Bonfire Night in Oxford

Tonight was bonfire night in Oxford.  Each year South Park hosts the city's biggest bonfire preceded by fireworks and a small fair.  Thousands of people gather to watch the spectacle.  It is all in honor Guy Fox and his foiled plot to blow up the Parliament in London in 1605.  

 Trees silhouetted by the fireworks

 An enormous pile of pallets ignited by fireworks 

 The sparks catch and the fire begins

Remember, remember the fifth of NovemberGunpowder, treason and plot.I see no reason, why gunpowder treasonShould ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, guy, t'was his intentTo blow up king and parliament.Three score barrels were laid belowTo prove old England's overthrow.By God's mercy he was catch'dWith a darkened lantern and burning match.

So, holler boys, holler boys, Let the bells ring.Holler boys, holler boys, God save the king.And what shall we do with him?Burn him!

Gunpowder, Treason, and Fireworks

Remember remember the fifth of November 

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason why gunpowder, treason

Should ever be forgot...

It’s Bonfire Night!

We moved to Oxford a year ago this week.  As we were settling into our first night in our then empty house, the sky around our home lit up with spectacular fireworks.  We thought to ourselves, what a lovely welcome from our neighbors!

We didn’t realize that we moved in on Bonfire night, or Guy Fawkes Day, a holiday that celebrates of the enduring enmity toward Guy Fawkes, a conspirator in a plot to blow up Parliament in 1605. 400 years later, after Fawkes was caught, tortured and executed for his role in a scheme that never came to fruition, Britons still celebrate his demise each Nov. 5 by burning his likeness in effigy and setting fireworks ablaze.

This weekend towns and villages all across England lit the skies with fireworks and enormous bonfires. Though the animosity and rituals are merely symbolic at this point, the celebrations and community spirit still burn brightly.