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Posts Tagged ‘history’

Bit of a joke poster for the 5th November gunpowder plot. Was it an inside job? Quite possibly, it has been suggested by a few conspiracy theorists that the whole plot was an inside job by the govenrment to convince King James that the Catholics could not be trusted. Seems like a strange stunt but consider the following points:

Robert Cecil, the Earl of Salisbury and James’ right hand man hated Catholics and saw them as real trouble makers. Cecil was worried that King James would go softly on them during his reign and this irked him to say the least. Cecil wanted Catholicism out of England altogether, the steps that King James were taking to expel priests was not enough for him.

It is well known (amongst those who know) that James was very scared of meeting a violent end. Growing up in Scotland his life had been full of dangers; he was even kidnapped as a young boy. Cecil knew this and it’s possible he thought that by getting James to believe they had tried to blow him up would turn him against them for good.

36 barrels of gunpowder is a lot of powder. In those days the government tightly controlled all the gunpowder in Britain, so how did Guy Fawkes and co. get a hold of that much? Did they have a contact inside parliament?

Why would a bunch of Catholics be allowed to rent a house so close to the Houses of parliament or a cellar right underneath it? Seems a bit unlikely in those troubled times.

Why search the parliament cellars on that night, for the first time in British history? What would inspire such a search? Convenient, almost too convenient.

Why did the soldier who shot Robert Catesby and Thomas Percy at the shootout at Holbeach House receive such a large pension (allegedly 10p a day for life) as a reward? Surely these men would have been better taken alive so they could squeal on their co conspirators.

All intriguing and thought provoking arguments, however, just like any good conspiracy there are counter arguments just as powerful. We will attack them in reverse order. Just to be different.

The soldier had bravely fought and risked life and limb for his King and country, of course he was due a good pension. Although 10p a day seems a bit meagre by today’s standards it was a lot back then.

The cellars were most likely searched because of Lord Monteagles letter. “What’s that?” I hear you say. I’m glad you asked.
During the preparation, several of the conspirators had been concerned about fellow Catholics who would be present on the appointed day, and inevitably killed. One conspirator, Francis Tresham – who had been introduced to the plot as he was a wealthy Catholic, and could provide money and weapons – is suspected of writing the anonymous letter of warning to Lord Monteagle, a prominent Catholic and Tresham’s own Brother-in-law. Monteagle received the letter on Friday October 26, at his house in Hoxton:

My lord out of the love I bear to some of youre frends I have a care of your preseruasion therefore I would advise you as you tender your life to devise some excuse to shift of your attendance at this parliament for god and man hath concurred to punish the wickedness of this time and think not slightly of this advertisement but retire youre self into youre control where you may expect the event in saftey for though there be no appearance of any stir yet I say they shall receive a terrible blow this parliament and yet they shall not see who hurts them this councel is not to be condemned because it may do you good and can do you no harm for the danger is passed as soon as you have burnt the letter and I hope god will give you the grace to make good use of it to whose holy protection I commend you.

Monteagle had the note read aloud, possibly in an attempt to warn the plotters the secret was out, and promptly handed it over to Robert Cecil who was the 1st Earl of Salisbury and the Secretary of State. The other conspirators learned of the letter the following day but resolved to go ahead with their plan after Fawkes inspected the undercroft and found that nothing had been touched.

So, it seems from this that it was this letter from the traitor to the plot, Francis Tresham, that in the end tipped off big Cecil and foiled the plan.

The plotters would all have been using fake names and concealed their true identities, indeed we know that Guy Fawkes was under the assumed alias “John Johnson” which is the lazy and quickly thought up fake name a young miscreant might give when inadvertently having his collar felt by the rozzers today.

“My name, erm, John”

“John what!?”

“Erm, John Johnson?”

Furthermore Thomas Percy had contacts in the parliament and these were almost certainly used in obtaining the rented property for their devious scheme.

36 barrels of gunpowder is a lot of powder, but come on, anything can be obtained if you know the right people and have the hard cash. Guy Fawkes knew a lot of military types from his days in the Spanish army so this would have been a very easy obstacle for them.

So if it was a big conspiracy, why did Fawkes not crack under torture and spill the beans? He was famously tough to interrogate (like Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon) in fact the only one who cracked and talked was Thomas Winter and he made no mention of a double conspiracy. They all knew they would be executed one way or the other so why not snitch at this point as there was nothing left to lose.

The other little unanswered question here is Francis Tresham.

