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East sussex bonfire nights is a quite unique event, many of my friends across the country have described it as "Halloween on steroids". This event also doesn't just happen on the 5th November, In sussex there is a bonfire night on every saturday from September to late November at each town/village that have a bonfire society. The biggest ones are Hastings, Battle and of course Lewes. Battle is the oldest bonfire society with the Battle bonfire boyes.

As I watch this in England, I can see and hear rockets, bangers and fireworks going on. My family and I, just had some sparklers.

It was the old Palace of Westminster which burned down in 1834, the new building was a replacement. Yes still cellars are still there, the medieval cellars were called undercrofts. Parts of the tradition is to inspect them prior to state opening of Parliament.

That bloke dressed as an Archbishop getting fireworks thrown at him makes you proud to be British. If anyone asks how our small island managed to rule the world just point them in his direction.

"Remember, remember the fifth of November. Gunpowder, treason and plot" This was definitely spoken a few times in my childhood on the 5th...

When I was a kid in the 1960s it was really common to make a "Guy" in the week before Bonfire Night, and use it to cadge money for fireworks, which was usually just a few old clothes stuffed with rags or whatever to roughly human shape with perhaps a balloon for a head, which we would sit with on the street and ask passers by "penny for the Guy". We never made enough to buy fireworks though, perhaps others did better business, but somehow (parents) there were always rockets and bangers when the evening came. I don’t remember the last time I saw a "Guy", the connection with Guy Fawkes seems to have faded away.

Hi Sogal - I was born in Nov 5th, my middle name is Guy, and I was raised as a Roman catholic. However, as I grew up in England, most of my schoolmates were protestants. The birthday parties that I held every Guy Fawkes were a highlight of the year. Denominational differences aren't really a thing in most parts of the UK these days, and I am gladdened to find that the custom of fireworks and bonfires still exists in healthy form. Thanks for your video - it's always fun to see one's own culture through the eyes of a different culture. England's history is rich but bloody.

From my experience, it's not referred to as Guy Fawkes Day, it's Guy Fawkes Night (aka Bonfire Night or Fireworks Night) ... as it's just an evening of parties, fireworks and sometimes bonfires at public displays. Though I do remember a time when the daytime would include the tradition of 'Penny for the Guy' ... kids would put together a dummy/mock-up of a man and ask for loose change from passers by. The dummy would then be thrown on top of the bonfire before it's lit, to burn. I havent seen 'Penny for the Guy' in years, but it was quite common when I was a kid. If I look out my back window right now, I can see fireworks going off all over the place, both a nearby public display and home fireworks :-)

That drawing of the torture is actually of the Spanish Inquisition carrying out their work (against Protestants); look at their 'red' cloaks and the Catholic crucifix on the right wall (and the Cardinal sat below it)

Catesby is pronounced " Kate's-Bee ". Also remember in 1605 the UK Parliament was also the seat of government for the American colonies too, so it was also an attack against you ;-)

They say that Guy Fawkes was the first and last man to enter Parliament with honourable intentions......English joke.

The Houses of Parliament today is a totally different building. As the original building which Guy Fawkes tried to blow up was largely destroyed by an accidental fire, from an oven overheating in 1834.

I remember years ago as a kid stuffing a ‘Guy’ with paper and wheeling it down the road in a wheelbarrow with a friend to the train station to catch returning commuters for ‘penny for the guy’, in reality we were waiting to catch my dad with a generous offering so he could buy his clothes back before the inevitable burning! Happy days.

Don't pay too much attention to the Lewes celebration. It may be the self-styled "biggest" bonfire event but it is still only one tiny part of the country. Most of the traditions they talked about have absolutely nothing to do with bonfire night. They are just local customs that they have merged into their way of celebrating the event. As their "seven societies" are groups associated with seven local pubs, there is the question of how much liquid was imbibed to produce these traditions.

That is an extreme celebration in Lewes! Most people up and down the country just go to a firework display!

Mostly it's either organised bonfires and firework displays in local parks or a family setting off a few fireworks for their children in their own gardens. The history is mostly ignored now and it's just seen as a chance to have some fun. The Lewes stuff is a very localised thing.

