This coming saturday is Bonfire night, or Guy Fawkes night. As usual there is a huge (free) fireworks display on Glasow Green, which I suspect I’ll be going along to (Frances is much keener than I am to watch them).
As I currently work with a number of expatriate Indians here in Glasgow, there have been a number of people enquiring about the nature of Bonfire night of myself and colleagues. In our discussions, I learnt that today is Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights (consequently, it’s a holiday in India today), and fireworks are enthusiastically being set off today for this reason too.
Anyway, to the subject of Bonfire night. It’s the burning of an effigy of Guy Fawkes, who was found guilty of attempting to blow up parliament in the 17th century. Fireworks make for a bigger and better experience than merely setting light to a big fire, so they’ve been a key part of it for some time. Despite my enjoyment of the event, I’m still a bit puzzled by the popularity of this historical re-enactment of the burning of a Catholic who was, it’s thought, fighting for equal rights with the dominant Protestants of the time. Especially here in Glasgow, where Orange parades happen and the sectarian divide is more notable than other parts of mainland Britain. Most likely that the detail of the event has been forgotten by most, and everybody just enjoys getting around a fire and setting off a few fireworks as the nights draw in now that the clocks have gone back.
So with bonfire night falling on a Saturday, it should be much easier to get along to somewhere to watch the fireworks. Last year, I managed to fulfil a minor ambition I’ve had for a few years, which was to be flying over the country on the 5th November. I flew back from Heathrow to Glasgow, and I can confirm it was quite spectacular to look down at various points and see the darkness lit up by the colourful fireworks, especially during takeoff. During landing it was a little more disconcerting, as it feels that there are houses closer to Glasgow airport, and it seemed a number were exploding close to the plane! Anyway, that minor scare aside, it was great fun, and I am looking forward to the big display on Saturday.
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November 3rd, 2005 at 10:26 am
It is pretty strange for a lot of people to celebrate the burning of Guy Fawkes. I think most people (at least in Scotland) don’t pay much attention to the history of it – it’s just an excuse for a firework display, and is even usually called “fireworks night” rather than “Guy Fawkes night”.
Coming from Glasgow myself, I knew that Guy Fawkes was going to blow up Parliament but I didn’t know the story had anything to do with Catholics and Protestants. I only found this out recently when I was speaking to a girl from Brighton who was gleefully telling me about just how badly Guy Fawkes was “messed up” mentally after they tortured him and before they had him hanged, drawn and quartered. I could hardly take in what this girl was telling me about how in some parts around Brighton they have processions on Guy Fawkes night where the people burn effigies not only of Guy Fawkes but of the Pope. I find it incredible that they can even allow that kind of thing.
November 9th, 2005 at 7:54 pm
[...] As mentioned last week, we went along to see the fireworks . We didn’t go along to the green itself, as we thought it was going to rain (it didn’t in the end). Rather, we popped along to Frances’ uncle’s flat that overlooks much of Glasgow, and took in the show from the entire city, rather than just one spot. [...]