Welcome to the Carnival of Family Life –Bonfire edition

“Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason why Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot.”

In the UK tonight there will be bonfires, sparklers, guys and hot soup. However most of the celebrations were early this year; conveniently over the weekend.

Since I’m missing out this year on Guy Fawkes Night due to location :)Let the Carnival take you there…virtually.

I enjoyed reading all 55 posts this week and what a smooth transfer from Kailani who did such a brilliant job of starting and promoting this carnival over to your new host, Janie at Colloquium.


When you visit a post, leave a comment if you enjoyed it. We have quite a few new bloggers this week- and we all love comments. Helps us know we’re not alone. If you prefer, try using your social networking sites like Stumble upon, delicious, Twitter,Digg or Sk*irt to spread the word about these wonderful posts. You are a talented lot!.

……..Grab your passports and fly!

History
In 1605, a man named Guy Fawkes tried to blow up a government building, “The Houses of Parliament”. He was hoping to kill King James I and all the King’s leaders. Guy Fawkes was one of a group of men, who felt that the government was treating Roman Catholics unfairly.

Gunpowder
On the 5th of November, the king and his leaders were about to meet. So, Guy Fawkes men placed barrels of gunpowder in one of the cellars beneath the building where the king was having his meeting. Guy Fawkes was to light the fuse that would set off the explosion. But the plot was discovered before he had a chance to do this. The king was saved, and Guy Fawkes was hanged.


Bonfires

The tradition of Guy Fawkes-related bonfires actually began the very same year as the failed coup. The Plot was foiled in the night between the 4th and 5th of November 1605. Already on the 5th, agitated Londoners who knew little more than that their King had been saved, joyfully lit bonfires in thanksgiving. As years progressed, however, the ritual became more elaborate.


What guy?

Towns and villages light huge bonfires, let off fireworks and burn a ‘Guy’.( A homemade man traditionally made by children.)
The English have been burning effigies to mark Guy Fawkes’ treason for almost 400 years. The tradition started in 1606, the year after the Gunpowder plot failed. In these first bonfires, called ‘bone fires’ at the time, it wasn’t an effigy of Guy Fawkes that was burned, but one of the Pope. It was not until 1806, two centuries later, that the people started burning effigies of Guy Fawkes instead.

Guy Fawkes


Children make a Guy by stuffing some old clothes with newspapers, craft a head out of material, and either draw a face on it or buy a special cardboard Guy Fawkes mask. For a few days beforehand children are pushing guys around in prams, push chairs and go-carts, saying ‘A penny for the guy’. Adults then give them money - how much depends on how good the guy is. The money is then spent on sparklers, or at least it would be, if children were still allowed to buy fireworks in the UK, so it is probably spent on sweets instead.


Penny for the guy


Other popular bonfire fare include, hot apple cider or mulled wine; Parkin cake, thick homemade harvest soup or my favourite Hot chocolate with Cadbury’s flake crumbled on top. ( The Flake is my addition. )


The weeks leading up to this festival the schools and fire service do a lot of talks about the dangers of fireworks and safety as many firework display are done in the back garden by mum and dad. The firework code is repeated, drawn, enacted and learnt every year.

Firework safety

Unusual tradition
An unusual Bonfire night tradition in Ottery St Mary: men carrying burning tar barrels down the local high street.

Thank you for all the submissions this time. It was fun being your host. Don’t forget to submit your posts for next week’s carnival over at All Rileyed up before Saturday Midnight Pacific time ( Note: the new time).


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This entry was posted on Sunday, November 4th, 2007 at 11:16 pm and is filed under Media, Sites to visit, Good reads, Roundups. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

22 Responses to “Carnival of Family Life- Bonfire edition”

  1. Gravatar Rob at Kintropy Says:

    Love the theme and appreciate the history. In the US, we don’t hear much about Guy Fawkes (though I remember it from working with friends at Virgin USA). Thanks for including our post, and I’ll head off now to read the many posts you’ve highlighted.

