Friday, November 05, 2004

Happy Guy Fawkes Night!

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot;
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes,
'Twas his intent
To blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below,
Poor old England to overthrow.

By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, make the bells ring.
Holloa boys holloa boys, God save the King!

A penny loaf to feed the Pope,
A farthing o' cheese to choke him,
A pint of beer to rinse it down,
A faggot of sticks to burn him!

Burn him in a tub of tar,
Burn him like a blazing star.
Burn his body from his head.
Then we'll say old Pope is dead!
Hip, hip, hoorah!
Hip, hip, hoorah!

Of course, those last verses are seldom sung these days. And considering the Catholic Guy Fawkes may well have been framed by the Protestant, anti-Catholic King, and hadn't, in fact, been planning to blow up Parliament - then it's a good thing these verses are not sung.

Right, as a bad Catholic, I'm off to watch the fireworks and Guy Fawkes burn in the park! Have a good night, everyone.

Related link:
+ Wikipedia's entry for Guy Fawkes

Other links today:
+ Caravaggio comes to London. I'm so giddy with excitement. February 2005 - hurry up!
+ Does the Flores 'Hobbit' really mean 'the end of religion'?

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