Last night was a night of celebration in the UK, with bonfires and fireworks to be seen in many places to remember the gunpowder plot.
One of the most notorious people of his time, Guy Fawkes was born in York in 1570, and baptised at St Michael le Belfrey church.
His father died when he was 8 years old, and his mother married again to a Catholic. Fawkes converted to Catholicism and left for mainland Europe, where he fought for Catholic Spain in the Eighty Years' War against Protestant Dutch reformers in the Low Countries.
He later became a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 which aimed to kill King James I
The plotters leased an undercroft beneath the House of Lords; Fawkes was placed in charge of the gunpowder that they stockpiled there. The authorities were prompted by an anonymous letter to search Westminster Palace during the early hours of 5 November, and they found Fawkes guarding the explosives. He was questioned and tortured over the next few days and confessed to wanting to blow up the House of Lords. He was executed on 31st January 1606, following a trial that began on 27th January.
I like the way this sculpture has been placed in an old building which looks like an undercroft. I also note the presence of gunpowder around him as well.
From that time, each November 5th has been a celebration of the King's escape from assassination, by lighting bonfires. By the 1650s fireworks became part of the celebration, and it became the custom after 1673 to burn an effigy known as a "guy" on the bonfire.
Remarkably, the celebration still persists in the UK over 400 years later, though I wonder how many people know the true story of its origins.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
It has been great fun tracking down the ghosts. Still two that we haven't seen this year, but I'm running out of time to find them since the display ends on Sunday. I'm not too bothered, since they are both sculptures used last year and I have their photos from then.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
It has been great fun tracking down the ghosts. Still two that we haven't seen this year, but I'm running out of time to find them since the display ends on Sunday. I'm not too bothered, since they are both sculptures used last year and I have their photos from then.
Ian
Thank you both. These ghosts have been great fun to search for.
Ian