  2. Gravatar Carnival of Family Life | Colloquium Says:

    […] Life The November 5, 2007, edition of the Carnival of Family Life — Bonfire Edition is live at Play Activities! Stop by and check out all the fabulous entries for this week! Don’t forget to express your […]

  3. Gravatar Aparna Says:

    Great carnival Melitsa, Thanks for including my post.

  4. Gravatar Megan over at Imaginif Says:

    Wonderful, wonderful history. Thanks for surrounding me with the houses of parliament and that cheeky Guy Fawkes. I so miss all the history in the centre of London.
    As a child in Papua New Guinea we had crackers and fireworks but they are now banned in Australia.
    Take care and stay safe everyone.
    Megan Down Under.

  5. Gravatar Melitsa Says:

    Super Mega Dad and Ben L -Sorry about that. It should be fixed now…. the gremlins were in.

  6. Gravatar Carnival of Family Life Has a New Home | Colloquium Says:

    […] Life The November 5, 2007, edition of the Carnival of Family Life — Bonfire Edition is live at Play Activities! Stop by and check out all the fabulous entries for this week! Don’t forget to express your […]

  7. Gravatar Jennifer in OR Says:

    Great job; I’ll do some browsing around here this week!

  8. Gravatar Carnivals in the Air… do I smell a festival approaching? | I've Paid For This Twice Already... Says:

    […] Carnival of Family Life is at Play Activities and is the Bonfire Edition. My post, When Free Isn’t Really Free, was included. I also really needed this reminder after […]

  9. Gravatar Stephanie Says:

    A wonderful job. Thanks so much!

  10. Gravatar Ben at Time for Dads Says:

    Well done on a such a good roundup. I can hear the fireworks from where I’m sitting in my living room, though I can’t smell the bonfires. Then again, given the part of inner-city London I live in they’d have to compete with the burning cars ;)

  11. Gravatar Deb - Mom of 3 Girls Says:

    Great job on the carnival this week - thank you so much! :)

  12. Gravatar Free From Broke Says:

    I’m always stunned to see the work that is put into hosting a carnival. Great job and thank you for including my article.

  13. Gravatar kailani Says:

    What a great hosting job! Loved this edition!

  14. Gravatar Mom Is Teaching » Blog Archive » Think About It Says:

    […] About It by Summer Minor Play Activities is hosting the Carnival of Family Life this week, but it is another post there that caught my eye. Teaching young children how to […]

  15. Gravatar An Ordinary Mom Says:

    You are a great host!

  16. Gravatar brip blap » linklings, point it out edition Says:

    […] Carnival of Family Life - Bonfire Edition at Play Activities: My post rich mom, poor mom was included at this carnival. As of now, I haven’t had time to go through any of the other posts but if you have kids this is actually a great little carnival to keep up with! was included. […]

  17. Gravatar Melitsa Says:

    Thanks everyone. It was a lot of fun reading all the posts. You are the talented ones.:) I had my hot chocolate minus the flake this year, closed my eyes and I’m sure I could smell the bonfires and hear the fireworks………..

  18. Gravatar Diary of 1 » Wordless Wednesday: On Top of the World Says:

    […] Carnival of Family Life Carnival of Homeschooling Christian Carnival […]

  19. Gravatar JHS Says:

    BRAVO! BRAVO!

    What a great job you have done, Melitsa! Excellent! Thank you so much for all of your hard work.

    “Thank you” also to all of the talented writers who submitted their posts for this edition of the Carnival. We are off to a wonderful start!

  20. Gravatar Alta Says:

    Thank you for the listing of my blog. I love the history lesson that was included.

  21. Gravatar Market and Money Gloom And Doom @ The Roundup Says:

    […] Edition Carnival of Cities Comes Back to Buenos Aires 2nd Edition of the SheBlogs Carnival Carnival of Family Life- Bonfire edition Personal Development & Happiness Carnival: Issue 15 The Blogger’s […]

  22. Gravatar Sandier Pastures » Blog Archive » Blog awards and a carnival #2 Says:

    […] your post here. Some dates are open for hosting too, check out the carnival page for details. This week’s edition hosted by Melitsa at Play […]

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