For their sake, wear a poppy and please give generously
It is Remembrance Day, and once more after a week of explaining to coworkers why I am wearing a poppy I will be taking time to pause for two minutes in the November sunshine to think of those serving overseas, and those who never came home.
I will think of my great-grandfather’ service in the Royal Lancers and the Warwickshire Yeomanry, and of my grandfather’s quiet words about friends of his that didn’t come home. I will think of my grandmother telling of watching Coventry burn, and of my brother recounting his experiences from Iraq and Afghanistan. I will think of my friends currently serving overseas, and of their friends, some of whom never made it home. I will think of all of those who put their lives in peril so that we may live as we do today.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot…
A beautiful, bright and sunny day dawns in Virginia for what I’ll refer to as Bonfire Night, November 5th, 2009. If you’ve never heard the above poem before (or only seen it in the context of the movie V for Vendetta) then you’ve probably no idea why much of Britain celebrates tonight with fireworks and bonfires, and the burning in effigy of a certain Guy Fawkes…
A contemporary engraving of the conspirators, by Crispijn van de Passe the Elder
In 1605 a Catholic plot to overthrow the British monarchy was prevented when on November 5th, Guy Fawkes was trapped in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament with several barrels of gunpowder. His intention had been to blow up the building, killing the Government and King James I. He was tried, found guilty of treason, and sentenced to death. He was to be hung, drawn, and quartered but cheated the executioner by jumping from the gallows and breaking his neck, ensuring a far speedier death than that handed down to him by the Judge.
In 1606, a tradition was started whereby the King and Parliament would commission a sermon to commemorate the event. Over the years, the sermon, and the above rhyme have ensured that the traitorous event, and what happens to traitors, has not dimmed from the collective British memory.
If you want to read more about why the persecuted Catholics of Protestant Britain decided to take such extreme steps I suggest the brilliant book The Gunpowder Plot: Terror and Faith in 1605 by Antonia Fraser. If you prefer the information in a condensed format, you can also read about The Gunpowder Plot on Wikipedia.
Three years ago now I wrote an article about the history of Halloween, you can read it here.
The Telegraph today had an editorial entitled “Why has Hallowe’en eclipsed Bonfire Night“, with the author blaming the “American holiday” for the change. He was surprised his views weren’t supported by the British folklorist, Doc Rowe, who said:
First there was Samhain, the Celtic marking of the onset of winter, which was associated with the lighting of fires in honour of the dead, and gave rise to a cluster of customs collectively called Hallowtide. The medieval church denounced these as diabolic and supplied its own sanctified versions in the form of All Saints Day (November 1) and All Soul’s Day (November 2).
”But,” says Doc Rowe, ”by tarring Hallowe’en with an occult brush, the church made it an occult event.” The church’s disapproval fostered the growth of those parts of Hallowe’en associated with japes and misrule, a remnant of which is Mischief Night, which occurs in pockets of the North of England on November 4.
These customs of ”world-turned-upside-down” leaked back into the Christianised Hallowe’en, especially in the form of Soul Caking, practised on All Soul’s Day. Poor Christians would offer to say prayers for rich ones in return for food – and you can see how there might have been trouble if the rich didn’t play along. Soul Caking is, for Doc Rowe, a sort of pre-Disneyfied trick or treat, and it was taken to America by Scottish and Irish emigrants in the mid-19th century.
So the origins of Halloween are Celtic tradition, and Trick or Treat comes from a Christian custom exported to America. Now all I need to work out is why American costumes tend to be either Hollywood Horror (gory but not scary) or Celebrities (daft but not scary). Maybe I should start a campaign to keep Halloween scary!
Every once in a while I find myself helplessly adding a short pause and the phrase “Excellent birds!” after the word birds, when it happens to occur in conversation. Now just to prove I’m not justslowly going insane, this trait comes from a song performed by Peter Gabriel and Laurie Anderson. Not only did they both perform it but they both included it in separate albums, weird but true.
so just to prove I’m not making this up, here you go…
What is strange is that I don’t recall listening to this song a great deal, so am not entirely sure how I know the words so well. Laurie Anderson’s voice is fascinating though and I only discovered tonight that hers was my favourite voice in the BBC Children In Need rendition of “Perfect Day“. Trust me, you’ll spot her straight away.