It’s just a fun family celebration. When I was a kid, you’d have a fireworks party in your back garden. Now people are encouraged to go to big community displays for safety reasons.

As children we used to make a guy and tout it around asking a penny for the guy, not seen children doing it for years, now more commercial.

Watching as outside the BOOMS whizzes and BANGS go off.

Catholics v Protestants was a very big deal in Europe especially in the 16th and 17th centuries, lots of wars were fought over this, such as the 30 years war ( a very nasty war). In England the 16th century was very confusing in England, Henry VIII started it when he formed the Church of England and required everyone to follow it, his son (Edward VI) was even more hardline and enforced this more thouroughly, he however died at a young age and his elder sister (Mary I) succeeded him. She was an arch catholic and tried to turn the clock back, persecuting protestants including the burnings referred to in this video. When she dies Elizabeth I succeeded her and went back to Protestantism , but she was more pragmatic than Edward. This didn't stop some Catholics plotting against her and plotting to remove her and replace her with her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots which resulted in Mary being beheaded.

Many (I would even say most) places in the UK don't take the historical aspect this seriously. Growing up in the suburbs of London we went to firework displays with music, food stalls, stalls selling light up toys and sometimes a funfair and/or bonfire too. I don't remember ever seeing a 'guy' being burned and certainly no parades with burning barrels and crosses. Usually fireworks are going on locally every night for 4-6 days depending on where the weekend falls relative to the 5th. We mostly call it Firework Night where I'm from.

In 1605 it was still the English Parliament, the Act of Union was just over 100 years away, so although England and Scotland shared a king they still had separate Parliaments at that time.

I think everyone in the UK probably just calls it Bonfire Night. I have never heard it called Guy Fawkes Day (and I have never even heard of the Thanksgiving Act!). Also, it's not a holiday. WE just have the bonfire/fireworks in the afternoon/evening

That letter is not in Old English btw. That's already Modern English. Even Middle English would seem like a completely different language to us let alone Old English. Old English was a pure Germanic language spoken during the Anglo-Saxon times without any influence from French which came during the Norman Conquest.

Love you looking into the history of this and wanting to learn of it's origins. Bonfire Night is well under way where I am and the poor dog next door is freaking out as the fireworks are VERY loud. Hope everyone stays safe and if you have pets please take good care of them over the next few days. By the way it isn't a holiday, as no time is taken off. It is a night (or now nights as they tend to go on for days after). Watching them from my window as I type this.

Technically no UK in 1605. The English and Scottish monarchies became one in 1603. The UK was founded only when England and Scotland united politically in 1707

I think Thanksgiving is a much bigger event because it's a big get together for families in the US. In the UK, Bonfire Night is about going to a public display of fireworks or it's a family (immediate family) event. I've always loved Bonfire Night because of the traditions associated with it. My mum made treacle toffee, my dad roasted chestnuts 'in' the stove, and we had fireworks set off by my dad in the back garden. We had sparklers, and generally, it was a really lovely night.

Penny for the guy SoGal! :)

When I was a wee bairn, between the ages of 5 and 10, my parents held a Bonfire Night party (of sorts) for the family and friends. Usually there was a bonfire that we kids were told to stay away from while waiting for the fireworks to start. My father was usually the designated person who set off the fireworks and these came in something called a "selection box". Basically it was a box FULL of these explosive treats, including rockets, a Catherine wheel, sparklers and a shed load more whos names I can't remember any more. Lol Anyway, after the fireworks finished the adults would usually go indoors and us kids would watch the bonfire slowly start to burn down although some people would keep feeding the fire all night long. After an hour or so my mother would come back to the fire with tin foil wrapped potatoes which we would throw into the embers to cook. When they were ready (about 40 minutes later), we would fish the silvery packages out of the fire with sticks and after cautiously opening the foil, as it was always hot, we'd eat the potatoes, skins and all. Eventually we started adding things to the potatoes like beans, coronation chicken, cheese and a load of other foods. It was always a treat and always delicious. Nowadays I don't celebrate Halloween or Bonfire Night as I'm a bit long in the tooth for it and I have a pet cat who is so scared of the fireworks that people set off a week before Halloween and for a week after the 5th of November and then again on Christmas Eve and every day right up until New Year's Day and often beyond.

