Cherrypie - // @pastafreak, no I'm not but he is still implying throwing the guy in a fire //
It's not a guy, it's a 'Guy'.
There was a long tradition, now dying out, of burning an effigy - a doll - of Guy Fawkes, which dates back to 1605.when Fawkes and fellow rebels plotted to blow up the Houses Of Parliament, with all the MP's and the King inside.
The plot was discovered - they hid loads of barrels of gunpowder in the cellars under the Parliament building. Everyone was saved, and the conspirators were executed.
In celebration, the largely Protestant people built a bonfire every year and burned an effigy of the Catholic Fawkes as a 'thank you' for the king and parliament being spared.
This practice really only died out about ten years ago in this country - kids would make a Guy and stand on a street corner with it, chanting 'Penny For The Guy ... ' to passersby who would give them money which they would spend on fireworks for their Bonfire Night - November 5, when the Guy would be burned and the fireworks set off.
We still do the Bonfire Night, but without the Guy anymore.