Remember, Remember the 5th of November

Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

Right. So, on the 5th of November in 1605, Guy Fawkes was caught in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament with several dozen barrels of gunpowder. The king frowned upon this, quite obviously, and Fawkes and his fellow plotters were hung, drawn and quartered. Not in that order, of course. You were drawn and quartered first, to make sure it was a most painful sensation before having the breath squeezed out of you by the noose. Did you know the English midlands was at the heart of this plot? In fact, the plotters themselves were caught in the next village over, in fair Dunchurch. Or so I was told by a strikingly convincing primary school teacher last night.

The nursery rhyme, of course, was invented to remind future generations that treason carried with it the most heinous of punishments. And even today, at least in my village, the local children make effigies of old Guy out of old clothes filled with newspapers and the like, to be burned to the general conviviality and camaradarie of the village folk on Bonfire Night, the 5th of November.

It was the Green Man Pub in my village that was responsible for the biggest fireworks display in the county. Whether that is actually true or not remains to be seen, however, the biggest damn bonfire this side of an American High School Homecoming night was certainly in effect. There was beer and hotdogs for all, though my dear neighbor Zoe insisted the queue was much too long for hotdogs and if truth be told, that sausage kind of weirded her out (fair enough) and that the Scampi and Chips at the Harvester (not the chain) were soooo worth the wait. Doesn't she look convincing with that beer at hand?

She was right, of course, about the Scampi, and surely the sausage as well. Oddly enough, British Scampi isn't anything like the North American version of Scampi, but is instead some sort of fish by-product mashed and muddled and then most likely artificially flavored to taste like fish and then rolled liberally and gluttonously in bread crumbs and then deliciously deep fat fried. Yum. Totally worth the wait, especially after all that beer on an empty stomach. Whoa! Did I mention how big the bonfire was?
Then came the fireworks. I am decidedly crap at photographing the fireworks. Luckily, the Green Man display lasted a full 35 minutes and I had plenty of opportunity to practice. Unfortunately, the beer on an empty stomach got the best of me and this, I'm afraid, was the best I could do.Long Live Long Itchington!! And God save the Queen. Or something.