Login
Forgot Password?

OR

Login with Google Login with Twitter Login with Facebook
  • Join
  • Profiles
  • Groups
  • SuicideGirls
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Shop
Vital Stats

haunterofthedark

United Kingdom

Member Since 2004

Followers 33 Following 44

  • Everything
  • Photos
  • Video
  • Blogs
  • Groups
  • From Others

Saturday Nov 06, 2004

Nov 5, 2004
0
  • Facebook
  • Tweet
  • Email
(`. Burn Me A fire In The Reptile House .`)

[I intended to upload this entry yesterday, but events overtook me and I didnt *sticks tongue out* tongue ]

Across Britain on the night of November 5th, bonfires are lit, effigies are burned, and fireworks are launched all in commemoration of the capture, torture and execution of the country's most notorious traitor, Guy Fawkes. How civilised!

After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English Catholics who had had a rough time under her reign had hoped that her successor, James I, would be more tolerant of their religion. They were wrong. This prompted a number of angry young men of the time to decide that something drastic most be done!

One, Robert Catesby suggested that 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. And you thought terrorism was something new....

They promply got hold of thirty-six barrels of gunpowder and hid them in a cellar under the House of Lords.

But a crisis of conscience struck some of the conspirators: some innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack. Having second thoughts, one of the group sent an anonymous letter warning his friend, Lord Monteagle, to stay away from the Parliament on November 5th!

Of course, the warning letter then made its way to the King....

It was Guy Fawkes who was in the cellar of the parliament with the thirty-six barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5th. Caught, tortured, forced to rat on his fellow conspirators. They, Fawkes included. were then executed in the rather savage manner set aside for trators of the day: they were hung, drawn by horses through the streets of London, and then cut into quarters. Their heads were set upon poles as a warning to others.

Even for the period which was notoriously unstable, what became known as the Gunpowder Plot did leave a resounding impression on the people of England. Ever since this failed coup, the reigning monarch of Great Britain 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. This tradition is still observed to this day.

Penny-for-the-Guy anyone?

BTW.

The Reptile House is a building common in zoos where, obviously, the Reptiles are housed. It is the supposition of some that it was also used as a metaphor for the Houses of Parliament in The Sisters of Mercys early track Burn. Not that Andrew Eldrichs lyrics were ever particularly political you understand *whistles, walking away* shocked


~~~~ How to Navigate My Journal ~~~~

More Blogs

  • 12.12.04
    0

    Sunday Dec 12, 2004

    Read More
  • 12.10.04
    1

    Friday Dec 10, 2004

    Read More
  • 12.10.04
    3

    Friday Dec 10, 2004

    Read More
  • 12.09.04
    1

    Friday Dec 10, 2004

    (`o. Dimebag Shot Dead .o) As a good friends MSN Display Name read…
  • 12.09.04
    1

    Thursday Dec 09, 2004

    (`o. 28,000 Truffle Rots in Fridge .o) The world's most expensive …
  • 12.08.04
    0

    Wednesday Dec 08, 2004

    "A rumor without a leg to stand on will get around some other way." …
  • 12.07.04
    1

    Tuesday Dec 07, 2004

    (`o. To Boldly Go .o) Browsing the Star Trek group on SG, I partoo…
  • 12.07.04
    1

    Tuesday Dec 07, 2004

    (`o. Digital Dystopia .o) Security officials to spy on chat rooms …
  • 12.06.04
    2

    Tuesday Dec 07, 2004

    Read More
  • 12.06.04
    0

    Monday Dec 06, 2004

    Read More

We at SuicideGirls have been celebrating alternative pin-up girls for:

23
years
9
months
9
days
  • 5,509,826 fans
  • 41,393 fans
  • 10,327,617 followers
  • 4,593 SuicideGirls
  • 1,120,514 followers
  • 14,920,612 photos
  • 321,315 followers
  • 61,392,861 comments
  • Join
  • Profiles
  • Groups
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Shop
  • Help
  • About
  • Press
  • LIVE

Legal/Tos | DMCA | Privacy Policy | 18 U.S.C. 2257 Record-Keeping Requirements Compliance Statement | Contact Us | Vendo Payment Support
©SuicideGirls 2001-2025

Press enter to search
Fast Hi-res

Click here to join & see it all...

Crop your photo