3.16 /// Unraveling the Threads of Bonfire Night...

Prepare to embark on a journey back in time, as we explore the fascinating saga behind the British tradition of Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night. We'll immerse ourselves in the captivating narrative of 1605, painting a picture of the thwarted attempt to overthrow the Protestant king. From the cloak-and-dagger secrecy to the suspenseful capture of Guy Fawkes, found guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder within the Houses of Parliament, we unravel a tale that's etched deeply into Britain's collective memory. We also delve into the chilling aftermath, shedding light on Fawkes' arrest, torture, and forced confession, which only added to the intrigue of this already riveting tale.

Additionally, we'll be cranking up the nostalgia as we reminisce about the fireworks celebrations from our childhood in the UK, right up to the present-day festivities. We'll share our dazzling memories of various colours, shapes, and sounds that lit up the night sky, and how these pyrotechnic displays have evolved over time. From the thrill of backyard celebrations to the awe-inspiring spectacle of professional displays, we cover it all. We also touch upon the important topic of safety during these fireworks gatherings. Buckle up for an exciting episode that combines history and memories, set against the backdrop of sparkling fireworks.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Bonfire Night and Guy Fawkes Tradition
• 13:00 Opinions on Fireworks Celebrations

Transcript

Stephen: 0:00

Hello, welcome to Steven speak on today's episode. I'm gonna be talking about a British tradition, maybe maybe more of an English tradition, actually about celebrating an Event that didn't happen with a bang. Stick around me to explain all you you might have already done.

Stephen: 0:31

Welcome to Steven speak. The podcast unscripted prattle on everything and nothing.

Stephen: 0:48

Thank you for joining me today. Hope you well, sell down Whatever you doing. Are you driving to work, or we are a brew or you just you have 20 minutes out of your week to listen to my solitude tones and just relax, and I'll take you on a prattling journey, as usual. So thank you for listening. If you're new to Steven speak, don't get your hopes up. It's a meandering load of bullshit that I speak, but hopefully it's entertaining at some point. Go back and check out my other. So it says this is the third season now, so I have slowed down production a little bit, because I went a bit helpful either. At first I've slowed, slowed them down. Now it's one a week.

Stephen: 1:30

Yes, this week I'm gonna be talking about an event that happens in the UK every year, but predominantly probably, probably England actually, for at least now as far as my where for more than English thing, and that is bonfire night or Guy Fawkes night. And now anyone that lives in England will have heard of this. It's been, it's been going on for 400 odd years, so it's quite a tradition, but it's a little bit of a strange one, I think, and I've always found it a bit peculiar, even when it was explained to me as a kid and I've always not Really enjoyed it. I enjoyed kind of like, maybe the traditions that came out of it, but not maybe the actual event itself. And I'll explain so for those that you don't know a bonfire night or guy forks night originated because a chap back in the day, back in the early 1600s 1605, to be sure I have a little bit of research on this literally three minutes before starting this recording, so nothing too major, but basically a chap called Guy forks and who's that, whose real name was Guido forks, which is funny to me and never knew that.

Stephen: 2:44

And but guy forks, he also wouldn't know, apparently when, when, as a pseudomon John Johnson as well, which I'm the original anyway, he was a member of Suppose you'd call it kind of like a terrorist organization, as opposed from a certain standpoint, but he, he basically was a Catholic and part of this, this group of English Catholics that basically didn't like the way the Protestant monarch was ruling and they basically plotted to kill him. So it was James I, king James I, and they basically want to restore a Catholic monarch back to the throne because Britain, or England at least, was becoming more and more Protestant. So there was a religious connotation to this. There's a lot of things through history and I'm not gonna get into that. But yeah, he was unsuccessful because there was a couple of people that they didn't want to kill, apparently, and I remember this from school. So the group basically sent a couple of letters to a couple of people that they kind of liked and didn't want to kill in this terror act which was basically blowing up the houses of parliament in London, which is a beautiful building and I would advise you and look at it or even go inside because it's fantastic. It's a fantastic looking building. But he decided that even his group decided they were gonna blow it up with a load of people inside and there was gonna be some event going on. I can't remember what it was now, but there was gonna be some event. I think it was for King James's daughter and they were all gonna be there basically. So he was gonna blow the whole thing up on the 5th of November, which is now celebrated as a bonfire night.

Stephen: 4:33

But he was unsuccessful because, as I say, he sent these letters to these few people that he liked and in October, so giving them about a week or so notice. I think it was like two weeks notice based, saying like, on this day, don't be in that building, and they basically grasped him up. Basically they literally took the letters straight to the authorities and said listen, we've just received these letters. It looks like someone's gonna plan to blow up the house as a parliament. And of course Guy Fawkes was.

