In Britain, Armistice Day is proceeded by a 'poppy appeal.' I confess, I was confused by people wearing paper poppies (that look like a first-grader made them in art class) on their lapels. But the matter was quickly cleared up and I learned that the poppies serve as a reminder of the fallen soldiers. Apparently, when people returned to the battle fields where so many men died, they were covered in poppy flowers. This red flower has ever since been associated with the blood shed and the lives lost in WWI. So, each year the veteran association makes these paper poppies for the public to buy and wear as part of their remembrance, and the monies raised go towards care for veterans. I bought one for a pound, and wore it on Saturday. Above is a picture of a large poppy on the front of a building in the center of Bristol. And I don't know if you can tell, but I'm wearing a poppy in the picture below- standing in front of a pub with a great name! :)
A small group took shape, under the leadership of Robert Catesby. Catesby felt that violent action was warranted. Indeed, the thing to do was to blow up the Houses of Parliament. In doing so, they would kill the King, maybe even the Prince of Wales, and the Members of Parliament who were making life difficult for the Catholics. Today these conspirators would be known as extremists, or terrorists.
To carry out their plan, the conspirators got hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder - and stored them in a cellar, just under the House of Lords.
But as the group worked on the plot, it became clear that innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack, including some people who even fought for more rights for Catholics. Some of the plotters started having second thoughts. One of the group members even sent an anonymous letter warning his friend, Lord Monteagle, to stay away from the Parliament on November 5th. Was the letter real?
The warning letter reached the King, and the King's forces made plans to stop the conspirators.
Guy Fawkes, who was in the cellar of the parliament with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5th, was caught, tortured and executed.
It's unclear if the conspirators would ever have been able to pull off their plan to blow up the Parliament even if they had not been betrayed. Some have suggested that the gunpowder itself was so old as to be useless. Since Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators got caught before trying to ignite the powder, we'll never know for certain.Even for the period which was notoriously unstable, the Gunpowder Plot struck a very profound chord for the people of England. In fact, even today, the reigning monarch only enters the Parliament once a year, on what is called "the State Opening of Parliament". Prior to the Opening, and according to custom, the Yeomen of the Guard search the cellars of the Palace of Westminster. Nowadays, the Queen and Parliament still observe this tradition.
On the very night that the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, on November 5th, 1605, bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the King. Since then, November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night. The event is commemorated every year with fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire.
Some of the English have been known to wonder, in a tongue in cheek kind of way, whether they are celebrating Fawkes' execution or honoring his attempt to do away with the government.
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Thought I'd go back in time and catch you up on our move into the Bristol apartment. Our container arrived the end of August and the goods were delivered Sept 2. Ian was working so my in-laws came and spent the day helping out (thanks Mum and Dad!). Things were off to a promising start when the lorry (truck) driver arrived on time with the container. However, they had put a 20' container on a 40' truck bed, which meant the driver couldn't navigate the narrow roads to actually deliver directly to our building. So, the unpacking crew had to shuttle our boxes from the container (parked down the street) to the building using their small van. It took three trips in all, and amounted to much more lifting and carrying for them. But they did a great job and I was pleased. They unpacked everything except a dozen or so boxes of books/kitchen goods/knick-knacks and fragile stuff - as there was no place to put those items until I had put away the rest of the stuff. I spent the rest of the week unpacking the remainder. Here are some pictures of the day (well, at least of all the boxes) - enjoy!
