Remember, remember the 5th of November…

This has so many meanings today, but has its origins in England 1605. This was the day Guy Fawkes was caught with a ton of gunpowder and recognized as the man behind the plot to blow up Parliament (even though it was masterminded by Robert Catesby.) Apparently, the goal was to restore Catholic rule to the throne.  According to an English article I read, in 1606, the government named November 5th a day of thanksgiving – not the American version of Thanksgiving to which we all look forward each year – that colonist holiday was still nearly 15 years – and an ocean – away from it’s first celebration in 1621.

The movie, V for Vendetta was released in 2005 – probably not mistakenly on the 400th year anniversary of Guy Fawkes Day – which depicts a mid-1990s graphic novel outlining a futuristic view of fascist rule in England and one man’s revolution against that government.

What does this day mean to you? Maybe nothing. This year, maybe it is just the first Wednesday in November. Maybe it’s the day after your votes for elected officials made it through the election and into office. Maybe it means an awful lot more today than it has meant in the past.

Time changes what things mean and here is just a snippet of the poem written in the late 1800s.

Remember, remember!
The fifth of November,
The Gunpowder treason and plot;
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!

~ Dawn aka Hat Girl