For the average American, October ends with Halloween and the focus of November shifts to the Thanksgiving holiday. But, not so in England. A very obscure festival (to the American viewer at least) takes place on the fifth of November.
First, I am going to explain this festival in the terms of Sherlock (most of you know I am a huge Sherlock fan, and I particularly like the BBC version with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman). In the first episode of the third season, John Watson is captured by the antagonist Charles Magnussen. He tries to fight back as he is grabbed from the street, but they inject him with a tranquilizer. In his drugged state, he wakes to find dead tree limbs on top of him. The scene shifts to the outside of the woodpile with people laughing and waving sparklers around. A small girl stands in the front, gazing up at the scarecrow-like figure on top. She is the only one who hears John's cries for help as the torch is thrown, and the woodpile quickly goes up in flames. Now, don't worry... Sherlock and Mary, John's fiance, come to the rescue just in time and pull John out of the fire.
So, why do I include this scene? I, like so many other Americans I am sure, was very confused to why people were having a grand-ole time around a bonfire...with the figure of a guy on top...in the cold...in the middle of London. I mean that is quite morbid. But, it is a British tradition that I experienced this past weekend.
Now, who was this guy anyway (no pun intended)? Guy Fawkes was a member of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. He was captured while placing explosives underneath the House of Lords, attempting to blow up the king and Parliament. In order to celebrate the survival of their king and government, the British people lit bonfires all around London. A few months later, it was enforced as a national holiday.
Even though it was not the 5th, Wolfson College hosted the festival this past Saturday. Hundreds of people filled the lawn that stands before the lake. Gelato, toffee apples, and mulled wine could be purchased from the college. People, especially children, waved sparklers around as we waited for the firework show to begin. And, a grand show it was with blues, reds, greens, and golds reflected in the lake below. And afterward, everyone just stood around the bonfire, watching the flames grow higher in the cold night. However, I didn't see the figure of Guy Fawkes in the flames, so it may have been on the other side. I enjoyed myself at the festival though, but I still find the tradition rather obscure.
British thing I learned:
The constellation The Big Dipper, here called The Plough, is much larger in England compared to Texas.
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