BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis is one of the many countries which was colonised by the British.
The peoples of these former British colonies had adopted the British culture and, as time rolled by, have merged it with those of the Africans, Asians and Americans, among others.
One of the events that is celebrated annually in most of the mentioned former British territories, if not all, is Guy Fawkes Day.
In an effort to sensitise readership, especially those in the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, on the genesis of Guy Fawkes Day, SKNVibes conducted a research and found that it is being celebrated annually on November 5.
According to Antonia Fraser, author of The Gunpowder Plot, Guy Fawkes was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 to assassinate the Protestant King James.
Fawkes, who was born and educated in York, was converted to Catholicism and fought in the Eighty Years' War on the side of Catholic Spain against Protestant Dutch reformers.
His parents were regular communicants of the Church of England, as were his paternal grandparents. However, his mother's family were recusant Catholics, but he was baptised in the Church of St. Michael le Belfrey on 16 April 1570. As the customary gap between birth and baptism was three days, he was probably born about April 13.
In 1604 Fawkes was a part of a small group of English Catholics, led by Robert Catesby, who planned to assassinate King James and replace him with his daughter, third in the line of succession, Princess Elizabeth.
Fraser described Fawkes as "a tall, powerfully built man, with thick reddish-brown hair, a flowing moustache in the tradition of the time, and a bushy reddish-brown beard", and that he was "a man of action...capable of intelligent argument as well as physical endurance, somewhat to the surprise of his enemies".
The first meeting of the conspirators took place on Sunday, May 20, 1604 at an inn in London called the Duck and Drake.
Catesby had already proposed at an earlier meeting with Thomas Wintour and John Wright to kill the King and his government by blowing up "the Parliament House with gunpowder".
One of the accomplices, Thomas Percy, was promoted in June 1604, gaining access to a house in London that belonged to John Whynniard, Keeper of the King's Wardrobe.
Fawkes was installed as a caretaker and began using the pseudonym John Johnson, servant to Percy.
The plotters purchased a lease to a room, which also belonged to John Whynniard. Unused and filthy, it was considered an ideal hiding place for the gunpowder the plotters planned to store.
According to Fawkes, 20 barrels of gunpowder were brought in at first, followed by 16 more on July 20. On July 28 however, the ever-present threat of the plague delayed the opening of Parliament until Tuesday, November 5.
A few of the conspirators were concerned about fellow Catholics who would be present at Parliament during the opening, and on the evening of October 26, Lord Monteagle received an anonymous letter warning him to stay away
Despite quickly becoming aware of the letter – informed by one of Monteagle's servants – the conspirators resolved to continue with their plans, as it appeared that it was clearly thought to be a hoax.
Fawkes checked the undercroft on October 30 and reported that nothing had been disturbed.
Monteagle's suspicions had been aroused, however, and the letter was shown to King James.
The King ordered Sir Thomas Knyvet to conduct a search of the cellars underneath Parliament, which he did in the early hours of November 5.
Northcote Parkinson, in the ‘Gunpowder Treason and Plot’, stated that Fawkes had taken up his station late on the previous night, armed with a slow match and a watch given to him by Percy.
He was found leaving the cellar shortly after midnight and arrested. Inside, the barrels of gunpowder were discovered hidden under piles of firewood and coal.
Fawkes gave his name as John Johnson and was first interrogated by members of the King's Privy Chamber, where he came across as rebellious.
When asked by one of the Lords what he was doing in possession of so much gunpowder, Fawkes answered that his intention was "to blow you Scotch beggars back to your native mountains".
Fawkes admitted his intention to blow up the House of Lords, and expressed regret at his failure to do so. His steadfast manner earned him the admiration of King James, who described Fawkes as possessing a Roman resolution.
James's admiration did not, however, prevent him from ordering on November 6 that "John Johnson" be tortured to reveal the names of his co-conspirators.
He directed that the torture be light at first, referring to the use of manacles, but more severe if necessary, authorising the use of the rack: "the gentler tortures are to be first used unto him”.
Fawkes was transferred to the Tower of London and the King composed a list of questions to be put to him. The room in which he was interrogated subsequently became known as the Guy Fawkes Room.
According Parkinson, Sir William Waad, Lieutenant of the Tower, supervised the torture and obtained Fawkes's confession.
The trial of the plotters began on Monday, January 27, 1606. The King and his close family, watching in secret, were among the spectators as the Lords Commissioners read out the list of charges. Fawkes was identified as Guido Fawkes, "otherwise called Guido Johnson". He pleaded not guilty, despite his apparent acceptance of guilt from the moment he was captured.
On January 31, 1606 Fawkes and three others – Thomas Wintour, Ambrose Rookwood and Robert Keyes – were dragged (i.e. drawn) from the Tower on wattled hurdles to the Old Palace Yard at Westminster, opposite the building they had attempted to destroy. His fellow plotters were then hanged and quartered. Fawkes was the last to stand on the scaffold. He asked for forgiveness of the King and State, while keeping up his "crosses and idle ceremonies", and aided by the hangman began to climb the ladder to the noose.
Although weakened by torture, Fawkes managed to jump from the gallows, breaking his neck in the fall and thus avoiding the agony of the latter part of his execution.
On November 5, 1605 Londoners were encouraged to celebrate the King's escape from assassination by lighting bonfires, "always provided that this testimony of joy be careful done without any danger or disorder”.
Information retrieved from the House of Commons Information Office stated that an Act of Parliament designated that each November 5 as a day of thanksgiving for "the joyful day of deliverance", and remained in force until 1859.
Although he was only one of 13 conspirators, Fawkes is today the individual most associated with the failed Plot.
In Britain, November 5 has variously been called Guy Fawkes Night, Guy Fawkes Day, Plot Night and Bonfire Night; the latter can be traced directly back to the original celebration of November 5, 1605.
On Tuesday evening, many individuals of all ages took part in their own Guy Fawkes tradition all over the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
