Saturday, November 05, 2005
Remember, remember the Fifth of November!
In a 2002 BBC poll, Guy Fawkes comes in at Number 30, in a vote of the 100 Greatest Britons (results can be found with commentary at this Wikipedia page). It seems the Guy is less popular than David Bowie, but moreso than aviator and philanthopist the Baron Cheshire.Parliament, the very institution Mr. Fawkes sought to destroy, has a website replete with children's section commemorating the Gunpoweder Plot on the occasion of it's 400th Anniversary.
Tonight, children and adults in that Fair Isle will light bonfires, burn Guy Fawkes in effigy, eat toffee apples, set off fireworks, and in general have a helluva good time.
All this to remember, nay, celebrate a terrorist? That is of course the very thing furthest from the British public's mind on 5 November, and I wish everyone a rollicking celebration. But it makes me wonder: what holidays might there be 400 years from now?
I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot!
