Last week, I talked about stories (in a variety of media) set in Cambridge. Sim reviewed the film Victoria & Abdul. Tina reviewed a chilling British mystery, The Facts of Life and Death. Jean reviewed three books for us: the classic Gothic The Castle of Wolfenbach, Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology, and the intriguing My Real Children.
I have a bit of a fascination with Guy Fawkes Night, although I have no idea why. It seems like I've always known about the bonfires in England and this poem:
Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason, why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
As I'm typing this, I think maybe my father quoted that poem now and then - presumably on the fifth of November. I'll have to ask my brother if he has any memory of that.
Of course, that just brings up another question - why would a farm boy from Indiana have that bit of verse in his repertoire? Is it one that used to appear in English literature text books, a poem that would hold some appeal for boys to memorize, back in the days when students were expected to memorize a few things during their school career?
My familiarity with the history of the attempt to blow up Parliament and King James (VI of Scotland, I of England) was pretty fuzzy until I read Faith and Treason by Antonia Fraser a few years ago. I got a refresher, recently, by watching the mini-series Gunpowder, Treason, and Plot on Netflix, originally shown on BBC Two in 2004.
The mini-series has two episodes, the first focused on Mary, Queen of Scots, and the second on her son King James (VI, I). Mary was played by Clémence Poésy who I loved in The Tunnel. James was played by Robert Carlyle who I loved to hate in Once Upon a Time.
Do you remember the Gunpowder Plot on the fifth of November?
About Joy Weese Moll
a librarian writing about books