As I watch this the fireworks have been going off outside continuously for about 2 hours now. The whole Lewes thing is new to me. They seem to be mixing a lot of stuff up into one night. Everyone else just has a fire and fireworks.

So it begins. 6.00pm Saturday 5th November 2022. It's all kicking off in East Anglia. The bangs and swishing of rockets flying off into the night sky. I can see the Bonfire off in the distant field from my back bedroom. My sons and the grandchildren have gone off to join the festivities. I stay and watch from the warmth of the house with my cup of tea and memories of so many similar gatherings going back as far as the fifties. Wow! That was a loud one! ... and pretty close too ... coming in now from all directions ... I'm off to enjoy the displays 😁👋

The noises outside my house right now are like being in the middle of a war zone, yet my cat is totally indifferent to it, stretched out in front of the fire watching UK Gold and a old episode of " The Good Life".

When I was a child (Catholic) We would go to a Bonfire. We'd have Fireworks and Toffee apples and Guy on the fire. The whole night was a reminder to honour Guy Fawkes at least that is what I thought, haha. 'O if only he blew up Parliament and the King that would have been great!'. Purely because he was a Catholic. Obviously when I was a bit older I learnt the real reason why we celebrated. I was a little off with my reasoning, haha.

For a closer relationship between the English and fire you should react to the Tar Barrels Of Ottery St. Mary.

Love your videos. You grasp things so quickly and have intelligent insights. So nice to see in a world where most people don't bother about understanding anything.

I grew up near Lewes in Sussex and many of the streets in Lewes are narrow. There are several Bonfire Societies in Lewes. The one featured in this video is Cliffe Bonfire Society. Cliffe is an area of the town of Lewes. Lewes is the County town of East Sussex

I live not far from Lewes and I’ve been to Lewes Bonfire loads of times and it is a great experience, although I’ve never been involved in a bonfire society just gone along as a spectator . I think the guy dressed as the Archbishop probably best explained the spirit of it as the idea of carrying on a tradition, even if the origins are no longer relevant and the meaning has changed and is now about burning effigies of contemporary politicians and remembering fallen soldiers at the war memorial.

You seem surprised that running through the streets with open fires is allowed in the UK, as in the US it is deemed dangerous. Europeans are just as surprised that Americans are allowed to wander the streets with firearms.

You should also watch a mini-series that came out not too long ago, I think they called it “Gunpowder” & it was about the gunpowder plot, & had Kit Harrington in it

At 20:39 the "torture chamber" seems to be an illustration of the methods of the Inquisition, so it's not English. Note that the Catholic Church was not allowed to draw blood, so all their torture and execution methods were based on stretching, pressing, burning, etc, but not wounding or beheading. One of their tortures, called "toquilla" in old Spanish, was a form of waterboarding in which water was poured down a cloth into the prisoner's throat. The amount of water was limited by law, I think it was four jugs or something. So some illustrations of the Inquisition tortures are pure fantasy, but this one seems fairly accurate. But it's a composite so to say, they wouldn't torture several prisoners at the same time.

Very enjoyable, well done,, Bonfire night really runs deep, we used to have fires in the streets until quite recently.

In regards to the underground. A little known fact is that most major English cities are built on top of old Roman ruins. As a result London in particular has a navigable city below street level that's part medieval ruin part Roman and part caves carved out by the Britons. Same thing here in coventry we have a river that runs under the city its banks and tunnels are full of old houses and sewers the Romans built you can still navigate now. Similar to the catacombs in Paris except instead of empty tunnels full of skulls it's partially collapsed ruins and half flooded aqueducts and sewers

Remember, remember.... happy Guy Fawkes! Keep up the great content, loving it.

The 17 martyrs were burnt at the stake in the middle of Lewes - this is why there has always been such passion about it in the town. No one else does this!

As long as I've lived in England, this is my first in depth look at Guy Fawkes, and Bonfire night so I'm just as surprised as you are about all of this, oh my goodness...

