From treasonous plots to shooting rockets out of milk bottles

So goes the rhyme that commemorates the failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. In 1603 Scottish monarch James VI, who was a protestant, was crowned King James I of England and many catholics in England hoped that, as he was the son of the catholic Mary Queen of Scots, he would be more sympathetic towards them after suffering years of repression under the rule of his predecessor on the English throne, Queen Elizabeth I.

If you want to see a fireworks display attend an organised event

Their hopes were dashed when he continued to carry out persecutions against them, so a small group of catholics, numbering 13 in total, decided to do something about it. This group included the one and only Guido Fawkes who was a bit of an explosives expert and who was enlisted to help blow up the 36 barrels of gunpowder which had been placed under the House of Lords, ready for their planned detonation on the opening day of parliament.

The plotters hoped that with the eradication of the King and his government, an uprising would ensue, leading to the restoration of a catholic monarch on the English throne. So, on the night of November 4, Guy Fawkes was assigned the job of guarding the vault.

However, the plot was revealed by way of an anonymous letter to Lord Monteagle, a catholic loyal to the crown, warning him to avoid the opening day of parliament, writing that “they shall receive a terrible blow”. The king was alerted, and ordered an extensive search of the Houses of Parliament, when, just after midnight, Fawkes and the gunpowder were discovered.

After a show trial in January 1606, he and his remaining conspirators were sentenced to death. They were publicly hung, drawn and quartered apart from Fawkes who leapt to his death from the gallows, suffering a broken neck in the process.

When Londoners were made aware of the foiled plot they lit bonfires, celebrating that King James had escaped death and in 1606 the Observance of 5th November Act was passed setting an annual public day of thanksgiving for the plot’s failure. And that, (with apologies to scholars of history) is the Gunpowder Plot in a nutshell.

Fast forward to today and we see the introduction of Firework Control Zones covering Balerno, Calton Hill, Niddrie, Moredun, Seafield, Gracemount, Longstone, Sighthill and Corstorphine where it will be illegal to set off fireworks, including in private gardens. Potential penalties for doing so are fairly serious as offenders will face fines of up to £5000 or six months in prison under special powers.

So, play it safe tonight. If you want to see a fireworks display attend an organised event where the fireworks should be of a superior quality to the ones that were prevalent when I was young. The days of throwing squibs and shooting rockets out of a milk bottle are gone and safety is the order of the day.