Stephen: 5:02

I think he was in the basement or in some part of depths of the building where the hidden all the gunpowder. And there was quite a lot of gunpowder actually. I was just looking on I'm a no, wikipedia can't be completely accurate, but it's not too bad but there was like 36 barrels of gunpowder. Now another part of the website basically says that's like 50 kilograms of gunpowder and I don't know, that's right, whether it was small little barrels or not, but that's some amount. But it basically, by modern standards that would have done the job. But they apparently caught him the night before. So they went, they went down into the, into the depths of the houses of Parliament, and they caught him basically guarding all the gunpowder, because he was the one that was gonna set it off. Now I don't know if he was gonna kill himself in this, because I'm sure, like the fuse that they would use maybe wouldn't be too big. So I don't know how, whether he was planning to actually escape, whether he was gonna go down with a ship, and I think I'm not too sure on that. But either way he was unsuccessful. He was and he was carried away and and basically it was revealed to the people what was gonna happen and the fact they'd foiled in blah blah, blah blah.

Stephen: 6:14

One of the things that really stood out for me in schools. I remember he wanted him to confess to his plot, basically so they could actually carry out a sentence. They wanted him to basically take the fall for everything. And one of the things I remember from a textbook in school was an example of his old graph, apparently on our documents and then his autograph again once they tortured him and it was like you couldn't really make it out, really could have been anyone's, really was Don't. Almost kind of makes it like a bit pathetic to have tortured him for so long, because you can't really tell it's guy for all Because his signature. So they could literally just gone. Yeah, you did it. Someone signed for him and said oh, that's just because we tortured him but he sent, sentenced him to being hung, drawn and courted, which is something these in the UK, which wasn't particularly nice.

Stephen: 7:07

So what it involved was was basically, I believe, being Hanged until you nearly dead so he doesn't break your neck or anything like that, but it basically chokes you and Makes you pass out and stuff and they keep waking you up and they do that for a while and then they Basically remove your genitals and you're still alive. And then they disembowel you by removing your entrails etc. And and then they don't. They still don't, you still not still alive. They do it in a way that you're still alive, which is and it's like super, super painful, it's like the worst thing ever. And then they behead you and then they cut you into pieces and what they used to do was they used to send and they should put your head on a on the bridge, I believe, like certain people, super important or really made a main example of the display the body.

Stephen: 8:07

And so in the film Braveheart, that's what happens to William Wallace. He's hung, drawn and courted, and that bit at the end when he shouts Spoiler alert, when he shouts freedom, that's Well. He's being basically Disemboweled and he passes out or dies. I think he just passes out to we might, he might die, but yeah, then they behead you and and cause you so really quite a nasty thing really, and that was kind of the worst, one of the worst things they do. So that was for, like, I think, for traitors and and and the enemy of the state kind of thing. So yeah, pretty nasty stuff really.

Stephen: 8:46

But from all that I'm sorry if that was too graphic for you, by the way, and but from all of that, like they started kind of a celebration that didn't happen. So People back in the day must have actually liked politicians. I don't know, and I'm not trying to incite any violence on the houses of violence, but the bridge have kind of a dark humor. And this is there's, there's normally one person every year that cracks a joke of them wish it would happen now. And there's politicians, you know, but I'm not, I'm not wishing terrorist attack on the house of parliament, just to be clear. It's not the way to go. We know we have a democracy. Apparently, for a reason, it's not gonna turn into a run, honestly, it's not gonna turn into a run.

Stephen: 9:31

But yeah, I just it's just a really weird thing to celebrate, I think, because, well, isn't it, isn't it? We celebrate the fact that India, which is good, it like if it a bullet one thing, that buildings beautiful and I wouldn't want that building to have been destroyed. I just think it's really strange that we celebrate it by Building fires and building bonfires and then setting off fireworks. Even that isn't weird, as maybe it's just me, I just Just I just think it's bit odd. We don't do that for any most most other days in the UK. Well, any other day in the UK really, we don't.

Stephen: 10:04

Really fireworks weren't massive and when I was growing up in the 80s you could literally buy them around bonfire night, maybe for a week before, two weeks before, and then they literally stopped being sold. There was really really, really, really strong laws on it in the day and you have to have like a license or a special reason to get them and stuff. I'm not special reason, you have to have a license, I believe, and and they were literally sold to the public, really really restricted for a short period of time, and that nowadays it seems that you can really always buy fireworks, most most of the times a year in the UK and it's got really popular in New Year's, I think, after the Millennium game really popular to set fireworks off at New Year's Eve. But yeah, I've always just thought it was a strange thing. In the UK as well they used to. So back in the day they started making bonfires and apparently the government and the king allowed it as a celebration, and then I'm guessing it's become more of a thing and then more traditions add on top of that.

