Bonfire Night

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
should ever be forgot

Guy Fawkes teas this intent
to blow up king and parliament
three score barrels were laid below
To prove old England's overthrow.

By God's mercy he was catched
with a dark lantern and lighted match.
Holler boys, holler boys, let the bells ring
Holler boys, holler boys, God save the King
Today is Bonfire Night. Its celebrated throughout the UK due to the fact that Guy Fawkes was not successful in his attempt to bomb the Parliment Building all those years ago. It is called Bonfire Night because that is how he died -- burning by the stake. So, according to the ladies that I work with, children will make up scarecrows, called effigies, to represent Guy Fawkes and go around collecting money for the fireworks. Then these scarecrows will be tossed into the bonfire later on that night. Its a little morbid, but great fun too. Fireworks are set off throughout the UK to represent the gunpowder Guy Fawkes had hidden in the cellar of Parliment. Not every town has the bonfire, but the majority have fireworks. Glasgow unfortunately did not have a bonfire and there was no public burning, but it was still fun.

We headed down to Glasgow Green at about 4:30pm. We really didn't know what to expect. All we knew was that somethings started at 4pm, the 'pre-fireworks show' started at 6:30pm with the fireworks at 7:30pm (it is pretty dark by 5pm now.) There was a carnival with all the usual rides, but this one on the left was really unique to Scotland. It was a 'Krazy House' but looked like a country cottage. All the rest you could more than likely find in any carnival in any country around the world. But as Mike put it, the carnies here have way more teeth than those at home.

As we had gotten there quite a bit early, we decided to head back a couple of blocks to a bar/cafe that we had passed on the way in. It intrigued us because it is in the basement of an old church, St. Andrews in the Square, that has been restored and now is a cultural venue and bar/cafe. It was really interesting and the food they serve there is very Scottish. Most places here serve ethnic food and you can find more Indian restaurants than actual Scottish ones.

After a libation we headed back to Glasgow Green and staked out a site to see the fireworks. There were thousands of people in the designated area and it was standing room only. The fireworks show last about a half hour, and the start was weak. They had quite a variety of fireworks, but would only shoot off that particular kind all in a row. The finale was really pretty though and the show did last quite a while.