Thanksgiving is an old christian feast. As such it was recorded first within the 3rd century AD. Of course, it got a special meaning within the USA because of its' importance for the first settlers.

You should have a look at Lewes Borough Bonfire prayers. All good fun! It was a brilliant night - 10 miles walked, countless torches burnt, a few ciders drunk...excellent!

Thanks for the video. We went to the village Cricket Club on Friday (5th November ) where a beacon was lit, and we had a fireworks display. The beacon was the sort of thing used to pass messages centuries ago - a metal cage containing wood to light, atop a metal pole so it would be high enough that, when lit on a cliffe top, it could be seen on the cliffe top a couple of miles away, or inland. That way, there could be a chain of beacons passing messages many miles from the coast. Like when the Sapnish Armada was sighted in 1588 - as a warning mechanism in days when there were no telephones or internet. We use beacons rather than the traditional bonfire now in our village because the bonfire would obviously damage the grass. (We used to have the bonfire on the village green but in these risk-averse days, with houses nearby, the celebrations have been relocated to the cricket gound). The firework display was choreographed to music - both classical music and classic rock, like Queen. A good time was had by all with rockets flying up and illuminating the sky, Roman Candles brightening up the ground etc....

Not to confuse you to much but we n the U.K. have a habit of lighting fires every where, in shetland they have what can only be described as a Viking night,that’s another one you should check out. Continue the great work I enjoy your videos immensely .Thanks Sean ( as in Connery).

Between 30th October and 7th November you just hear fireworks outside. Mainly due to lots of professional firework displays happen on different days. Also this year Diwali is on 4th November so even more celebration for the Hindu's. It's the 5th Nov at 7.21 pm right now as I type this and it's sounds like WW3 outside.

I love your channel keep up the great stuff!!!!!!

Probably one of most accurate accounts of November 5th I've found on the internet . Thank you for a great presentation of this event .

When I was a child at Primary school (Up to the age of 11) we would always have visits from the Fire Brigade before Bonfire Night giving us lessons on safety around fireworks and bonfires. They used to let us play on the fire engines. We always looked forward to those visits. I don't know if they still do it today.

Tldr, the UK defeated a terrorist attack over 400 years ago and we celebrate it each year.

YOU'RE GREAT! :) Thank you for your posts... I'm from Lewes East Sussex originally... wonderful night out! x

Guy Fawkes, was born and schooled in York ( Where I live ), he used to go to St Peters School, which is in the city, Whilst most people burnt a 'Guy', the school used to burn a rowing boat, as they couldn't really burn an ex-pupil on a bonfire ( it's not happened though in a while though tbh ) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Peter%27s_School,_York

Will have to watch again as could hardly hear it as it sounds like a war zone outside at the moment! I can see the Houses of Parliament from where I live and can confirm it is still standing so far 😇

Here in South Africa we "celebrate" Guy Fawkes but over the past few years it has gone down alot especially with so many of over local media questioning why we even celebrate it at all to most of my friends ( and I would say almost our whole country) we just know it as a day to shoot fireworks, not really going over the history which I doubt many of us are interested in I'm curious if there is any other country that celebrates Guy Fawkes like this?

I love your very educated take on things you talk about and your desire to learn. You can see now how the Brits ended up with an empire. please post more videos as it is a joy to watch them.

Well done for releasing this on the right day of the year 👍

15:20 I know you didn't mean it literally, but that's Early Modern English; Old English was about a thousand years before that and would be much harder to read! 31:52 Remember the idea that you could separate religion from politics would be totally alien until quite recently; there's no distinction between the two. As for why bonfires, they were just a default autumn/winter celebration thing regardless - until a few hundred years ago, England celebrated Twelfth Night on January 6th by having everyone cross-dress and jump over bonfires. 33:48 As I understand it, Lewes just picks whoever's prominent at the time, like the current Prime Minister regardless of party, or (e.g.) in 2001 they burnt Osama Bin Laden instead. It's a bit like being TIME Person of the Year.

