5th November 1605

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up King and Parliament.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

November the 5th has come and gone
But thoughts of it still linger
I held a banger in my hand
Has anyone seen my finger?

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I'm british ... mostly ... *chuckle* ... heritage and all that ....

What i love about this is the way a nursey rhyme embodies history, you read the above rhyme, and you know what happened. 3 score barrels, that's 60 barrels of gunpowder, helluva lot of bang that .... From wiki: "By March 1605, they had hidden 1800 pounds (36 barrels, or 800 kg) of gunpowder in the cellar."
Of course he was the traitor, and god was on the king's side, and Guy Falkes became very dead soon after.
I *suspect* that the reason it became a rhyme was popular support, and the subversive nature of the whole thing. Perhaps, the moral of the story is, don't play with gunpowder? The king doesn't like it.
As to remembering with wasting thousands on more gunpowder every year fo freaking CENTURIES after ... bugger off ... it's stupid, wasteful and utterly thoughtless of every single other living thing within a ten mile (listen to me) radius.

This story is older than south african history. Think about it.