Today is Guy Fawkes Day (or Night) in merry old England, a holiday that is unapologetically nationalist, monarchist (in the best English tradition of that form of government) and Protestant Christian. There’s something fun and refreshingly patriotic about a holiday dedicated to burning a treacherous Papist in effigy. Not to make everything about America, but it smacks of the Fourth of July, albeit without the anti-monarchist undertones.
Most Americans will be familiar with Guy Fawkes Day and the iconic mask from the film V for Vendetta (2005), in which the meaning of Guy Fawkes focuses on the man’s role as a would-be freedom fighter for English Catholics against an oppressive Protestant regime. In the context of the film, the titular V dons the mask in the context of a freedom fighter against a fascistic, quasi-religious British government.
The holiday has been stripped of much of its anti-Catholic sentiment (probably for the better) and patriotic overtones (probably for the worse), and apparently it’s mostly called “Bonfire Night” or “Fireworks Night.” Those appellations may appeal to twenty-first-century sensibilities, but they beg the essential question: why are the English lighting bonfires and shooting off fireworks? I suppose we could do those things “just because” (believe me, I love a good bonfire in late autumn), but it feels like the root of the celebration is lost. It also seems that the holiday could be celebratory for preventing the regicide of King James I (the guy behind the King James Version of the Bible) while downplaying the anti-Catholic sentiment that followed the failed 1605 plot.
But I digress. I decided to commemorate the holiday this year with a melodramatic recitation of the first five lines of the famous poem about the failed plot:
Happy Guy Fawkes Day—or Night!
—TPP
The Portly Politico 
The Guy Fawkes plot occurred some 250+ years (give or take a few years) before America started setting bonfires of their own and shooting off fireworks for July 4th celebrations. As always, the best ideas come from here. 😉
I don’t believe the English have lost sight of the origins. I think more people might be more clued in if, say, Penny for the Guy still happened – that was a tradition we used to have where kids threw together a rag tag scarecrow guy and asked for a penny from the people. Don’t ask me what the significance was because I can’t remember. Suffice it to say, it was ditched because it was seen as a form of begging which was a shame; children love doing that sort of thing. Dress up, not begging. 😂
There are places across the country which burn effigies but none of them Guy Fawkes. It’s usually someone news worthy at the time. Lewes makes a huge deal of it. Some traditional, some not. Tens of thousands of people go there every year to see their Bonfire Night celebrations. My money’s on Rachel Reeves tasting the flames this evening. She’s not popular with the left and right.
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I have salivating waiting for your insights as an Englishman. You did not disappoint! I would love to see what the folks over at TCW and/or FSB have to say about this Yank’s (I’m not a Yankee, though; I’m a Southernern!) uninformed commentary on their holiday.
Thank you for patriotic fireworks displays, my friend! And for constitutionalism, representative government, and all the rest.
The Penny for the Guy tradition sounds very much like trick-or-treating; I am all for it! Kids love that kind of thing, you are right, and it’s not begging!
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You should post this over at FSB and ask for their insights. They’re a loquacious bunch so you won’t be shy of replies. 😉
If you’re interested in talking about it at TCW, that’s all you’ll be able to do – I’m not sure if they’ve re-allowed links.
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I’ll give it a shot!
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