The year was 1605, and a group of people were irrated with King James and the British governemnt. A plot was put into action. Thirty-six barrels of gunpowder were hidden in the cellar of the Parliment Buildings and a man called Guy Fawkes was the chosen one to light the fuse which would blow up the gunpowder and the entire parliment as well. Just in the nic of time, (someone who was in on the plot, must have leaked the plan!) Fawkes was found out, arrested, then hung, drawn, and quartered.
On the very night that the Gunpowder Plot failed, November 5, 1605, bonfires were set alight to celebarated the safety of hte King. Since then November 5 has become known as Bonfire Night. The event is commemorated every year with fireworks and burning efgies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire.
Some of the English have been known to wonder, in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way, whether they are celebrating Fawkes' execuation or honoring his attmept to do away with the government! At any rate, we certainly enjoyed the festivities!
To celebrate, Micah and I invited an American from Houston to join us for the evening. We had dinner at the house, then walked up the hill to Blackheath - a huge uncultivated field with no trees. It is here that for 402 years, the celebration of gunpowder, treason, and plot has been celebrated with bonfires and fireworks. It is one of the most anticipated firework displays in all of London and drew thousands and thousands of people. We were only a few feet away from the closest spot that we could get to the fireworks display, and as the show began, the fireworks shot up just over our heads, with the deafening sound of the explosions racking threw our bodies and echoing in our chests. It was fantastic! To add to the drama, classical and theatrical music played in sync with the fireworks, and the flames that shot out of boxes on the ground was so hot that we could feel the warmth on our faces from 100 yards away.
On the very night that the Gunpowder Plot failed, November 5, 1605, bonfires were set alight to celebarated the safety of hte King. Since then November 5 has become known as Bonfire Night. The event is commemorated every year with fireworks and burning efgies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire.
Some of the English have been known to wonder, in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way, whether they are celebrating Fawkes' execuation or honoring his attmept to do away with the government! At any rate, we certainly enjoyed the festivities!
To celebrate, Micah and I invited an American from Houston to join us for the evening. We had dinner at the house, then walked up the hill to Blackheath - a huge uncultivated field with no trees. It is here that for 402 years, the celebration of gunpowder, treason, and plot has been celebrated with bonfires and fireworks. It is one of the most anticipated firework displays in all of London and drew thousands and thousands of people. We were only a few feet away from the closest spot that we could get to the fireworks display, and as the show began, the fireworks shot up just over our heads, with the deafening sound of the explosions racking threw our bodies and echoing in our chests. It was fantastic! To add to the drama, classical and theatrical music played in sync with the fireworks, and the flames that shot out of boxes on the ground was so hot that we could feel the warmth on our faces from 100 yards away. We hope you enjoy the video!
4 comments:
the answer to your question on my harvest blog! I was a mom..who ran around to harvest parties and spent the evening getting my girls ready for Halloween ;)....I didn't dress up this year...I was too tired :) I thought about wearing my painting clothes...but didn't really want to wear sweats in public..so i bagged it :)
jen
Hi Micah and Becky! What wonderful stories you guys have posted. It was so much fun, too, to reach Greg, Jr.'s comment. We're so happy that he's back with God -- Greg is one awesome person! Seeing all your pictures is so much fun and makes me want to come visit you. Thanksgiving this year just WON"T be the same without you two, but it sounds like you will have a "splendid" time doing something Londony. Love you both! Julie
Well, there you, are having your own fireworks display, kinda like the 4th of July!! What an ironic twist of history...Pilgrims going TO England for a show of celebration. Love you both
Mom
Very cool. I always like hearing about other countries' random holidays. Makes me feel like the US isn't so weird for having things like Groundhog's Day. : )
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