Stephen: 11:05

So I suppose with the advent of gunpowdered fireworks they were added into the mix and also actually put in an effigy of Guy Fawkes on top of the bonfire. So and this one is probably like the weirdest thing for me I never actually did it, but some kids and stuff around my area where I was growing up used to. So what people used to do is and let me know if you ever did this as a kid or if this happened in your area, because I think it's weird and a bit dark really People would basically make an effigy of Guy Fawkes I have all clothes like kind of like a scarecrow basically and they would basically go around people's houses. They'd carry this scarecrow thing with them and they'd knock on people's doors and ask for a penny for the guy. So you donate a penny for the Guy Fawkes and I'm not really sure what the money was for. If I'm honest with you, I think it was more to do with paying for the thing to be made, or maybe helping pay for the bonfire and stuff like that. So I'm guessing it was a contribution They'd made the guy. They were going to have a bonfire and you could pay, basically to contribute, and then go and enjoy the bonfire and the guy being burnt to death. He's not really alive, is he? So it's not really that bad. I'm getting a bit dramatic there, but yeah, I just think that's a weird thing to do, like make an effigy of someone. But I suppose, for all intents and purposes, guy Fawkes and the organisation were committing like a terrorist attack on the government. Yeah, so I suppose it's not too different to some of the things that we remember today that were from terrorism or things that were avoided, but we don't really celebrate them with this bonfire night. So, yeah, it's just really weird and we never really celebrated it too much.

Stephen: 13:00

As a kid, to be honest, when I was younger, my mum and dad didn't really have fireworks at home. I think they thought it was a bit of a waste of money, which I think I do as well. Hang on. I'm just going to have a sip of tea my mouth's gone dry and lovely big cup of tea here. What are you enjoying? Well, I say it's me Also. I'm staring directly. I don't know if you saw the post on social media that's Steven Sweet, pc going off the track, but I got it given like a little mascot. Well, a little present, but I'm going to use it as a little mascot because it amuses me and it's a little ghost thing that's been hand knitted by one of my friends' daughter and I'm after a name for it. So if you can think of a name for it once you've seen it, think of a name for it. It's sat on my microphone and it's literally staring me right in the face. It's actually making my eyes go funny because it's like blurry, out of focus, anyway, yeah, so basically, fireworks.

Stephen: 13:54

All fireworks are especially in the UK, especially when I was a kid. If you wanted to buy them for your own house, they weren't overly impressive, like unless you spent a lot of money. And if you're going to spend that much money, you'd probably better off going to an organised display, which there are like in crew alone, like there's probably more in my area, like there's probably been advertised at least three or four professional on finite displays. I've never really been into it. I've been to a couple of displays in my life and I like fireworks don't go wrong. I think they're technically how they're made and what they produce in the sky and they go bang and all these colours come out and all these weird patterns and sparks and God knows what and all the chemicals that make them change colour and stuff. It's fascinating, but I've never been one to have to go to one every year. They're just like. I just had a long obsession with such people and they were like you.

Stephen: 14:50

Just people having their own displays in the garden actually kind of annoy me and I'm not going to get into a rant Honestly, honestly, there's not gonna be no rant here, but I just there's. If you're gonna spend like 200 quid by a fire witch your mail to take, you find pure, proper display where you're gonna see proper ones, cuz I think that's probably why my mom and dad never really did it at home, because they were all like whiz bangers when I was a kid. So you'd get a little rocker. It sets it off, it goes shooting to the sky, which is pretty cool when you're a kid like I did.

Stephen: 15:19

I do remember my dad doing a fireworks display, at least once. I remember at least once we used to have sparklers every so often, to the little sticks with Procumb, the stuff that's on them, it sparks basically and you got a little stick in it, it's a spark and you can write your name and in the air and stuff with them because they burn so brightly. So I damage, brilliant, and yeah, so we never really did too much. I remember one specific one, but he actually did put on pretty good show. He made his own Catherine wheel, which is like when the fireworks go round in a circle. But yeah, most of the fireworks he had those. The most interesting was what me and my brother named the traffic light one, where there's a firework on the ground and it just like shot up like a red, yellow, green, like light into the sky, like a little rocket into the sky, and most of them whizzed up into the air with sparks behind them and just banged in a white flash. And Once you've seen that 20 times it's pretty boring. So for me, professional ones, the way to go. What, what?

Stephen: 16:26

The traditional was mainly my house, because we didn't really go out. We could. We could see from our house. So the local park was like as the crow flies, the straight arrow, probably less than a quarter of a mile away, about half a mile away at most, and so we could see. We can see all the ground activity, but we could see all the all the fireworks that came so far into the air. And the tradition came at my house where my mom had a bit of a bit of a scare at one of the fireworks events that she took my brother to. I can't remember if it was my brother's coat, the court fire or someone, a little boy nearby, but one of the fireworks came down and landed in someone's coat and it caught the coat on fire and it kind of put my mom off going to a live display.

