Not Too Late to Remember November

Fireworks and nightly displays of bonfires have many occasions: in Norway we have New Year’s Eve as the big explosive night, and St. Hans for bonfire fun in the middle of summer. Ireland celebrates Bealtaine in May with fire and, while there is nary a rocket on New Year’s Eve, there are official displays on Halloween. In Scotland it seems they do like their big bangs, as will be experienced during Hogmanay, Edinburgh’s much renowned New Year festivities, but one also gets a good taste of the displays during Bonfire Night, or Guy Fawkes Night, or the fifth of November as it is known in the poem:

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder TreasonShould ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up the King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;

By God's providence he was catch'dWith a dark

lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
And what should we do with him? Burn him!

For film buffs, V for Vendetta is also tightly connected to the story of Guy Fawkes, who conspired to blow up the Houses of Parliament. The Gunpowder Plot failed as Guy (or Guido, as was his real name) was grassed to the officials, and caught with ‘match in hand’ on the 5th of November 1605, near 36 barrels of gunpowder meant to destroy the State buildings and the royal family. The bonfire celebrations around the old Commonwealth mark the deliverance of the King and the failure of the plot to destroy the parliament, and traditionally an effigy of Guy is burned on the fires. The Gunpowder plot was led by Robert Catesby, a prominent English Roman Catholic, and with the experienced soldier Guy Fawkes in charge of the explosives, a group of Catholic rebels had planned this as a revenge against King James, who had promised to treat the Catholic community better than his predecessors Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I, under whom Catholicism had been penalised and marginalised.

After failing to keep his promise of greater religious tolerance to the Catholic community, the group led by Catesby decided to strike, but with the discovery of the plot, strict anti-Catholic legislation was imposed and Guy Fawkes and seven of his fellow plotters were sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.

Events like these mark the fact that I have clearly moved country, and that with this comes different traditions, altered celebrations and new events to commemorate and remember. Although a lot is similar, being in the UK rather than in Ireland means for instance that history is scattered with kings and queens who shape history, and that royalty all of a sudden plays a significant part in so many new ways. But for those of us with no belief in the current power of royalty, events like Bonfire Night at least offer a great night out with fantastic views and beautiful displays of fireworks. Like us, many people found their way up to Calton Hill, which offers good views of many of the public firework displays, without the harrowing climb up Arthur’s Seat in the dark.

Looking across the Forth of Firth to Fife, taking in Leith and Granton, turning around to catch glimpses of Duddingston and maybe some of the fireworks in the Meadows, I realise that there is so much to get to know in Edinburgh, but that the vantage points of higher spots like Calton Hill and Arthur’s Seat give you a chance to take it all in before you set out to delve deeper into it. While standing on this neo-classical hill, with Greek and Roman architecture to mark Scotlands role in the Enlightenment, on a cold November night, looking over a city where the black spires and towers of gothic and neo-classical buildings are carved out against a red sky, where monuments and mountains dominate the skyline, and where you can feel the city plummet from the precipices, with buildings shooting up like rockets and the ridges of the hills in and around it shape the landscape and winding roads, you tend to forget the people who have forged history, royal or not, and for a while you can see only the city of Edinburgh, majestic in her own way, and celebrated with fireworks, darkness and light.