The first video about the history was very much in American English so a lot of the references, terminology and pronunciation were for a US audience. In the UK, we don't have the same Thanksgiving and a holiday would be a day off work, to put it very simply. Also, the classic mispronounced Worcestershire!!! Nonetheless, a good overview of what we are celebrating, and as you said, scratched the surface of the politics, religion and culture of that period in history.

I’ve never heard it called Guy Fawkes Day and its not a holiday in England or the UK, and I’m born and bred in the south of England. I also regularly worked at the Lewes bonfire night celebrations when I was a police officer. It was pretty hectic but in my day generally good fun and many families attended. There are many bonfire societies across the towns and villages of Sussex who each hold their own celebrations in the build up to Lewes.

Protestantism, wasn’t started by Henry VIII but by a German preacher called Martin Luther.

Unfortunately November 5th it is not really a combination of Thanksgiving and 4th of July as it is not recognised as a public holiday anywhere in the UK, so it is business as usual though with fireworks going off in the evening. I feel that there is something quintessentially British about celebrating nothing happened in November. I heard Guy Fawkes described as "the only person to enter the palace of Westminster with honest motives, a clear agenda, and the means to carry it out" Lewes (pronounced Lewis, you were right first time!) is an interesting town, one of the leaders of the American revolution, Thomas Paine, was a tax official in Lewes for a while before he went off to the USA and France to help the revolutions in both countries. There was also a battle in Lewes in 1264 and part of the 900 year old castle fell down recently. Queen Mary wanted to bring the country back to the Catholic faith that her father, Henry VIII, had split from in order to divorce her mother. In her time hundreds of protestants were burned (alive) at the stake, including 17 from the town of Lewes.

I'm getting right giddy for Bonfire Night already as I missed it last year. A rural pub not far from me has a massive bonfire and fireworks every 5th November.🎇🎆🧨🔥

Since i was a child, I've always known the 5th of November to be called bonfire night, not Guy Fawkes Day

Hi, the Gunpowder plotters who were captured were certainly severely tortured but this was mainly by means of the rack and would have taken place in the Tower. The picture shown seems more like the Spanish Inquisition than the interrogation of the plotters. After their trial they were executed by means of being hung, drawn and quartered and even if they succeeded in killing themselves beforehand the practice was still carried out on their dead body.

"They decided to dry some (gun) powder by the fire..." and guess what happened next. I saw the expression on your face there Socal and mine was much the same. These men were brave and tough. just imagine what might have happened if they were competant as well. As regards what was done to the conspiritors: life was pretty hard for everybody back then and death and starvation were constant companions. Punishment had to be worse than that and you could get hanged for stealing a loaf of bread to feed your starving children. So attempting to blow up parliament had to get seriously brutal. Lewes is pronounced 'lew-is'. Everybody - please don't go to Lewes for bonfire night. They used to say that everybody was welcome, the mpre the merrier, but it got better and better known and now millions of people turn up to it. Lewes has a population of around 20 000 and just can't cope with the influx. People have tried to outlaw Lewes (on health and safety grounds believe it or not). Lewes folk don't give a f**k. Their motto is "We won't be drove (driven)' and they mean it. The town council installed parking meters which were disliked by the general population. They got blown up. Queen Mary, the original Bloody Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and older sister of Queen Elizabeth I. Yes this was all part of the whole Catholic/Protestant thing. This is all very complicated with lots of international politics going on and I'll leave it to somebody better informed than I to post on it. Another consequence was a 15 years later when a whole load of Protestants got on a boat called The Mayflower and... well you know the rest I'm sure. So it does have it's influence on US. Enjoyed and liked the video, as always. Keep up the good work.

I attend the one close by In Battle, East Sussex, the same parades but the bonfire and firework display is held on the actual battlefield of the Battle of Hastings 1066. Its amazing as is Lewes.