Stephen: 17:06

So, yeah, so what. We used to sit and sit in mine on my brother's bedroom, which looked out towards the park, and Mom used to give me Like sweets and snacks and stuff, so like a bowl of Twiglet's was like the favorite for us, a glass of milk and maybe a bit of chocolate and stuff like that, and we used to sit and feel like an hour and watch the display and we could open the window because they used to have music and light shows as well, so we could open the window and listen to the music and a Lot of the time that the fireworks were timed to the music and it was pretty brilliant. To be fair, like that's. That's me. What fireworks night is is sitting looking out of a window looking at them and not paying, but yeah, but loads of people now have them in the in their own gardens and these for me, that these waves bangers there's some of them are a bit nicer than nowadays. Like you know, they have the public ones have become a bit more fancy.

Stephen: 17:56

But For me it's dangerous as well, isn't it? Like you're literally handling explosives and I don't think that it's probably the safest way to go about it. And I remember you watching, like, the safety videos at school, saying like don't handle a firework and don't go back to it once it's lit, and if it goes out, don't go back to it, wait a bit, and you know, and then cover it in sand and all this sort of stuff. And yeah, I just think. I just think if you just go to a professional on, like why waste your money? You should feel like you must just set fighting money. If I'm honest. Yeah, that's, that's my normal go-to saying just set fighting money, because you literally just set fighting money and You're blowing your money up and they're not even that nice Not even that nice.

Stephen: 18:38

I mean, if you do get really nice ones. Maybe maybe I'm just behind the times of fireworks, maybe I just don't even know Fireworks anymore. Maybe the whiz bangers are a thing in the past and you can go out there and actually get some professional grade fireworks for your own garden, and but then you've got to be. You know, you've got, you have the garden to do it and you've got to set it up. You know what stakes, the grounds, the of fly up straight and I'm just maybe it's just because I'm lazy, I don't know, I just it just doesn't appeal to me. Um, they think of what won't like when we have kids and I'm hoping that that spark was a bit of a way to go. But I think you want to see fireworks. Let's take them somewhere and Buy a house where you see the, see the park I Don't know. I don't know they do in one this year actually now park, I don't know. So that's how interested I am in it. But I just thought I'd go through that take. I know I get a lot of listeners from America and stuff. So I was thinking maybe you don't know what the on fire night is and it's kind of like the fourth of July but celebrating the non event of a terrorist attack. I just think it's so. I just for me. I just think it's a really weird way to Mark an occasion by setting big bonfires off, burning effigies of criminals and Saying saying fireworks off as well. I don't know, it's always always been a bit of a weird celebration to me and I kind of understand why you would celebrate a Not like a terrorist attack not happening. But yeah, it's, it's. It's just a bit just a bit just a bit odd. But yeah, so that's bonfire night. That's the fifth of November in the UK. But you know, if you are gonna have one, I saw, say, I do have a dog and you know, don't moan. But you know animals get scared of all these bangs and stuff. So if you're gonna do it like one, don't set them off in the daytime. What the hell are you doing? Like that's even more point, especially if you got whiz banger, you're not gonna see nothing. And and to you know, be considerate. You know it's probably the considerate thing not to have your own in your own garden. I'm looking quite lucky with our dog. He barks at the bangs but he more like goes outside. Once he's seen what it is. He'll come back in and he's not too stressed about it. But I know some people's dogs do get really, really stressed. So you know, just just think about it. You know, if you, if you've got a neighbor, the dog and stuff, you know I'd be considerate, it's great to have your own party and stuff, but yeah, they are basically explosions in the sky only and yeah, so I don't end on it on a car and a Karen moment. But you know, just just, you know, just be sensible and don't hurt yourselves as well. That's the main thing. If you are gonna have a party or you're dealing with fireworks or you're doing anything would like that, just Just just be sensible enough that you're not gonna kill yourself or may me self. Yeah, so there's that. There's a whistle stop, tour of bonfire night and guy forks night. I hope that was slightly educational and not too ranting.

Stephen: 21:34

Thank you very much for listening. Check out Steven. Speak calm. I say this every week. I am gonna update it at some point. There's loads more updates to go and I'm just writing them down at the moment was what I want to do and how I want to arrange it, and I might have to redesign the whole bloody website. Yes and yes. So go and check Steven. Speak, calm out, contact me on social media. Really really need your feedback. What do you like to hear? Is there any suggestions, etc. Etc. Etc. And thank you for listening and just have the best day. I'll speak to you soon.

Stephen: 22:06

You've been listening to Steven speak the podcast. Thanks for listening to my unscripted prattle on everything and nothing. Visit Steven speak calm for updates, information and my blog. You can follow more updates on social media at Steven speak PC. Thanks very much and I'll speak to you soon.