Bonfire Night

[sigma]

When were fireworks first used to celebrate November 5th and when was November 5th first celebrated.

[dot.hawkes]

1605, a year after the plot was foiled, it was declarled law and compulsory to celebrate the failed assassination until 1859.

[fredpuli47]

And fireworks themselves had been used in displays in England since at least 1486 , when they were used at the marriage of King Henry VII to Elizabeth of York. They had been very popular in Elizabethan times, so they'd have been available and used in 'Guy Fawkes' night' celebrations after the failed conspiracy to kill King James I.

[zebra]

Hopefully still with a lot of fireworks Steve.5 If it had been organised a lot better and Guido hadn't lost the plot.

[VHG]

Of course some people think the whole thing was a government plot to discredit the Roman Catholics.

Gave them an excuse to round up Roman Catholic trouble makers and hang, draw and quarter them, then drag them through the streets of London.

A conspiracy theory !

[VHG]

Anyone interested in the history of the gunpowder plot may like to visit Coughton Court in the Midlands, south of Birmingham. It is National Trust.

http://www.coughtoncourt.co.uk/page.cfm?pageid =133

The house was (and still is) home to the Throckmorten family who were (and are) very staunch Roman Catholics.

When the men went to London to begin the gunpowder plot many of the wives and other supporters waited at Coughton Court for the outcome.

After the failure of the plot many of the men fled back to the Midlands and were persued by government troops and many shoot outs and captures took place in the area.

There is an interesting display in the house about the plot, as well as a small museum at the top of the house with "living" characters who speak and tell you about their involvement in the plot.

There is also a secret "priest hole" were Catholic priests were hidden when people came to search the house looking for evidence of catholic worship.

There is also 2 chuches in the grounds. One WAS RC but was taken over when catholoic worship was banned, but eventually they built a second church that still is a RC church.

Fascinating house.