The Lewis Bonfire is not typical of most of the country on Bonfire night. It is a time for families friends to meet up at an organised display more now. As the dark nights arrive with sunset around 6.00 it is a fun event around the warmth of a bonfire with food & drink with wonderful firework displays for children of all ages : )

Bonfires are a big thing everywhere in England but nowhere more than in Lewes (you pronounced it right), although the folks in Northern Ireland would no doubt disagree with this. I used to live near Lewes and I have been to the Lewes bonfire several times. You make sure you go in old clothes because you don't want to get decent clothes accidentally burnt by the sparks. The folks there take it really seriously. The Catholic and Protestant thing is mainly symbolic although some of the bonfire societies can take things too far. For those of you who follow politics in Britain closely one of the Lewes bonfire societies once invited the elder Ian Paisley! There is a November institution in England which is even bigger than Lewes bonfire night and that is Somerset Carnival, which is not just one night, it goes on for two whole weeks. I live in Somerset and am involved in Carnival and you really should check it out. Plenty of stuff on KZfaq and other social media. Over 100,000 people attend the larger carnivals and that is in small towns with a fraction of that population. Oh, and my grandmother's name was Frances Fawkes. A great video and I am not surprised your channel has progressed so much.

The Protestant martyrs were not all burned at the same time. Lewes was a stronghold of Protestantism and the defeat of a Catholic plot was seen as something to celebrate. It's hard to overestimate the importance of religious conflict in Europe. You should check out the history of the 30 Years' War which started as a religious issue before escalating into a wider geopolitical struggle which decimated Central Europe.

Hi. Another great video. I love the way you go into a subject thinking its possibly going one way, then scratching your head as our long and tangled history leads you up another path. There are so many weird and wonderful traditional celebrations here, with all sorts of foundations, some unknown. If you like big gatherings with lots of fire, try reacting to Up Helly Aa , Europe's largest Viking Fire festival held in the Shetland Islands off the northcoastof Scotland the last Tuesday of Jan each year. Pretty spectacular.

Good to see you posting, I thought that Holy Roman Empire video broke you 😂

I love how taken/surprised/shocked you are with the difference between the UK and US in how differently we celebrate our cultures, your reactions to the differences between how we each celebrate, having seen your reactions made me realise how the time difference (ages of our countries) means that we celebrate in very different ways, yes there is a much more barbaric nature to the British celebrations generally, if you haven't seen the cheese rolling "sport" (it's held once a year I think it's in Gloucestershire, it's funny but it does make you wince seeing people throwing themselves down a very steep hill to chase a wheel of cheese, you need to watch a video of it to get a better idea of what it is about). Back to Guy Fawkes though, I really like how much you go into detail with the videos that you post, most people wouldn't make such an effort as you do, it really is appreciated, a big thank you for diving in as you do :)

Be interesting for you to react on the Celts from the King's and Legends channel, very interesting ...always a great subject as a lot of people think Celts are just Irish, Welsh or Scottish which is so far from the truth ...one of the most famous Celts in history was Boudica Queen of the Iceni who lived the South East of England

For more fire, bonfire related options, you should check out Bridgwater Carnival and the squibbing that takes place in the town centre (parade of people with fireworks on sticks essentially!)

Love your videos Sarah, it's great to see someone with such an interest in history. As you probably know the first English settlement in America was in 1607, and it was called Jamestown, after the King who had ordered all the torturing that had happened to the gunpowder plotters two years earlier. History really is fascinating 🙂

A lot of fireworks going off in the background as I watch this, quite appropriate :D (The bonfire/fireworks event I'm going to is tomorrow instead; last time I went to this one they were burning a boat in a Viking funeral for some reason...) I believe reason why America doesn't have Bonfire Night (it did before 1776) was George Washington suppressed it in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade the Catholic French in Canada to join the American Revolution.

10:40 London has always been relatively urban. The City of London has existed within walls since roman times. Westminster was deliberately built outside the walls, same as the Tower Of London by William the Conqueror. The main thing wrong with the graphic is how much more wide & marshy the Thames was.

member of a Lewes society here - we build our bonfires out of wooden pallets used for shipping and whatnot, this year we even had an old sofa on our bonfire as well...

'Penny for the guy' was a main event as well.. nobody does that now!. The money we earned from that as a child outside the shops!.. we used to make a really beautiful guy... bonfire night, jacket potatoes, toffee apples, sparklers and fireworks in your own garden...