He was the man who wrote the letter to Lord Monteagle and also the one man who was not killed or hanged with the others. He was locked in the Tower of London and allegeldly died from taking poison on the 23^rd December 1605. Where did he get the poison from? Did someone want him silenced? Was he poisoned at all or did he abscond in secret out of the country for his part in helping the government?

It is almost certain the big Cecil was at it somehow although exactly how we will never know; in fact all of these questions perhaps will never be answered. One thing that is for sure that the arguments over the conspiracy will rage on and continue to keep us entertained for many years to come.

For more information on the history of the Gunpowder Plot and the events that led up to it visit the Epic Fireworks Learning Centre.

Yes kids, believe it or not young people had to work for their entertainment in the olden days.

Above you can see a group of rosy cheeked youngsters out collecting firewood for their bonfire. In those days the bonfire was just as important as the fireworks and it was a matter of pride to ensure that your street/village/club had a bigger bonfire than your local rivals. It was not uncommon for young wags (wag meaning something different in those days, not the wife or girlfriend of a footballer) to sneak out to light the bonfire of their “enemies” the night before bonfire night, leaving them with a pile of ashes rather than a big pile of wood.

Such acts often met similar retaliation and this could mean that no-one had a bonfire come the big night. Such is the nature of man.

We must only hope that these barrels did not contain anything flammable. Can you imagine a group of kids doing something like this nowadays? No, you can’t, because health and safety would have a fit, saying such things as:

“Climbing on top of a pile of wood, terribly unsafe.”

“Those barrels could slip and fall at any time.”

“This is an outrage.”

and other such mutterings.

However surely these are rights of passage for a young lad and made them appreciate their hard work  when they see the flames licking up from their bonfire heap and think “I made that”. This is something that is sadly lacking in todays culture. The kids would much rather sit and play their new computer game “bonfire builder 4: The finding of the pallet”

Now this is definately not the safest lad in the village.

It was common in the good old days for everyone to get rid of all their old crap during the bonfire season. Anything that could burn would be thrown onto the pile. Busted old sofas, the obligatory smelly urine stained mattress (when not occupying a skip), broken doors, piles of old tyres (as seen in the photograph above) that would billow out thick black toxic smoke for days. Nothing was banned from being thrown on a fire, after all, our fire had to be bigger than theirs. Nowadays of course, you cannot burn a piece of wood if it has a dot of paint on it as this will pollute our clean air.

We are all for clean air laws and would not condone burning anything that did not comply. But it did feel natural to launch practically any household item onto a fire, it was like a Spring cleaning, in Autumn and positively enforceed community participation.

And this is what is missing today; Community participation. The image above shows people dancing gaily (that meant something different in the olden days too) sharing each others company and coming together in a spirit of community. This was back in the days when people knew their neighbours forenames and surnames and spoke to each other more than just the morning nod as everyone jumps into their cars. Times were when a man felt like he belonged to street or town or village and did not just live there.

The bonfire was an integral part of this belonging, and like bonfire festivals and events that still go on around the world is a vital part of bringing people together. After all, many people still call it Bonfire Night.

What do you call the 5th of November?

a)Bonfire Night

b)Guy Fawkes Night

c)Fireworks Night

Leave us a comment and let us know.

The Catherine wheel is a type of firework which is generally made of a spiralling tube filled with pyrotechnic composition, or an angled rocket mounted with a pin through its centre. When ignited, it rotates quickly, producing a display of sparks and coloured flame and looks great at the bottom of the garden.

So, now we know what a Catherine Wheel is, where did it get its unusual name from?

It’s a lot more gruesome than you may think, the family favourite firework is named after the instrument of torture, the breaking wheel, on which, legend has it St. Catherine was martyred. Although some legends say that as soon as she touched the wheel it broke (that must have put the willies up the pagans – not a euphemism)

The Catherine Wheel was a product of the Middle Ages, especially popular in Germany (no comments on this please, remember we’re all friends now, one Europe and all that). The victim’s limbs were brutally smashed with large blunt objects. His (or her) still-living remains were subjected to… the wheel. This meant the mangled arms and legs were threaded through the spokes. The wheel was then hoisted into the air using a long pole. Hungry vultures and crows picked at the body. Death came slowly, (like watching an Al Murray – Pub Landlord comedy routine).

A seventeenth-century chronicler wrote the victim looked like, “A sort of huge screaming puppet writhing in rivulets of blood, a puppet with four tentacles, like a sea monster, of raw, slimy and shapeless flesh mixed up with splinters of smashed bones.” Sleep soundly kids.

