associated with religion and it isn’t always Guy Fawkes thrown into the fire.
According to The Telegraph, Fawkes was caught trying to smuggle 36 barrels of gunpowder into a cellar of the House of Lords in an attempt to completely destroy the building.
And the last scene of the movie has spurred a movement.
One of those customs was the Guy Fawkes burning, but George Washington wasn’t too pleased about it.
Mask of Guy Fawkes used for “V for Vendetta” film. It’s part of their reinvention.
The mask has become like a post-modern protest states the Economist “Hacktivist” group. “Behind the masks, protesters are united”.
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“Remember, remember the fifth of November” is the chant that can be heard when these masked marchers take to the streets.