When you slapped your forehead at the Archbishop, it looked as though you had a sudden understanding of how Britsh humour works. Don't assume us Brits are always well informed about our history, it's great to see it through anothers' eyes.

There's a few firey processions in Edinburgh. The one you're thinking of is the Torchlight Procession which takes place on 30th December as part of the Hogmany celebrations but we also have the Samhuinn fire parade on Halloween and Beltane Fire Festival in April. With regards to the Catholic/Protestantism thing, it might be an idea to watch a video on the troubles in Northern Ireland or the Celtic/Rangers football rivalry in Scotland (which is very much fuelled by the religious divide) to get a better understand of why it is, unfortunately, still a thing in the modern day.

13:20: Yes, they did test the Gunpowder Plot in 2005, and made a documentary about the testing. IIRC it's available on KZfaq.

If you ever come to England check out the City of York in Yorkshire and the Guy Fawkes Inn which is where he was born. It's a great pub and it is haunted by a cloaked figure wearing a large hat on the staircase. The church he was christened in is opposite the pub. Also Catesby is pronounced Kate - s - by. Great post 👍

At 6:37 the narrator says that James was king of the United Kingdom. He wasn't, he was James VI of Scotland & James I of England - they were still separate countries who shared a monarch. The United Kingdom didn't come into being until the Acts of Union in 1707 - the Gunpowder Plot was to blow up the parliament of England, not the UK.

Guy Fawkes day has been diluted to almost nothing these days. The historical significance of it is basically ignored and the day is just a big firework display.

Guy Fawkes day has a strange origin, but no one in Britain actually celebrates it as the holiday that it was hundreds of years ago anymore, it’s more of a tradition. It’s basically just a night to set off fireworks and light bonfires, which usually happens on November 5th.

What happens in Lewes on 5th Nov is very much a local tradition. Most people in the UK wouldnt know or understand the details of what happens there, including myself. The most common 'celebrations' generally involve a large bonfire in a park or open ground and the setting off of fireworks while eating a slightly stale toffee apple and getting cold feet. Oh! and annoying people letting off fireworks in the middle of the night scaring dogs and light sleepers.

I think you would be surprised to know that even in the USA there was a strong prejudice against Catholics holding positions of power for most of your time as an independent nation. JFK was the first Catholic president I believe.and there was a certain amount of corruption that helped him get there. As for the UK I would say that the actions of Henry 8 th had such an impact on our history going forward that I'm not sure any other monarch has had such an influence anywhere else in history. British history would have been completely different without the actions of Henry 8 that's for sure.

The Catholic vs Protestant thing is still huge in the UK. You only need to look at the problems in Northern Ireland. Or look at the Celtic vs Rangers football teams in Glasgow, Scotland. The current monarchy have a rule that they can't marry a Catholic. A couple of minor royals came out as Catholic and even that made headlines.

As I have a slight obsession with fire, bonfire night is just perfect 💯

You, as a pyrotechnician, on a European pyrotechnical theme, I’d recommend searching for “Las Fallas de Valencia” . Neighbourhoods work all year on the “Fallas”, “Falles” in Valencian . All very impressive built over many months, which are all finally burnt with lots of fireworks also . In the run up to the “Las Fallas” is “ Mascletà” . A display of noise and rhythm rather than visuals . So much noise and smoke, all in the centre of the city. Crazy but great fun!

Love your down to earth intellectual reactions but the second video isn't typical of bonfire night in the UK

I enjoy watching your videos, and seeing your reactions to English history and traditions; well done and please keep it up. BUT may I humbly suggest that you source your information and other peoples’ videos from more reliable and accurate historians and scholars, perhaps English ones? The info given to you here is dubious to say the least.

where i used to live in Hertford was a canal i used to go running along, there was an old ruin on the way... i eventually looked it up and turns out was a house where the gunpowder plotters met to formulate their plans. my house there was built in 1604, maybe they passed by at the time lol - recommend V for Vendetta btw!

Yes, they actually did a reconstruction for a documentary just to see what would happen. They built a structurally accurate building and use the correct amount of authentic gunpowder. Because of it's proximity to Halloween, Bonfire Night is the one usually celebrated more.