This was one of the most popular spectacles of the time. This, and similar methods of torture, took place in the squares of Europe from 1450-1750. The masses, both common people and nobles, watched in twisted fascination, cheering at a good wheeling (what made it good is unclear but we guess the messier the better). A woman (or a number of women in a row) brought even greater enthusiasm, similar to women in pro-wrestling nowadays, although for quite different reasons we assume.

The wheel was named after Saint Catherine of Alexandria from the early 4th century. She was believed to have been killed in this fashion during the rule of the Roman Emperor Maximinus (presumably Maximinus was upset about people commenting that his name was somewhat similar to that of a sanitary towel – citation needed).

Catherine was born and raised a pagan, but miraculously converted to Christianity in her late teens (typical rebellious teenager). It is said that she visited her contemporary, the Roman Emperor Maximinus, and attempted to convince him of the error of his ways in persecuting Christians. She succeeded in converting his wife, the Empress, and many pagan philosophers whom the Emperor sent to dispute with her, all of whom were subsequently martyred. Upon the failure of the Emperor to win Catherine over, he ordered her to be put in prison; and when the people who visited her converted this must have really annoyed big Maximinus because she was condemned to death on the breaking wheel (the name at that time for the Catherine Wheel). According to legend, the wheel itself broke when she touched it, so she was beheaded.

You can just imagine the scene…

Sound effects: Splintering wood and crashing

Catherine: “Whoops, clumsy me, sorry bout that lads.”

First torturer: “oh, look, oh no, she has the power of God, her hand has broken the wheel, cower in fear, cower and plead for your life!”

Second torturer: “No probs, I’ll just lob ‘er ‘ead off.”

Sound effects: Swish, Splat, Thud, General Medieval style cheering.

(Dramatisation, may not have happened)

Catherine was remembered thereafter as a symbol of martyrdom, purity and knackering up the wheel she was named after. The Breaking Wheel, now known as a Catherine Wheel continued to be used for executions and all round nastiness for centuries to come and was still used right up till the 1700’s. When, thankfully, far more nasty ways of messing people up were evolved, which we will not go into here.

Please remember this is supposed to be taken lightly and in good humour, noone was tortured during the writing of this article so please don’t write in. For all your Catherine Wheel needs, visit www.epicfireworks.com for the largest range of fireworks in the UK.

One John O’Brien (22) was charged the next day in the police court with “using threatening behaviour in the Auckland Domain with intent, to cause a breach of the peace, and also with resisting Constable Macartney in the execution of his duty.” Leonard De Courcy (18) was charged with “inciting persons to assault Constable Macartney”. The constable testified that several stones were thrown, striking him and others tasked with watching the fence around the display area. He saw O’Brien “leaning over the fence brandishing a piece of wood, and trying to strike one of the men inside.” O’Brien apparently legged it on being spotted by the constable, but during the chase threw several of the reported stones, joined in that sport by his companions as O’Brien struggled to avoid capture and arrest. “Stone the police!” came the shouts. O’Brien was offered a choice of £5 fine or a month’s hard labour – he chose the latter. (Auckland Star, 28 November 1903)

The Crystal Palace Fireworks Company went on to stage two more shows that year, and both appeared to be as successful but not so criminally dramatic as the previous ones. Despite the rocky start, Auckland’s love affair with public (free) firework displays at the Domain had begun.

Early Modern warfare is associated with the start of the widespread use of gunpowder and the development of suitable weapons to use the explosive. Gunpowder was first invented in China and then later spread to the Middle East. It then found its way into Eastern Europe following the invasions of the Mongols, who had employed Chinese gunpowder-based weapons to conquer parts of Europe and the Middle East.

Later it arrived into Central and Western Europe following the Crusades, when European forces discovered the substance from the Islamic forces they faced. Prior to the 15th century, gunpowder was used on a limited basis, but its use became the universal in the Early Modern Age, its apex occurring during the Napoleonic Wars from 1792 to 1815. It was brought to the Indian subcontinent by the Middle East as well during the early modern era.

Gunpowder and flame projector tubes were first invented and used in military combat in China before the technology was transmitted elsewhere, with advanced technological innovation during the Chinese Song Dynasty (AD 960–1279). The cannon later arrived in the Muslim world in the 13th century, where the explosive hand cannon was invented. These then reached the Iberian Peninsula, with gunpowder described in Europe by Roger Bacon in 1216 and 1248; however, for a long time European gunpowder weapons were unpredictable, unwieldy and difficult to deploy. As a result, they were mainly used for attacking castles and other defences, a task that was equally well suited to undermining or non-explosive weapons.